Feb 20, 2025 Press Conference

MILAN STRIKES AGAIN

Second victory for the Lidl-Trek rider in Umm Al Quwain, as he edges out Merlier and Philipsen in a thrilling sprint. Pogačar retains the Red Jersey.

Umm Al Quwain, 20 February 2025 – After winning the opening stage, Jonathan Milan doubles his tally with a photo-finish victory in stage 4 of the UAE Tour. The Lidl-Trek sprinter launched his sprint early and held off a late comeback from Belgian rivals Merlier and Philipsen, securing his third win of the season. The TAQA Stage saw a chaotic finale, with the peloton splitting multiple times due to the fierce winds—though never catching Red Jersey wearer Tadej Pogačar off guard. The Slovenian remains firmly in control of the general classification, while the Green Jersey now belongs to Jonathan Milan, and the Black Jersey is taken over by Dorde Duric.

Today’s photo finish

Tadej Pogacar was awarded the Red Jersey by Mr. Ahmed Khammas – CEO at International Food Industry Ghitha Subsidiary – and Sheikh Majed Bin Saud Al Mula – Chairman of Department of Tourism and Archaeology Umm Al Quwain

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG)
2 – Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) at 18″
3 – Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) at 23″

Stage winner Jonathan Milan was awarded by H.E. Aref Al Awani – General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council – and Sheikh Majed Bin Saud Al Mula – Chairman of Department of Tourism and Archaeology Umm Al Quwain

STAGE RESULTS
1 – Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), 181km in 4h03’01”, average speed 44.688 km/h
2 – Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) s.t.
3 – Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) s.t.

Jonathan Milan was awarded the Green Jersey by Mr. Ismail Ali Abdulla – Executive Director at Mubadala – and Colonel Saeed Obaid Bin Arran – Director of Traffic and Patrols Department, General Directorate of Umm Al Quwain Police

THE OFFICIAL JERSEYS

The leader jerseys of the UAE Tour are provided by ALÉ, with ENIT and ITALIA.IT as proud jersey partners

Red Jersey, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by International Holding Company: IHC – Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG)
Green Jersey, leader of the Points Classification, sponsored by Mubadala -Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
White Jersey, Best Young Rider, sponsored by Nakheel – Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers)
Black Jersey, leader of the Intermediate Sprint Classification, sponsored by ALDAR – Dorde Duric (Solution Tech Vini Fantini)

Joshua Tarling was awarded the White Jersey by H.E. Talal Mustafa Al Hashemi – Executive Director of Events Sector in Abu Dhabi Sports Council – and Mr. Khalifa Youssef Bin Omair – Vice President of UAE Cycling Federation

PRESS CONFERENCE
Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner Jonathan Milan said: “I saw Tim Merlier coming very fast, then I waited for the photo finish and I eventually was told that I won but I didn’t know. In my first years as a pro, I wasn’t so successful because I had to gain experience first, learn how to move. Step by step, I got there. Today’s stage gives me a lot of confidence for Milano-Sanremo considering the level of the sprinters at the UAE Tour but Milano-Sanremo has a different finale. We knew there was a high chance of echelons with the wind there was today, but we were always ready and always in the front group”.

The Red Jersey Tadej Pogacar said: “My aim in the echelons was staying safe and not losing time. In the echelons, you have fun if you are in the front group and you don’t if you are behind. It wasn’t our initiative, we followed the moves. I’m always up for action anyway. I enjoyed it today. The team did an amazing job staying in the front when it was important. It was hard but we had some fun. I thought it would be safer to have a sprint in a reduced group. Some people think we have easy stages at the UAE Tour but so far, there has been some action every day. It also makes it a good preparation race for the classics”.

Dorde Duric was awarded the Black Jersey by Mr. Obaid Alyammami – Director of Corporate Communications at ALDAR – and H.E. Talal Mustafa Al Hashemi – Executive Director of Events Sector in Abu Dhabi Sports Council

STATISTICS

Jonathan Milan records his 2nd win at the UAE Tour, becoming the most successful Italian rider in this race.
19th professional win for Jonathan Milan, already the 3rd this year. Last year he finished the season with 11 wins, with only one as early as February.
Jonathan Milan joins Sam Bennett (2021), Jasper Philipsen (2022), Tadej Pogacar (2022) and Tim Merlier (2023): the only riders who scored 2 wins in one edition at the UAE Tour. The record is just one win away: Merlier won 3 times last year.
12th leader’s jersey at the UAE Tour for Tadej Pogacar, which equals the sum of his two closest rivals: 7 by Primoz Roglic and 5 by Remco Evenepoel.

TOMORROW’S STAGE – STAGE 5, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN DUBAI-HAMDAN BIN MOHAMMED SMART UNIVERSITY, 160 KM – DUBAI SPORTS COUNCIL STAGE

The route

A stage in Dubai. The race will leave the city in the direction of the desert, passing the classic sites of these stages such as the Al Qudra Cycletrack and the Meydan Racecourse. It then reaches the Dubai Safari Park. The entire route winds along very wide and essentially straight, roads interspersed with roundabouts that have a very large radius and are well paved.

Final kilometres

The finale is on a wide avenue, with a 700 m straight.