Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
The third staging of the UAE Tour Women wrapped up with home glory in a one-two finish for Team ADQ's Elisa Borghini and Silvia Persico on Sunday, while European champion Lorena Wiebes took all three sprint stages on offer.
The overall win was assured for Borghini once she took the third stage atop the Jebel Hafeet mountain in Al Ain on Saturday. This was a historic second win for Borghini having won with different teams. Her teammate Persico secured second place in the general classification after fending off attacks from Kimberley Pienaar, who chased bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint category.
The Italian took over from Persico at Team ADQ's lead rider this year, and both proved still to be the best of the lot at the finish line. A pile-up in the peloton marred the finish to the pan-flat 128km route, which began at Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Academy on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and travelled through the city to finish on the waterfront.
Dutchwoman Wiebes missed out on a stage win last year here after a similar pile-up, but this time a slightly cautious approach still ensured a happy ending for the SD Worx-Protime cyclist.
"Today I lost position with about 2km to go but my team brought me back to the front," said Wiebes after picking up the green jersey as the points classification leader.
"At the end I had to find my own way and a small gap to come out. I also had to be patient and it worked. I heard a crash towards the end. I hope all the riders are ok. Coming to this race, I didn't expect to win three times so to reach 100 career victories as I now have 96, I hope it'll come before the end of this season."
It was a less eventful day for Borghini, who finished safely in the bunch, to again pick up the red jersey which she won in 2023 with Trek-Segafredo. She is the only Italian to win the race.
Borghini said: "I was used to represent Italy and, for the first time I am representing two countries: Italy and the UAE. I'm proud of it because the UAE Tour Women is our home race. At the beginning of the season, the team made a clear call that we had to be fit for this race. But winning the GC plus the second place and the intermediate sprint and teams classifications, it's incredible."
In the battle for the second, Borghini's compatriot Persico led out the sprint and picked the maximum three bonus seconds on the line, ahead of Pienaar and ADQ teammate Lara Gillespie.
"It shows the level we're at and how strong we rode over those four days," Borghini said. "Today we had to do the sprints with Silvia Persico to contest the second place overall.
"At the end, we wanted to set up the final sprint for Gillespie. Having the leader's jersey, it was also better to stay at the front and stay out of troubles. Starting on the right foot is always nice. It's a big booster of motivation for the coming races."
A "super happy" Persico said: "It was our first race together and I feel very good with these girls. Yesterday, I felt strong so I told Elisa that I'd ride full gas for her. For me, it's important to start the season with a good result."
Team Soudal's Pienaar said: "We tried [to take second overall], but UAE Team ADQ were just a better team. I'm still very happy with our achievements. It was the craziest stage from my perspective. I had a really good winter break for 2025 season, it's a very feeling to finish the first stage race in the top three overall. First race and first WorldTour podium is a dream result."
