"It shows all the hard work was not in vain": Harold Tejada gets off to a great 2026 start with a near-podium in UAE

The UAE Tour presented riders with a first big test of the season. While many including pre-race favourite Remco Evenepoel have failed, at XDS Astana Team, they can be more than happy with Harold Tejada's performance over the week in United Arab Emirates. With a fourth place on Jebel Mobrah, 8th on Jebel Hafeet and a solid time trial, the Colombian was ten seconds off a podium result, which would equal Astana's best result from 2020 when Alexey Lutsenko arrived 3rd overall behind Adam Yates and Tadej Pogacar.

"First of all, I want to thank my team and all the riders who did a huge job every day to support me," the Colombian said via team's official channels. "We knew the race would be tough, both in terms of the course profile and the level of the riders at the start."

"Our goal was ambitious – to fight for a Top 5 or even a podium. In the end, I finished 4th, the ‘golden middle,’ so to speak," Tejada said.

The success is slightly bittersweet for Tejada, who virtually stood on the final podium after Jebel Mobrah stage, however Luke Plapp put in a tremendous effort on Jebel Hafeet to leap over Tejada into a third overall. "Of course, you always want more, but I have to admit that 4th place is a significant result for me and shows that all the effort and hard work were not in vain."

Tejada already kicked off his 2026 campaign two weeks prior at the Colombian Championships with a pair of top-10 results, but it definitely feels as if the UAE Tour was his true opening to the season which will continue with three stage races in a quick succession - Paris-Nice, Itzulia Basque Country and Tour of Turkey, before a Tour-Vuelta double later into the summer. It's a familiar combination for Tejada who rode a similar programme already the past two seasons.

Thus this near-podium in UAE is a great motivation into the rest of this season for the 28-year-old: "I feel the progress, step by step moving forward, and results like today confirm that I’m on the right path. I’m very happy that my first race with the team this season turned out so successfully."

"I think it’s a great start to the year, giving me huge motivation ahead of Paris–Nice and the Grand Tours, where I would like to improve my results. But of course, a lot of hard work still lies ahead," he concludes.