UAE Tour 2022 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

February 23, 2022

UAE Tour 2022 – Stage 4 – Fujairah Fort – Jebel Jais : 181 km

The men’s WorldTour season will finally get underway this Sunday with the 4th edition of the UAE Tour – a seven-day stage race born from the ashes of former races like the Abu Dhabi Tour and Dubai Tour. With a star-studded startlist, two summit finishes and one pivotal individual time trial, this year’s UAE Tour promises to be one of the most hotly-contested editions yet and an ideal testing ground for riders like Tadej Pogačar, Adam Yates and Aleksandr Vlasov to find their form ahead of this season’s Grand Tours. The question is, who will come out on top and crown themselves King of the Middle East? The UAE Tour may only be in its infancy but it has already managed to establish itself as one of the most well-rounded, week-long stage races on the calendar, with days for the sprinters, climbers and time trialists. It has also not taken long for several of the race’s most popular finishes, like the mountaintop finish on Jebel Hafeet, to become rather iconic. For a race that is ‘supposedly’ just a mix of super highways, bland mountain passes and expansive deserts, the UAE Tour routinely delivers a surprising amount of drama.

Tadej Pogačar won stage 4 of the UAE Tour atop Jebel Jais, beating Adam Yates (Ineos) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) in a group sprint at the summit.

The UAE Team Emirates rider also takes over the red jersey of race leader, just two seconds clear of Filippo Ganna (Ineos), who battled gamely to stay in contact on the ascent.

Despite a blizzard of accelerations on its slopes, the first summit finish of the UAE Tour saw a larger than expected group contest stage victory in the final kilometre, though there was nothing remotely surprising about the eventual outcome, as Pogačar unleashed a rasping acceleration in the final 200 metres to take all the spoils.

Only Yates and Vlasov could come close to matching his surge, and that trio crossed the line three seconds clear of the rest of the group. Together with the stage winner’s time bonus, that split ensured that Pogačar moved into the overall lead despite Ganna’s spirited effort to haul himself back into contention on the upper part of the climb.

“It was an amazing day. The teamwork was perfect. It was the first climb, with a lot of strong riders attacking left right and centre. The team did a super job bringing me to the final sprint, and I did my best possible and am super happy,” said Pogačar, who faces another summit finish at Jebel Hafeet on the final stage.

“I’m super happy to take the stage and kick off the year with a win. You don’t know what can happen on the last day, you can lose time, so I’m super happy to take the jersey and the win today. So now we have two flat stages and then we focus on the final day and see how it goes.”

In the overall standings, Pogačar has two seconds in hand on Ganna, 13 on Vlasov and 15 on Yates.

UAE Team Emirates selected a strong squad for their home race, and they set their stall out early on the steady, 20km climb to the finish. Mikkel Bjerg took up the reins early on, before George Bennett refined the front group still further with a long stint of pace-making.

Overnight leader Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) withstood the pace there longer than expected before slipping back and conceding his jersey, but the sight of Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) getting dropped with 8km remaining was rather more surprising, particularly given the size of the front group at that juncture.
By then, Rafal Majka and Pogačar already launched probing accelerations, and it briefly looked as though a very select group indeed would contest the spoils at the top.

Instead, the race settled into a pattern of attack and counter-attack, as the front group split and reformed several times on the upper slopes of the climb. The Intermarché-Wanty duo of Rein Taaramae and Jan Hirt were notable aggressors, with Majka seemingly able to jump on every move, while Pogačar always appeared to be pedalling smoothly in the company of men like Vlasov and Yates.

Majka was part of the move that gained most traction with 6km to go when he jumped off the front in the company of Taaramae, Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education-EasyPost), Andreas Leknussund (DSM), Chris Harper (Jumbo-Visma) and Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious). The sextet built a lead of 17 seconds before they were pinned back by Australian champion Luke Plapp (Ineos), who rode with notable assurance in this elite company.

