Joao Almeida won the closing time trial on Sunday and Adam Yates finished second to seal overall victory as the UAE Team Emirates duo dominated the Tour of Switzerland.
Almeida started the final time trial, a 15.7-kilometre uphill stretch from Aigle to Villars-sur-Ollon, 31 seconds behind overall leader Yates. The Portuguese rider won in 33 minutes 23 seconds, but was only nine seconds ahead of his teammate at the line.
The UAE pair had taken the top two spots in each of the three previous stages. They both finished with two stage victories.
At the age of 31, Yates announced his return to top form after suffering concussion in a crash at the UAE Tour in February. He collected his 28th victory as a professional.
"It's definitely up there," said Yates. "About two days to go, I wasn't sure if I could do it.
"I just couldn't accelerate, I was already over the limit so I just tried to hold the pace and thankfully it was enough.
"I'm still out of breath because it was such a hard climb, but one thing I had in the back of my mind for a while was the 2019 Tirreno-Adriatico where I lost the TT on the last day by one second and this had lived rent-free in my head for many years so it's finally good to win a race and win it with a TT.
"To win any big bike race is a big privilege and to share the podium with Joao as well, he's a special teammate."
The battle for overall victory came down to the final climb of the eight-day race. In the end, Yates would prevail, the British rider exceeding even his own expectations to hold off his teammate. He had predicted after Stage 7 the previous day that Almeida would take “almost a minute” off him and pinch the yellow jersey at the death.
At the first checkpoint, coming after 5km of flat road racing, Yates had only conceded seven seconds to Almeida, a deficit he turned into a lead as the climbing began, reaching the second checkpoint three seconds ahead.
Almeida would finish the day in the box seat, however, having set a mark of 33:23. That would be good enough for the stage victory, the team’s fourth in as many days.
But it wouldn’t be enough to reel in the Stage 5 and 7 victor Yates, who trailed by a mere nine seconds at the finish and, with it, secured a second WorldTour stage race of his career.
Behind the leading pair, 2023 champion Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) rounded out the podium at 21 seconds down, in the process jumping ahead of Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) to take the final spot on the GC podium at 3:02 down on winner Yates.
Yates came third in the last Tour de France and will be team leader Tadej Pogacar's second in this year's edition. Almeida, who acted as pacemaker when Yates won Stage 5, will also be part of the Tour de France team.
"I'm really happy with the time trial stage victory, I think my first TT victory except nationals so that's pretty good," said Almeida.
"At the start of the day, I knew it was quite impossible to win the GC against Adam."
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
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Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Cricket World Cup League Two
Teams
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
Fixtures
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Oman
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
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10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
