UAE Tour 2021: Pogacar bests Yates in two-up sprint to cement lead

fotobureau Cor VosWith three contenders for the overall victory left - Pogacar, Almeida and Yates - the riders head for Jebel Ḥafeeṫ. It comes down to a Yates/Pogacar clash on the climb. The Slovene wins the sprint at the line to extend his GC lead. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 2nd stage UAE Tour 2021

1. Tadej Pogacar (slo)
2. Adam Yates (gbr) s.t.
3. Sergio Higuita (col) + 0.48
4. Emanuel Buchmann (ger) s.t.
5. Harm Vanhoucke (bel) s.t.
6. João Almeida (por) s.t.
7. Florian Stork (ger) + 0.54
8. Neilson Powless (usa) s.t.
9. Chris Harper (aus) + 1.00
10. Geoffrey Bouchard (fra) + 1.09

GC after stage 2
1. Tadej Pogacar (slo)
2. Adam Yates (gbr) + 0.43
3. João Almeida (por) + 1.03
4. Chris Harper (aus) + 1.43
5. Neilson Powless (usa) + 1.45
6. Mattias Jensen (den) + 2.36
7. Damiano Caruso (ita) + 2.38
8. Mattia Cattaneo (ita) + 2.39
9. Ruben Fernandez (spa) + 3.32
10. Fausto Masnada (ita) + 4.47

Race report
Thomas De Gendt and Tony Gallopin join forces early on to open up a gap of more than 6 minutes. The Frenchman leaves his companion behind on the early slopes of the Jebel Hafeet, but he is caught 8 kilometres before the line.

Almeida drops back in the first group with 5 kilometers to go. Yates accelerates and only Pogacar is able to follow.

Yates keeps on pushing, but he can't get rid of the Tour de France winner. The Slovene catches the Briton off guard in the downhill in the last 500 metres. Yates can't come across and Pogacar wins the race to cement his lead in the general.

Almeida crosses the line 48 seconds later in a group Higuita, Buchmann and Vanhoucke, and the Portuguese drops to third place.

Another interesting read: route 3rd stage 2021 UAE Tour.