Alessandro Tonelli rues agressive racing as he misses out on unimaginable stage win at UAE Tour
Cycling
Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè have had a wildcard to the UAE Tour and have been a constant presence in the day's breakaway, seizing the TV exposure that came along with the race's World Tour status. No-one would've predicted the Italian team would be within a shot of winning the sixth stage of the race however that was the case, but Alessandro Tonelli lacked the legs in the final sprint.
“Unfortunately at the end of my legs after 3 days of breakaway they said no in the final sprint, so at the same time I have some regrets, but I also keep close to a fourth place in a World Tour race that is moral. At minus 40 km we gradually started to accelerate, pulling hard and the last 20km with a favorable wind we went away at 60/70 hours and behind them they could not reach us," Tonelli said in a post-race interview.
Although a breakaway win was never to be expected from today's stage at the UAE Tour, Bardiani have placed two riders in front with Tonelli and teammate Johnatan Cañaveral making it to the front group. After being in the breakaway in stages one and four, Tonelli find himself once again in the head of the race, but he regrets having created so much fatigue in the days previous, which would've been crucial today.
The breakaway collaborated perfectly and Tonelli was in the group that went to fight for the stage win, but lacked the legs in the sprint and came home in fourth place behind stage winner Mathias Vacek.
"In the sprint I am not fast and against three opponents all from the same team it was not easy, I tried but congratulations to the winner. A fourth place that gives me morale for the next races," he added.
If he had succeeded this would have been the Italian's second win as a professional, after a win in the 2018 Cro Race. It is unclear where he will return to competition but with Bardiani having a stacked Italian calendar now in March, and a possible Giro d'Italia presence in May, the Italian will be keen to keep showing his form in order to keep targeting breakaways at World Tour level.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
- He will be lol, but he can still win on the climbs hahaawp04-11-2026
- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
Loading
🚴♂️ Allo UAE Tour arriva la fuga, 4° posto per Alessandro Tonelli che arriva a giocarsi la vittoria di tappa. 📰 Tutte le info e dichiarazioni del protagonista nella news: bardianicsf.com/bardiani-csf-f…
Write a comment