Ben O'Connor wins Jebel Jais summit finish at UAE Tour with perfectly timed attack - Jay Vine new race leader as McNulty cracks and Yates abandons
Cycling
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale played their cards perfectly on stage 3 of the UAE Tour. A late team attack saw Ben O'Connor soar to a brilliant stage victory. Jay Vine is the new race leader, whilst Adam Yates abandoned the race due to a crash.
A long day in the flat desert roads was not appetizing for breakaway opportunists. Mark Stewart and Silvan Dillier set to go up the road early on in the day. Echelons taking place with 96 kilometers to go however cut the gap incredibly fast.
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The duo was caught right away, but later on the pace slowed down as the winds also did. None of the big favourites were caught out and so the peloton was compact once again. With 67 kilometers to go then Stewart - the leader of the intermediate points classification which he seeks - attacked once again, this time with Dillier's teammate Jonas Rickaert.
The Briton ended up going off the front by himself at some point, then caught with 29 kilometers to go by a calm peloton. However, despite being calm, it saw a crash by Adam Yates, a big contender for the overall classification.
The Briton looked to be injured and suffering from a possible concussion, he later abandoned the race already inside the final climb to Jebel Jais. UAE Team Emirates set the early pace in the climb, without too much damage in the peloton.
Einer Rubio with 10 kilometers to go and Jan Hirt with 6 kilometers to go launched powerful attacks, but both brought back by UAE's Mikkel Bjerg who controlled the front of the group. Nicolas Prudhomme pushed the pace for Decathlon AG2R briefly, but the action then waited for the final kilometer.
Valentin Paret-Peintre attacked with teammate Ben O'Connor in the wheel, a very sharp attack and perfectly timed. The Australian had the power then to hold off the charge in the peloton which was equally fatigued at the time. O'Connor takes his second win of the season, with Jay Vine coming in second place, whilst Lennert van Eetvelt sprinted from the GC group behind to finish third. Vine has taken over the race lead with the bonifications he conquered.
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