Tadej finished the UAE Tour in style. In the decisive 7th stage, he didn’t just wait for the final climb on Jebel Hafeet, but found himself in the first part of the split peloton, 126 kilometers before the finish, leaving the rest of the peloton far behind.
Last year’s UAE Tour winner Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto) was also left behind, unable to compete for the top spots on the 10.8-kilometer final climb with a 6.6% average gradient. The battle ignited 7.8 kilometers before the finish when the last domestiques in the UAE Team Emirates – XRG Rune Herregodts and Florian Vermeersch gave way, and Tadej accelerated with all his might.
He left all his competitors behind and celebrated his fourth victory on Jebel Hafeet (he was the fastest in 2020, 2021, and 2022) and his third overall victory in the UAE Tour (2021 and 2022). »It was fast all day because many guys had their last chance to do something, even for training. The sprinters’ teams, who have the opening weekend of classic races ahead, didn’t have riders at the top of the GC and got the chance to cause some chaos in the crosswinds. Those of us still in the game for the GC had to be very careful and attentive. At one point the peloton split in half, at first I didn’t believe there would be much cooperation at the front, but we went to the finish. I wouldn’t have minded if we went slower towards the climb and I could have cooled down all the time, but it was fine this way too. Rune and Florian took good care of me, so it was almost ideal for me,« Tadej said about the challenging final test, adding about the decisive attack: »At that moment, Rune ran out of strength, I had two guys in front of me who weren’t climbers, and they did what they could. Then I decided to try a solo attack. I didn’t want anyone to surprise me, prepare a counterattack, it’s always better to go to the top at your own pace.«
Tadej, who finished 1:14 ahead of second-placed Giulio Ciccone (Lidl Trek), increased his career tally to 91 wins with his three victories at the start of the season. He will be on the hunt for his next successes in the rainbow jersey in one-day races, first in Italy, where the Strade Bianche is scheduled for March 8, and Milan–Sanremo on March 22. »We’ll see how it goes, I won’t race in stage races until the Dauphine, my thoughts need to be redirected to the classics. I’ll try to get the most out of them, I’ll try to enjoy, hope for good legs, we’ll see what the results will be,« Tadej took a look ahead to his next challenges.