After that group was eventually brought to heel, Taaramae devoted himself to teeing up Jan Hirt, who attacked inside the final 3km, with Pogačar, Yates, Vlasov and Romain Bardet (DSM) moved to respond in person.

Yates, who had been planted on Pogačar’s rear wheel for much of the climb, launched an acceleration of his own as the gradient stiffened with 2.4km remaining, drawing the Slovenian, Vlasov, Hirt, Plapp and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious). Just as the move looked to be petering out, Hirt breathed life into it with another dig of his own, but with a shade over a kilometre remaining, the front group swelled once again to 20 or so riders. Among them was Ganna, who was now on the cusp of moving into the red jersey.

João Almeida had the indefatigable Majka and Pogačar on his wheel as he led this group beneath the flamme rouge, but the first telling acceleration came from an unexpected source, as Plapp kicked with intent with 500 metres to go.

Majka’s final act of the day was to shut down the Australian’s effort. Guerreiro then opened the group sprint from distance before Pogačar closed the argument just as quickly with a crisp, incisive effort. It was his first victory of the new season, and the first reminder of his pre-eminence on the long road towards the Tour de France.

How it unfolded
Although 181km in length, stage 4 of the UAE Tour could effectively be distilled into the action that took place on the final climb, though Jakob Egholm (Trek-Segafredo) and Luca Rastelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane) did their bit to animate the long and flat preamble by going on the offensive in the opening kilometres.

Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) was a faller around 50km into the stage but the Briton remounted and rejoined the peloton shortly afterwards.

Out in front, meanwhile, Egholm and Rastelli built a lead in excess of five minutes, but their advantage gradually receded as the afternoon drew on and the pace rose accordingly in the peloton.

One mild deviation from the script was created by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix), who outsprinted Dmitry Strakhov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) for third at the intermediate sprint with 35km to go and decided to keep on going. Philipsen was joined by Strakhov and his Alpecin-Fenix teammate Jonas Rickaert in the short-lived attack.

Inevitably, however, both of the breakaway groups were swept up as UAE Team Emirates worked to tee up Pogačar on the final climb.

Results :
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 4:49:24
2 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
3 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-EasyPost 0:00:03
5 Damien Howson (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
6 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM
7 Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
8 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
9 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
10 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious
11 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
12 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
13 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team
14 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel-Premier Tech
15 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
16 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
17 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:09
18 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:14
19 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
20 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:16
21 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM
22 David de la Cruz (Spa) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:00:25
23 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:43
24 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:44
25 Bob Jungels (Lux) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:46
26 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel-Premier Tech
27 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:48
28 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma
29 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:58
30 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:01:03
31 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:01:06
32 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:01:25
33 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:44
34 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:02:54
35 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
36 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
37 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) EF Education-EasyPost
38 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:03:42
39 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
40 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
41 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
42 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:04
43 Mathias Vacek (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo
44 George Bennett (NZl) UAE Team Emirates
45 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
46 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Astana Qazaqstan Team
47 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
48 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
49 Michael Kukrle (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo
50 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-EasyPost
51 William Barta (USA) Movistar Team
52 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
53 Alejandro Osorio Carvajal (Col) Bahrain Victorious
54 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:07:28
55 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:07:47
56 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
57 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
58 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
59 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team 0:08:10
60 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
61 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
62 Johnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
63 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
64 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
65 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
66 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team 0:08:40
67 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:09:16
68 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:11:23
69 Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Bahrain Victorious
70 Robert Stannard (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:11:57
71 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM
72 Clément Berthet (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
73 Paul Lapeira (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
74 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM
75 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers
76 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
77 Marc Sarreau (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:12:39
78 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers 0:13:21
79 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM 0:13:36
80 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel-Premier Tech
81 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
82 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
83 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:17:20
84 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
85 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
86 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
87 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
88 Stan Van Tricht (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
89 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
90 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
91 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
92 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
93 Luca Rastelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
94 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
95 Stijn Steels (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
96 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
97 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
98 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Lotto Soudal
99 Luka Mezgec (Slo) BikeExchange-Jayco
100 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
101 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe
102 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel-Premier Tech
103 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
104 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
105 Kelland O’Brien (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:20:45
106 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel-Premier Tech
107 Sam Bewley (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco
108 Campbell Stewart (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco
109 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco
110 Johan Price Pejtersen (Den) Bahrain Victorious
111 Julius Johansen (Den) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
112 Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team
113 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
114 Kaden Groves (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
115 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel-Premier Tech
116 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
117 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal
118 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
119 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:21:38
120 Marc Brustenga (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
121 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
122 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
123 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
124 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
125 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirates

