TIM MERLIER BREAKS RECORDS IN BREAKWATER

The former Belgian National Champion becomes the first rider with five stage wins at the UAE Tour and the first one with three in a single edition. Tomorrow grand finale with the uphill finish at Jebel Hafeet

Abu Dhabi Breakwater, 24 February 2024 – After winning in Liwa and Dubai Harbour, Tim Merlier brings home also the ALDAR stage, 138 km from Abu Dhabi Louvre Museum to Abu Dhabi Breakwater, becoming the first rider to win five stages at the UAE Tour and the first one with three stages in a single edition. The Green Jersey showed again perfect timing by taking the lead in the last 150 meters and resisting the return of Arvid De Kleijn, who finished in second place, as in the other sprints won by the former Belgian National Champion. With this victory, Merlier secures the leadership of the Points Classification on the eve of the final stage of the one and only UCI World Tour race in the Middle East which will take the riders to atop the 1025 metres of Jebel Hafeet. Jay Vine will start in the Red Jersey with an advantage of 11″ over Ben O’ Connor and 13″ over Brandon McNulty. 14 riders have a gap of less than a minute from the UAE Team Emirates rider which means that everything can still happen in the final 161 km of this edition.

Jonathan Emery, CEO of ALDAR, with the stage winner Tim Merlier

STAGE RESULTS

1 – Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), 138km in 3h02’14”, av. speed 45.436 km/h
2 – Arvid De Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) s.t.
3 – Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) s.t.

Fazel Ameen, CEO of Ghitha, Representing International Holding Company, awarded the Red Jersey Jay Vine

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 – Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates)
2 – Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) at 11″
3 – Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) at 13″

Ali Saeed Bin Thalith, Senior Director Marine Engineering at Nakheel, awarded the White Jersey Ilan Van Wilder

THE OFFICIAL JERSEYS

The leader jerseys of the UAE Tour are provided by ALÉ

• Red Jersey, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by International Holding Company – Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates)
• Green Jersey, leader of the Points Classification – Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)
• White Jersey, Best Young Rider, sponsored by Nakheel – Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step)
• Black Jersey, leader of the Intermediate Sprint Classification, sponsored by Bin Hamoodah Auto – Mark Stewart (Team Corratec – Vini Fantini)

Ayman Al Bijawi, Director of Sales & Marketing at Bin Hamoodah Auto, with the Black Jersey Mark Stewart

PRESS CONFERENCE

Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner Tim Merlier said: “The guys brought me in good position when the road was a bit narrow. From there it went really fast. I was a bit surprised to see that we were already in the last kilometre. There was a bit of space to move up with 700 metres to go. Bert [Van Lerberghe] delivered me just on time. I didn’t find his slipstream anymore but I went all in as we were coming to the right. It’s nice to finish it off. It’s a very nice feeling to being the first guy to win three stages in a single UAE Tour, looking at all the sprinters who were here in the past and now. It makes me really proud”.

The Red Jersey Jay Vine said: “I didn’t see any dangerous point today really. It reminded me of not so long ago when I was commuting by bike to go to work in Australia. You got that feeling of riding through red lights it was very cool to have a look at the buildings and stuff. Today was not super hard, but it’s going to be a big day tomorrow. I’ll have to consume about 4000 calories, maybe a bit more, so I had to do fuelling today for tomorrow, on the bike, after race and this evening, just to keep my stomach ok. I don’t know if we’ll have to set a defensive tempo tomorrow. Looking at this stage in previous years, it’s really up to people who have to make up time that haver to make the race hard, so I expect Decathlon-Ag2r and Soudal Quick-Step to speed up from the lower slopes. It shouldn’t be all up to us. We have some good riders. Mikkel [Bjerg] is really strong. To have him as far as possible up the climb with us will be useful. It’s also probably going to be the hottest day of the week tomorrow. It’ll be about responding, not losing time. As long as I keep McNulty’s wheel in front of mine, it should be fine”.

STATISTICS

• Tim Merlier posted his 5th season win, nearly a half of the ones he scored last season (11). This was his 39th professional win.
• Third stage podium for Arvid De Kleijn at the UAE Tour: they are all 2nd places, and all behind Tim Merlier, in stages 1, 4 and 6.
• Second stage podium at the UAE Tour for Phil Bauhaus: he was equally 3rd in this same stage finish on the 27th of February 2021.

TOMORROW’S STAGE – STAGE 7, AL AIN-BAIT MOHAMMED BIN KHALIFA-JEBEL HAFEET, 161 KM – INTERNATIONAL HOLDING COMPANY STAGE

The route

The classic mountain stage of the UAE Tour. In the first part, the route winds its way through Al Ain, where many of its landmarks are visited (Al Ain University, Al Qattara, Al Hili), and then takes a long tour of the desert to the west until it returns to Green Mubazzarah. Here the final climb of Jebel Hafeet begins, which with its 10 km section will be the final judge of the race.

Final kilometres

The final climb winds through wide-ranging hairpin bends on a 3-lane roadway. Gradients are mainly around 8-9% with a peak of 11%, 3 km from the finish. There is a very short descent in the last km, before the last ramp. The finish line is on straight asphalt.

To find out more about the UAE Tour, including details of the official race route, jerseys and sponsors, visit www.theuaetour.com

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