UAE to try and "take back time every day" after disastrous opening day - Adam Yates

UAE Team Emirates started the UAE Tour as the team to beat. After stage 1 that is no longer the case, as all three leaders lost time in the crosswinds and now have to fight back.

“This is a tough start to the race and my season," Adam Yates said in a press-race conference. "In the opening phase, some teammates were involved in a crash, so I was only at the front with two teammates. When it broke again due to the wind, we didn't have the legs to sit with."

The situation looked the most severe for Jay Vine at first, but as the riders faced headwind in the final half of the stage he managed to find his way into the peloton, where Adam Yates and Brandon McNulty were. None managed to be present in the winning split inside the final section of the stage however.

The trio now has to fight back, as Remco Evenepoel, Pello Bilbao and Luke Plapp took 51 seconds on them. “Tuesday is another day with a team time trial. It is to be hoped that we can then make up some time. It is certainly not a lost cause. We look at it day by day and will want to take back time every day. No stress," Yates concluded.