PREVIEW | UAE Tour 2024 stage 3 - First summit finish set to separate contenders from pretenders

Previewing the UAE Tour 2024: Scheduled from February 19 to 25, this prestigious event spans over 980 km across seven stages. Four stages will cater to sprinters seeking victory. The second stage will test riders with an individual time trial, while stages three and seven (the final day) will challenge them with mountaintop finishes.

The first of the two mountain stages of the UAE Tour. The stage is divided into two distinct parts. The first one approaches the final mountain through the desert, while the last one is characterized by approximately 20 km of continuous ascent to the finish. Starting from Al Marjan Island, the route reaches Ras al Khaimah and returns to the desert.

TheJebel Jais. A climb that has begun being used quite often in the last editions of the race, earning it's spot as the second summit finish after the UAE Tour cemented Jebel Hafeet as it's main attraction. This climb is a totally different beast however, as the gradients are constant and never overly high. The gradients start off quite gently, but in total the climb has over 21 kilometers in distance, averaging 5.4%.

And amazingly the gradients remain almost completely constant the whole way up the mountain. It reaches up to 7% towards the finale, but it's an ascent where the average speeds stay close to 30 kilometers per hour. Drafting is crucial, and attacking from far highly unlikely to succeed. Although it's a twisty road all of the hairpins are very long and doesn't actually allow for sudden accelerations to surprise. The final minutes of the ascent can make differences however as it's a decently long effort, and there will be important signs given between the riders who are fighting for the overall classification.

*** Adam Yates
** Pello Bilbao, Ben O'Connor, Brandon McNulty
* Jay Vine, Ilan van Wilder, Bart Lemmen, Atilla Valter, Max Poole, Simon Carr, Jan Hirt, Lennert van Eetvelt, Einer Rubio

Pick: Adam Yates