Pre-race favourite Adam Yates is out of the UAE Tour after being involved in a horror crash on Stage 3 as fellow UAE Team Emirates rider Jay Vine took over as the new overall leader.
Team leader Yates hit the ground hard with around 46 kilometres left and, after attempting to continue, the British rider pulled out of the race before the stage's uphill phase.
“Unfortunately, Adam Yates has been diagnosed with a concussion after his crash today at the UAE Tour. He is stable with other superficial injuries,” said UAE Team Emirates medical director Dr Adrian Rotunno.
“For the sake of Adam’s health, and as per concussion protocols, he was withdrawn from racing. He will need recovery, and the medical team will continue with neurological monitoring and rehab going forward.”
It was a bitter blow for the home team who had started Wednesday's racing with Brandon McNulty ahead in the general classification and ended it with his Australian teammate Jay Vine on top.
Vine finished second on Stage 3, five seconds behind countryman Ben O'Connor, with Belgian rider Lennert Van Eetvelt in third. He now leads O'Connor in the overall standings by 11 seconds with American McNulty third, two seconds behind.
“In the last kilometre it was just giving everything till the finish,” said Vine. “Adam Yates’ crash was a bit of a weird one, not on a pretty stressful part. I didn’t see it happen. But unfortunately he can’t remember hitting the ground.
“The plan now is to retain the red jersey till the end with a rider from UAE Team Emirates, it doesn’t matter who, but I’m sure there are a hundred guys out there who have a different idea. It’s incredible that at my first race of the year I’m wearing a WorldTour leader jersey.”
The new GC leader said his sights were always on winning. “A surge came, I looked for Brandon, he started turning back and I heard on the radio, 'Jay you’ve got to pull' - I carried to the front and I kept going flat out,” added Viner.
“The plan was for the team to take the red jersey home at the end of the week. We did pretty well to come away with me in the red jersey at the end of the day.”
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team rider O'Connor pulled away from the pack with just over a kilometre left for his first WorldTour win of the season.
Vine tried in vain to close in on him but had to settle for second ahead of Van Eetvelt of Lotto Dstny in the 176-kilometre Ras Al Khaimah stage from Al Marjan Island to Jebel Jais.
“It's been a while since I last won a mountain top. It was amazing. The boys were super good today. Second win of the year, it's pretty cool,” said O’Connor after the finish.
“I was not confident in my sprint at the end so we decided to go full before the one kilometre to go mark. Valentin Paret-Peintre almost dropped me off but we managed to get a gap and I kept going till the end.
“I just thought why not because in a sprint at the end I’m not always super confident so I just told him, ‘let’s go full’, and he was kind of dropping me off the wheel but it was sweet to get the gap.
“There’s no better motivation than to see everyone behind you and try to get to the finish line first.”
Stage 3 results:
1. Ben O'Connor (AUS) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 4 hrs 16 min 21 sec.
2. Jay Vine (AUS) UAE Team Emirates, at 5 sec
3. Lennert Van Eetvelt (BEL) Lotto Dstny, st
General Classification:
1. Jay Vine (AUS) UAE Team Emirates
2. Ben O'Connor (AUS) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, at 11 sec
3. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, at 13 sec
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
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Oppenheimer
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Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
MATCH INFO
Schalke 0
Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')
Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
Background: Chemical Weapons
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
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