"From now on I will definitely go for the victory" - Antonio Tiberi the new man to beat at the UAE Tour

Antonio Tiberi started off his season strong and at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana had a level that saw him finishing fourth in the overall classification. His form continued to improve and at the UAE Tour we are perhaps seeing the highest level that the Italian has ever reached.

“It’s amazing. This is a dream for me, and I still need to realize what I’ve done," Tiberi said in a press release. "I started the season with really good sensations right from the training camps. Then, in my first race, I felt that I was already close. I had been waiting for this moment to come, and today it finally happened".

The Emirati race began surprisingly well for the Italian rider, who sprinted to third in the uphill sprint. This was already a sign of what was to come; and the stage 2 time trial saw Tiberi maintain his spot in the Top10 even with the surge of the pure time trialists. Everything was in place for the leader of Bahrain - Victorious to have a strong finish in the overall classification, but few would've expected that he would've dropped Remco Evenepoel, Isaac del Toro and Felix Gall in the first kilometers of Jebel Mobrah. It was his first stage win in four years, and the second of his career.

The start of the final 6-kilometer ascent was so difficult that the differences were made there, and then Tiberi had the power to hold his gap over Isaac del Toro to the line. The Mexican is now his main rival, but Tiberi has 21 seconds over him, with four stages - including one to Jebel Hafeet - remaining.

"It’s even more special to achieve it on such a hard climb here in the UAE. I came here with the goal of finishing in the top five, maybe even the top three. I think today I showed that I can also try to win the UAE Tour, and from now on I will definitely go for the victory.”