Vingegaard surprises favourites at UAE Tour

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) showed his strength and nous on Stage 5 of the UAE Tour, jumping clear with just over a kilometre remaining to the summit finish atop Jebel Jais and holding off the race favourites to win.

Jonas Vingegaard wins atop Jebel Jais in Stage 5 of the UAE Tour Source: LaPresse (Gian Mattia D'Alberto)

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) emerged as the stage winner atop Jebel Jais two years after his teammate Primož Roglič saw victory on the mountain.

He overhauled Kazakhstan national champion Alexey Lutsenko (Astana - Premier Tech) in the last 500 metres to claim his biggest victory so far at the age of 24, stepping up for his team after making an impact as Roglič’s super domestique at La Vuelta last year.

“It was a very emotional win for me," said Vingegaard. "It's been almost two years since my last victory. I came here to try and do well in the GC. Unfortunately, I happened to not be in the first group on Stage 1, so it was already gone and I suffered a bit on the first mountain stage as I found the heat difficult to deal with.

"Our tactic this morning was for Sepp Kuss to attack within the last three kilometres while I was supposed to wait for the sprint. However, it became clear that it wasn’t going to finish with a sprint as the finale unfolded, and I saw an opportunity to go. I’m just really happy that I took the opportunity and now I have the stage victory."

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) defended his overall lead with a defensive ride in the chasing peloton, ahead of two final stages that are likely to result in bunch sprint finishes.

“For me, it was a hard day," said Pogačar. "The most important thing was to defend the jersey and I really managed that. The team did that too. It was 'possible' to win the stage, but now it’s 'impossible' to change the results, so I’m happy with the outcome."

Australian Chris Harper, teammate to Vingegaard on Jumbo-Visma, had another solid climb to retain his position in fourth overall.