Preview UAE Tour 2026 stage 5 - Can anyone stop Jonathan Milan in a flat sprint in Dubai?

From the 16th to the 22nd of February, the peloton will be in the Middle East for what is the second World Tour stage-race of the season: the UAE Tour. The race, characterized by its flat stages and hot weather, will once again host some of the world's very best. We preview stage 5, which is expected to start and finish at 10:30 and 14:00CET.

The race was only created in 2019, off the back of the success of other events such as the Abu Dhabi Tour and the Dubai Tour. The region, host to large financial capacity, hot weather in February, and its World Tour status, has managed to attract big figures on a yearly basis. Its first edition, in 2019, immediately saw Primoz Roglic take the overall win ahead of then World Champion Alejandro Valverde.

With the growth of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, the nation's own team, the importance it gained grew even bigger. Adam Yates won the race in 2020, and that gave way to then Pogacar's two consecutive victories ahead of the Briton in 2021 and 2022. Then World Champion Remco Evenepoel soared to victory in 2023; his compatriot Lennert van Eetvelt won in 2024; whilst in 2025 it was World Champion Tadej Pogacar who took a dominant victory, winning both traditional finished into Jebej Jais and Jebel Hafeet.

Stage 5 of the race starts in Dubai, heads into the desert and then returns to the city. It's not the first time the finale is hosted in an university, as the stage is pan-flat, meaning a bunch sprint is unavoidable.

The finale has no technical features until the riders reach the 1 kilometer to go sign, where they will then take on two right-hand corners which means that positioning and timing will be quite important in this finale.

With the riders in Dubai, echelons are harder to be created as the stage is more urban then others. There is some desert riding, but the wind won't be very strong and will come from the north, which means a headwind come back to the city and not crosswind action.

Jonathan Milan - We can be honest in saying the stage is not going to have more or a different story than today. The peloton did wildly miscalculate on stage 4, they won't do the same on stage 5; but the outcome will be a bunch sprint and that's inevitable. Somewhat more technical but nothing special, the riders still won't have urban features or any climbing whatsoever to throw into the mix. Hence, Jonathan Milan, who is clearly the strongest sprinter in the race, is likely to win - even though bunch sprints are never easy to do perfectly, and any slight mistake can open the doors to the rest of the field.

Ethan Vernon has shown himself quite strong today and with a good leadout, I think it is fair to mention him as one of the best competitors against the Italian. Casper van Uden, Juan Sebastián Molano and Sam Welsford are the other men who can challenge Milan realistically - although the latter needs an easy stage and finale to be within a shot.

Albert Dainese, Matteo Malucelli, Erlend Blikra, Stefan de Schuyteneer, Madis Mihkels, Gerben Thijssen, Cees Bol, Robin Froideveaux, Daniel Skerl and today's surprise third place and winner's brother Matteo Milan are all outsiders as well for the stage who will be looking for a very important World Tour win.

*** Jonathan Milan
** Ethan Vernon, Juan Sebastián Molano, Sam Weslford
* Casper van Uden, Alberto Dainese, Matteo Milan, Matteo Malucelli, Gerben Thijssen

Pick: Jonathan Milan

How: Regular bunch sprint.