"When the best rider in the world keeps you from winning, you have to be satisfied with second" - Oscar Onley best of the rest behind Tadej Pogacar on Jebel Jais

Stage 3 of the 2025 UAE Tour saw a daunting summit finish atop Jebel Jais won by the unstoppable Tadej Pogacar as the world champion took his first win of the season. Just behind the Slovenian though, Team Picnic PostNL's Oscar Onley finished best of the rest, showing off some strong early season form.

Onley actually clocked the same time as Pogacar at the line, only losing out to the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader in the final sprint. “The guys did a good job looking after me throughout the stage and keeping morale high on what was a long day," reflected the 22-year-old Scot post-stage, in a press release on Team Picnic PostNL's official website. "I banked on my sprint in the final and managed to pick up second place. I’m feeling good and hopefully can make up some GC time on Sunday.”

In the general classification after three stages, Onley now sits 12th overall, 41 seconds down on race leader Pogacar, but only 18 seconds off the podium. “The guys kept Oscar safe the whole day so he could give it a shot on the last climb. With a lot of control in the peloton it came down to a sprint from quite a big group. Oscar did a really nice effort and was able to grab second place, which is a nice reward," adds Team Picnic PostNL coach Roy Curvers. "Of course, you always want to win but when it needs the best rider in the world to keep you from winning, then you have to be satisfied with second place as well.”