Tadej Pogacar provided the UAE Team Emirates their first stage success on Day 5 of the UAE Tour at the Jebel Hafeet on Thursday.
The Slovenian, who finished second behind Adam Yates at the Jebel Hafeet on Tuesday's Stage 3, managed to force his way past Astana Pro Team’s Alexey Lutsenko in a gripping battle to the finishing line.
Yates joined them on the podium having finished third in the 162-kilometre Al Ain stage to retain the lead in the General Classification.
As the lead riders approached the finishing line, it appeared to be five-way battle after Yates and Pogacar were joined by David Gaudu of Groupama-FD, Lutsenko and CCC Team’s Ilnur Zakarin.
Lutsenko emerged first on the final turn and thought he had done enough to take the stage but Pogacar had other ideas as he refused to give up the sprint and "threw the bike" at the line to take the verdict.
“It was an amazing win,” Pogacar said. “On the climb, I tried to attack over five times but I saw Yates was strong so I played it smart and waited for the sprint.
“I started the sprint quite early because I knew the last corner was crucial. We took the corner side by side but I kept fighting and pushing until the line.
“I saw the gap in the last metres and I threw the bike and won in the end. The whole team worked perfectly today. This was my first big goal of the year and a home win for the team which is really incredible.
“This is like a home race for my team and for me as well since I realized some fans had come from Slovenia to support me here.
”The dramatic finale makes it an amazing victory. I had to throw my bike on the line to beat Lutsenko. I’m super happy with winning here up on Jebel Hafeet.”
Yates remained in the lead but Pogacar had reduced the lead to 0:01.01 seconds as they go to Friday’s penultimate stage that sees the riders head to the desert with a 158km route starting from Al Ruwais and finishing in Al Mirfa.
“I felt good,” Yates said. “For sure two days ago I got a big advantage but today all I did was stay with other key guys and out of trouble.
“That’s what it is. It’s all good. For sure I don’t want to lose the lead of this race any time soon. The next two stages are fairly flat but we’ll have to pay attention to the wind.
“Today it was windy and there were a lot of nervous guys, so we’ll just have to keep calm.
“Hopefully, in two days’ time I’ll be here again to comment on the overall victory. It would be nice to get the first win in the first race of the season. I’ve been training well and the condition is there, so I wanna try and win the UAE Tour.”
Chris Froome, making his comeback from career-threatening injuries suffered last year, finished 59th.
The four-time Tour de France winner is 71st overall for Team Ineos, 19 minutes and 45 seconds off the pace.
