Antonio Tiberi held off a last-gasp surge by Isaac del Toro to win Stage 3 of the UAE Tour after a draining battle up Jebel Mobrah.
The 13.2km finishing ascent on the border of Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah had been described as “grim” by Stage 2 runner-up Josh Tarling, and “a crazy hard climb” by Del Toro before Wednesday's tussle.
And it certainly provided a sterling test for the peloton with overnight leader Remco Evenepoel particularly struggling on the final 5km where gradients reached 12 per cent, resulting in him losing his red jersey to Tiberi of Bahrain Victorious.
The Italian would finish 15 seconds ahead of Del Toro with Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarche) third, a further 14 seconds back.
“I was dreaming of this win since I became a pro,” said Tiberi. “Now, finally, it arrived after the beginning of the season was really good; the feeling was good from the first race. I was waiting for this day, and today, finally, the day arrives.”
In the general classification, stage 1 winner Del Toro jumped from 10th to second, 21 seconds behind Tiberi, while 2023 champion Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) dropped down to 11th, one minute and 21 second behind the leader.
It was back down to earth with a bump for Evenepoel who had produced a sparkling time-trial performance to claim victory on Al Hudayriyat Island in Abu Dhabi the previous day.
The early running on the 183km-long Stage 3 was made by Alpecin-Premier Tech duo Silvan Dillier and Jonas Rickaert who launched a two-man break that saw them spend more than 170km at the front.
But the arrival at Jebel Mobrah would quickly absorb the break with the race unravelling quickly as the peloton was blown apart. Evenepoel was dropped on the steepest section of the climb and would eventually lose more than two minutes of time.
Tiberi took control at the front building a solid tempo that his rivals could not match and would go on to claim his first win since securing the Tour de Luxembourg crown in 2024.
After appearing off the main pace for much of the climb, Del Toro found his rhythm and launched a late attack that ultimately fell short but resulted in a few nervy look backs from the Italian ahead of the finish line.
“In the beginning, the feeling was really good, and I was there with the first guys,” added Tiberi. “I saw that Remco, after some metres, started to lose a bit, and also Del Toro was not there, so I was thinking it was maybe a good day for me. But I was not sure, maybe they were just waiting for the final.
“But then I was there, the legs were really good. I tried to do my race, and I attacked, and I managed to do as hard as possible to the finish.”
Next up for the peloton is the 182km Stage 4 sprint that starts and finishes in Fujairah on Thursday.
Stage 4 route
