Britain’s Yates wins stage three to take overall lead in UAE Tour

Britain’s Adam Yates leads the UAE Tour after a stunning attack to win stage three by the Mitchelton-Scott rider.

Yates claimed his first stage win outside Europe after breaking clear 6km from the top of Jebel Hafeet.

The 27-year-old shook off Alexey Lutsenko and David Gaudu around 5km from the summit to effectively win his first WorldTour stage since last April.

Britain’s Chris Froome was dropped at the foot of the climb and finished 10min 49sec behind Yates.

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) overtook the chase group of Gaudu and Lutsenko but could not catch Yates, who collected the 10-second time bonus and finished 1:02 ahead.

Previous race leader, Australia’s Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), and British Deceuninck-Quick-Step rider James Knox were dropped inside the final 10km climb, while Mark Cavendish finished in the gruppetto.

“It is my first race of the season, so it was difficult for me to estimate where I stood compared to the competition,” said Yates.

“With today’s heat, it’s difficult to estimate – I think it was 37 to 38 degrees all day. I just wanted to test the legs to see where I am.

“That was perhaps a little too early [to attack], but I felt good. A few boys came along and behind me I could see that they organised themselves. I just went for it then.”

The 187km stage went from Al Qudra Cycle Track near Dubai through Abu Dhabi and up to Jebel Hafeet – one of the highest peaks in the UAE – near Al Ain.

Wednesday’s stage four covers 173km from Zabeel Park in Dubai to Dubai City Walk.

The seven-stage race finishes on 29 February.