The first of two mountain top finishes in the UAE Tour (2.UWT, 20-26/02) was scheduled this Wednesday on the occasion of the fourth stage in the neighborhood of the border with Oman. After the individual time trail in Ajman, the long climb Jebel Jais (18.7km at 5.7%) at an altitude of nearly 1500 meter was the second battlefield for the GC favorites.
The riders under direction of Valerio Piva and Pieter Vanspeybrouck dynamited the final climb. With 7 kilometer to race, Estonian rider Rein Taaramäe accelerated multiple times and joined attacks of Hindley (BORA), Majka and Pogacar (UAE).
Taaramäe was part of a leading group of six riders for several minutes before leading the reduced peloton with Jan Hirt in his slipstream in the final 4 kilometer. The Czech rider and recent winner of the Tour of Oman then accelerated several times himself, but in the end nobody managed to make a difference on the long and regular climb.
Finally, a group of around fifteen riders sprinted for the victory and Jan Hirt took ninth place. Also Louis Meintjes was present among the strongest climbers and crossed the line in nineteenth position. Both men climbed in the top twenty of the provisional classification with two stages suited for sprinters and a finish on top of the Jebel Hafeet (11km at 6.7%) to come.
« We managed to make the final hard today and bring Jan Hirt to a higher position in the provisional classification. I accomplished my task well by reacting to all attacks and keeping the pace high until the final 3 kilometer, after which Jan was in a perfect position to accelerate himself. We knew that this long and regular climb didn’t offer the best conditions to make a difference, so that’s why we are looking forward to the finish on top of the steeper Jebel Hafeet on Saturday. Also there we want to show our colors on the climb with the aim of finishing in the top ten of the general classification with Jan. »
