UAE Tour Women Stage 3 - Longo Borghini takes it all

Elisa Longo Borghini delivered a masterclass performance on Stage 3 of the UAE Tour Women, claiming victory atop Jebel Hafeet and almost securing the final victory. The reigning Giro d’Italia Women champion launched her decisive attack with 3.2 km to the finish, dropping all her rivals with a dominant display. Silvia Persico played a crucial support role and finished second, 35” behind, followed by Kimberley Le Court. Further back, Monica Trinca Colonel, Barbara Malcotti, and new White Jersey leader Antonia Niedermaier completed the top positions. Sprint specialist Lorena Wiebes, winner of the first two stages, lost contact with the lead group with just over 7 km to go but will have a chance to shine again in tomorrow’s fast-paced finale in Abu Dhabi.

General Classification

1 – Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ)
2 – Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) at 2’09”
3 – Kimberley (Le Court) Pienaar (AG Insurance – Soudal Team) at 2’11”

Stage Results

1 – Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ), 152km in 3h56’31”, average speed 38.559 km/h
2 – Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) at 35″
3 – Kimberley (Le Court) Pienaar (AG Insurance – Soudal Team) s.t.

The Official JerseysRed Jersey, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by International Holding Company: IHC – Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ)
Green Jersey, leader of the Points Classification, sponsored by MODON – Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) – worn by Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ)
White Jersey, Best Young Rider, sponsored by TAQA – Antonia Niedermaier (CANYON//SRAM Zondacrypto)
Black Jersey, leader of the Intermediate Sprint Classification, sponsored by ALDAR – Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ)

Press Conference

Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner and new Red Jersey Elisa Longo Borghini said: ““Silvia Persico was the key rider of our tactic today but the whole team did a great job, especially in the echelons earlier on. With 3km to go, I felt like it was time to give it a go. Once I saw a gap I took my rhythm. I’m pretty stocked. It’s amazing. This is my first race for my new team. There’s a country behind us. We feel very proud. Since we took time on the other GC riders yesterday, we didn’t need to destroy anybody today. We just had to defend our position. I felt comfortable. We’ll focus mainly on the Red Jersey tomorrow”.

The White Jersey Antonia Niedermaier said: “I’m quite happy with my performance. It could have been better but it still feel the consequences of the big crash of day 1 in my body. Yesterday it was also a hard race. Today I had a strong team around me. I tried my best. It’s my first race of the year, so it was hard to know where I stood. UAE Team ADQ was super strong so I tried to stay close to them. I was happy that they let me stay quite a while on their wheels. It was a nice race. The White Jersey was a little bit in my mind but I just tried to do my best performance. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll stand on the final podium as the best young rider”.

The Black Jersey Lara Gillespie said: “The UAE Tour is definitely the highest level I’ve competed in so far and it’s so exciting to support a rider like Elisa [Longo Borghini]. It was really special for me to race with the green jersey today. I’m just proud of the way we raced overall as a team. I went for the intermediate sprints because we didn’t want to lose any bonus second. It was tactical against Elisa’s competitors. It wasn’t with the aim of taking the black jersey myself but I’m happy to have it. Tomorrow, hopefully it’ll end up in a bunch sprint and I hope to be up there”.

Statistics

Second win at the UAE Tour Women for Elisa Longo Borghini, queen of Jebel Hafeet as she had already won there two years ago. She is the only Italian winner in this race.
Elisa Longo Borghini recorded her 48th pro win, the first in 126 days (Giro dell’Emilia last year).
Longo Borghini (1st), Silvia Persico (2nd), Monica Trinca Colonel (4th), Barbara Malcotti (5th): Italy is the first country with 4 riders in the top-5 of a UAE Tour Women stage.
Kimberley Le Court recorded her first top-3 at the UAE Tour Women, making Mauritius the 11th country with a top-3 finish in this race.