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 14:02:34
2 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:02
3 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:13
4 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:15
5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-EasyPost 0:00:23
6 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:28
7 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:35
8 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:38
9 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-EasyPost 0:00:40
10 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:41
11 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM
12 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM 0:00:47
13 Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
14 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:49
15 David de la Cruz (Spa) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:00:53
16 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:56
17 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
18 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:00
19 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:01:08
20 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:16
21 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel-Premier Tech 0:01:18
22 Bob Jungels (Lux) AG2R Citroen Team 0:01:19
23 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana Qazaqstan Team
24 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:20
25 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:01:28
26 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:33
27 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:43
28 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:01:49
29 Damien Howson (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:02:01
30 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:16
31 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:26
32 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:02:38
33 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel-Premier Tech 0:03:23
34 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:03:33
35 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious 0:03:38
36 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) EF Education-EasyPost 0:03:50
37 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:04:20
38 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
39 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:22
40 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:04:29
41 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:04:51
42 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-EasyPost 0:04:56
43 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:05:10
44 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:05:37
45 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost 0:05:40
46 Mathias Vacek (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:05:47
47 Michael Kukrle (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:05:50
48 Alejandro Osorio Carvajal (Col) Bahrain Victorious 0:05:51
49 William Barta (USA) Movistar Team 0:05:53
50 George Bennett (NZl) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:57
51 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:06:02
52 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:07
53 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix 0:06:25
54 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:07:51
55 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team 0:08:41
56 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
57 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
58 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:08:44
59 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:08:48
60 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:08:52
61 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:09:12
62 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:09:15
63 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:09:34
64 Johnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:09:51
65 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team 0:09:54
66 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:10:33
67 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:11:32
68 Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Bahrain Victorious 0:12:13
69 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:12:14
70 Paul Lapeira (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:12:44
71 Robert Stannard (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:12:45
72 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM 0:12:50
73 Clément Berthet (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:12:53
74 Marc Sarreau (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:13:38
75 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:13:56
76 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:14:13
77 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers 0:14:15
78 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM 0:14:31
79 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM 0:14:40
80 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel-Premier Tech 0:14:44
81 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:14:51
82 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers 0:15:40
83 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:17:44
84 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
85 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:17:45
86 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:17:51
87 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:17:54
88 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:18:08
89 Stan Van Tricht (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:18:09
90 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:18:10
91 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM 0:18:13
92 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:18:15
93 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
94 Luka Mezgec (Slo) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:18:16
95 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:18:17
96 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel-Premier Tech 0:18:23
97 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:27
98 Luca Rastelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:18:42
99 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:18:53
100 Stijn Steels (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:19:04
101 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:19:12
102 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:20:23
103 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates 0:20:53
104 Julius Johansen (Den) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:21:20
105 Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team 0:21:30
106 Kaden Groves (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:21:38
107 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:21:39
108 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:21:40
109 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:21:49
110 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:21:51
111 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:21:59
112 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel-Premier Tech 0:22:03
113 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel-Premier Tech 0:22:10
114 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
115 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirates 0:22:21
116 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:22:26
117 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:22:29
118 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:22:34
119 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:35
120 Campbell Stewart (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:22:38
121 Marc Brustenga (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:41
122 Kelland O’Brien (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:22:42
123 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:23:01
124 Johan Price Pejtersen (Den) Bahrain Victorious 0:24:20
125 Sam Bewley (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:25:39