Results UAE Tour 2026 Stage 3 | Remco Evenepoel cracks badly on the Jebel Mobrah as Antonio Tiberi holds onto victory ahead of resurgent Isaac del Toro
Cycling
Stage 3 of the 2026 UAE Tour delivered a decisive reckoning on the brutal slopes of Jebel Mobrah, reshaping the general classification and turning the race on its head.
On the steepest ramps of the previously untested climb, race leader Remco Evenepoel cracked heavily, conceding significant time, while Isaac Del Toro recovered from early difficulty to salvage his position. Ahead of them all, Antonio Tiberi rode clear, poised to claim the stage on one of the hardest summit finishes the UAE Tour has seen.
A long day funnels into one decisive climb
The stage was shaped early by a long two-man break from Silvan Dillier and Jonas Rickaert, who spent more than 170 kilometres at the front and swept up the intermediate sprint points. Their advantage was always allowed to grow on borrowed time, however, with the peloton fully focused on the final ascent, where more than half of the day’s 2617 metres of climbing were concentrated.
As the race approached Jebel Mobrah, the tempo rose steadily under the control of Decathlon CMA CGM Team, UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe. The break was absorbed precisely at the foot of the climb, marking the end of the day’s preliminaries and the start of its true test.
Jebel Mobrah offered no gradual introduction. After an opening rise and a brief easing, the road pitched sharply upward into a final section of more than six kilometres averaging well into double digits, with ramps touching 17 percent. From there, the race unravelled quickly.
Early probing, then a brutal selection
The first accelerations came before the steepest slopes, with moves from riders such as Christopher Harper briefly stretching the group. Those efforts served mainly to thin the field. Sprinters and heavier riders were dropped almost immediately, and the peloton was reduced to a select group of climbers before the decisive gradients even arrived.
As the climb hardened, repeated changes of rhythm finally produced a clear selection. Felix Gall, Tiberi and Junior Lecerf featured prominently as the pace lifted, forcing the favourites to respond rather than dictate.
Evenepoel initially matched those accelerations, but the cost became visible as the climb wore on. After closing several moves himself, the race leader began to ride on the limit as the gradient refused to relent.
Evenepoel breaks, Del Toro rebuilds
On the steepest section of the climb, the elastic finally snapped. Evenepoel was unable to sustain the pace and was forced to let the others go, his deficit growing rapidly as the red jersey slipped out of contention. Isolated and without team support, he rode the final kilometres in damage-limitation mode, conceding close to a minute as the climb imposed its verdict.
Just ahead of him, the picture was very different for Del Toro. After spending much of the climb positioned defensively and briefly appearing vulnerable, the Mexican steadied his effort as others faltered. Supported earlier by Adam Yates, Del Toro found a rhythm on the hardest ramps, rejoining the main chase group and then accelerating again to limit further losses.
What had looked like a potential collapse instead became a controlled recovery. Del Toro moved back ahead of Evenepoel on the road, turning the narrative of the climb into one of survival and salvage rather than defeat.
Tiberi takes control at the front
While the favourites unravelled behind, the stage was being decided further up the mountain. Tiberi pressed on with sustained force, riding clear of Gall and the remaining chasers to establish a small but stable advantage. His effort was measured rather than explosive, built on a relentless tempo that others could not match.
Behind him, the chase fractured repeatedly. Gall remained the closest threat, while riders such as Luke Plapp, Harold Tejada, Ilan Van Wilder and Lennert Van Eetvelt fought individual battles against the gradient. Evenepoel, by contrast, slipped further back, his losses compounding as the climb continued to rise.
With the final kilometres still averaging brutally upward, the shape of Stage 3 was clear. Tiberi rode alone at the front, on course for a defining summit victory. Del Toro had limited the damage and reasserted himself in the general classification battle. And Evenepoel, dominant in the opening days, was enduring a costly collapse on the race’s hardest climb.
A stage that reshapes the UAE Tour
Even before the finish line, the consequences of Jebel Mobrah were unmistakable. The stage was no longer simply about who would win on the day, but about how dramatically the overall picture had changed. The red jersey was under threat, the hierarchy of contenders had been reordered, and the UAE Tour had tilted decisively on its first true mountain test.
Once the final gaps are confirmed, the ramifications for the general classification will come fully into focus. But already, Stage 3 stands as the day the race broke open: Evenepoel cracked, Del Toro fought back, and Antonio Tiberi seized his moment on the slopes of Jebel Mobrah.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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