Joshua Tarling confirmed his status as main favorite, setting a record speed for the UAE Tour at 56.671 km/h and becoming the youngest rider to wear the Red Jersey. The British champion covered the 12.2 km of the Tudor ITT in a time of 12’55”, beating Stefan Bissegger by 13” and Tadej Pogacar by 18”. Further back among the GC contenders, Pello Bilbao finished at 39”, Giulio Ciccone at 42”, Carlos Rodriguez at 43”, Alexey Lutsenko at 45”, and defending champion Lennert Van Eetvelt at 46”. Behind them the former Red Jersey Jonathan Milan, who finished at 1’13”. Tomorrow, the Ras Al Khaimah-Jebel Jais will represent the first big chance for the climbers.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
- Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers)
- Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) at 13″
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) at 18″
STAGE RESULTS
- Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), 12.2km in 12’55”, average speed 56.671 km/h
- Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) at 13″
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) at 18″
THE OFFICIAL JERSEYS
The leader jerseys of the UAE Tour are provided by ALÉ, proud jersey partner of the leader jersey by ENIT and ITALIA.IT.
- Red Jersey, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by International Holding Company: IHC – Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers)
- Green Jersey, leader of the Points Classification, sponsored by Mubadala –Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) – worn by Jonathan Milan (Lidl – Trek)
- White Jersey, Best Young Rider, sponsored by Nakheel – Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) – worn by Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team)
- Black Jersey, leader of the Intermediate Sprint Classification, sponsored by ALDAR – Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group BardianiCSF-Faizanè)
PRESS CONFERENCE
Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner and Red Jersey Joshua Tarling said: “I had a bit of a bumpy end of last season, I just needed to regain confidence and it’s exciting to be here for that. It was a mix of bad luck and competing against guys like Remco [Evenepoel] and [Filippo] Ganna. After the Olympics, I was struggling a bit at la Vuelta. I did my first altitude training camp at the Teide to prepare for today’s time trial. I had more chances to beat Tadej [Pogacar] on a flat course like this. I used a 68×11 gear. I’m not going to let the jersey go easy tomorrow. Carlos [Rodriguez] is a better climber than me, and obviously there’s Tadej, but I’ll try to hold on as long as I can. The season looks pretty good this year”.
STATISTICS
- At 56,671 kph, Joshua Tarling set the new record for a TT at the UAE Tour, beating the 55,929 kph of Filippo Ganna on stage 2, 2021.
- Joshua Tarling turned 21 three days ago: he becomes the second-youngest winner at the UAE Tour after Mathias Vacek (19 years 8 months 13 days, Dubai 2022), the youngest from the UK.
- 4th stage win for the UK at the UAE Tour after stage 3 2020 (Adam Yates), stage 2 2022 (Mark Cavendish), stage 7 2023 (Adam Yates).
- At 21 years and 3 days, Joshua Tarling is the youngest ever leader in the history of UAE Tour, beating Luke Plapp (22 years 63 days, stage 2, 2023).
