"I didn't want to be surprised" - Tadej Pogacar rides Jebel Hafeet almost fully by himself to seal UAE Tour victory
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar was the headliner of the UAE Tour and he definitely delivered on the expectations. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider has won the second World Tour stage-race of the season with a triumph today at Jebel Hafeet, wrapping up a week with a lot of action both uphill and on the flat roads.
He was surprised with how hard the peloton went today in the flat section of the stage, leading to an average speed of over 47Km/h on a day with a summit finish. "Because a lot of guys have the last day today to do something, to train. A lot of the sprinters' teams don't have a GC rider. They have the Opening Weekend (Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne, ed.) next week, it was a crosswind so it was good to make some chaos in the group".
But as always, he was present in the front, never skipping a beat, and in the process seeing several of his rivals getting dropped before the climbing even started. "For us GC riders we had to be really careful, always be attempt. It split the first time in crosswinds and somehow it worked. At first I didn't think we'd be cooperative but it went to the finish, for me it was a really good day".
UAE didn't have to do a lot of work. Their climbers were dropped in the crosswinds, but Soudal - Quick-Step (mainly, not exclusively) took care of the pace in the front group, helping their leaders towards a better final result. Pogacar only had to stay in the pack and save himself towards the final 10-kilometer climb.
"I wouldn't mind to go easy to the climb and just cool myself all the time, but like this it was pretty good with Florian [Vermeersch] and Rune [Herregodts] in the front they kept getting me water and cooling me down, so it didn't make the day too hard. For me it was ideal," he explains.
Then on the final climb itself, he made his move early on, with still over 7 kilometers to go. "That's when Rune pulled off his effort, two riders left for me in the bunch, they pulled how much they could then I decided to go and try to go solo. I didn't want to be surprised or counter-attacked or anything so it's just better to go at my own pace to the top," the World Champion adds.
He started off his season just as successfully as expected, and now he will change his focus completely towards the spring classics. We'll see more of the Slovenian at Strade Bianche. "We will see, I don't race stage-races anymore until Dauphiné, time to switch a little bit the mind to the classics and try to make the most of it. I will try to enjoy, have good legs and we'll see".
Read also
🏆🇦🇪 With victory on Jebel Hafeet, @TamauPogi wins the 2025 #UAETour!
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) February 23, 2025
It’s a third career victory at our home race for the world champion! 🌈
We finish the race with the overall victory and two stage victories. Great effort, guys! 😁 #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/nv2coFY9FX
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 6visitors 3
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment