Evenepoel and Adam Yates meet for the throne of the UAE Tour from an absent Pogacar

Remco Evenepoel started his season at half throttle in the Vuelta a San Juan last January. Calm, without pressure, even allowing himself the luxury of committing a miscalculation in Alto del Colorado, summit that decided the general in favor of Miguel Ángel López and where the Belgian attacked too far, with more ambition than legs. This time, the setting is different, the first World Tour event for Remco this season and the first race in that category where he will wear his brand new rainbow jersey. The tests are over…

“After me first participation in the UAE Tour in 2019, I feel happy to be back. I’m happy the team let me do this race. The first big day will be the team time trial on Tuesday in which I hope I don’t lose too much time. With Tim Merlier we have a good chance to win a sprint. Our goal is at least one stage win and a good overall for me”, the Soudal Quick-Step leader analyzed his chances on a route with three well-differentiated key points: the team time trial and the classic high finals from Jebel Jais and Jebel Hafeet.

Those peaks are still territory of the absent defending champion, a Tadej Pogacar that he decided to start his season in Spain and that he will delegate stripes in the UAE team to his partner Adam Yates, curiously, the only mortal who was able to defeat him in the general of the Emirates, thanks to his victory in Jebel Hafeet, back in 2020. The thing does not end in the duel between Belgian and British, since a great runner as it is Pello Bilbao, who comes from winning a stage in the Down Under and from being 4th in the Volta a Valencia, he aspires to stand up to them in the fight for the general classification. The rest of the days will be flat and with some sprint outcomes that will have a list of sprinters of many carats: Bennett, Démare, Gaviria, Merlier, Cavendish, Ewan, Groenewegen, Viviani… All arranged in the desert.