Second joy on the fourth day of competition of the UAE Tour. After Einer Rubio’s victory in the mountains, The flat terrain returned and the opportunity for the sprinters, chance that Juan Sebastián Molano did not miss to obtain his first victory in this 2023.
The fourth stage, which had a 174-kilometre route on flat terrain from Al Shindagha to the Port of Dubai, was led by a fugue in which Baudin, Tonelli and Zoccarato resisted, but there was no prize, as the peloton quickened the pace in favor of the sprinters and hunted them down reaching the last 3 km.
Compact group for the sprint definition, in which The first to take a slight advantage was Fernando Gaviria, but he started earlier and lacked legs in the last meters. Several took advantage of the Colombian’s movement as a launch, including Molano, for a tight definition.
The celebration lasted a couple of minutes while the judges reviewed the images and the photo finish to determine the winner. And it was Molano, who narrowly crossed the finish line before Kooij Olav from Jumbo-Visma. Sam Welsford (Team DSM) completed the podium for the day.
Molano, whose last victory was the final stage of the Vuelta a España the previous yearis the third Colombian to win a stage in this competition and the second to do so with the local team, since Fernando Gaviria did the same in 2019, when he was running for the UAE Team Emirates.
General classification and fifth stage of the UAE Tour
This day did not change the general classification, which is still dominated by the current road champion, Remco Evenepoel, with a time of 12h 17’23”. The best of ours is Einer Rubio in the eighth box at 1’11”.
In the stage of this Friday, February 24, a new definition is expected among the sprinters, since It will be 170 kilometers without mountain passes from the Island of Al Marjan to Umm al Quwain. Will Molano repeat, will there be a rematch for Gaviria or will another sprinter prevail?
