Paris (AFP)
Briton Adam Yates left his mark on the Emirates Tour 2020 (UAE Tour) by winning the third stage alone, on Tuesday at Jebel Hafeet, and taking the lead in the general classification.
No one was able to follow the 27-year-old climber in the final climb of Jebel Hafeet, a 10.6 km long climb at 7% average slope.
Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) hung on his wheel for a while before being released. Tadej Pogacar (UAE) then chased the Briton, 6 kilometers from the finish, but was unable to close the gap between them. The 21-year-old Slovenian finished 2nd in the stage, at 1'03. Frenchman David Gaudu takes 4th place, just behind Lutsenko.
The Tour of the Emirates is the first race of the season for Adam Yates, 29th in the last Tour de France.
"I may have attacked a bit early, but in the end I felt good," said the stage winner. "One minute is a lot, but we will have to do this climb again, and maybe my legs will not be as good that day," he added, referring to the 5th stage, Thursday.
Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde, winner in the last two years at Jebel Hafeet, has lost a lot of time and is now more than 2'30 behind the leader in the general classification.
Briton Chris Froome (Ineos), who is resuming competition after an interruption of more than eight months, was left behind after less than a kilometer of ascent. The quadruple winner of the Tour de France finished the stage at his own pace, accompanied by a teammate, 10'49 behind the race leader.
Wednesday, the fourth stage, 173 km long, will link Zabeel Park to the Dubai City Walk, and should give pride of place to sprinters, while the peloton of this Tour of the Emirates will once again rally the summit of Jebel Hafeet on Thursday.
© 2020 AFP