Lara Gillespie came agonisingly close to victory in the third stage of the UAE Tour Women. After an excellent team effort from UAE Team ADQ, the Irish rider contested the final sprint in a head-to-head battle with race favourite Lorena Wiebes, significantly closing the gap compared to previous finishes.
A strong comeback sprint, once again backed by a well-executed team performance, delivered another second place and boosted the team’s confidence ahead of tomorrow’s decisive stage. Looking further ahead, the result also sends a very positive signal for Lara Gillespie’s sprint ambitions for the rest of the season.
The 121 km stage started from Abu Dhabi TeamLab Phenomena and finished at Abu Dhabi Breakwater. An early breakaway of four riders animated the race before one rider remained alone at the front. The peloton finally brought the escape back with around five kilometres to go. From there, the sprinters’ teams took control, with UAE Team ADQ perfectly positioned at the front of the bunch. Gillespie then completed the work with another second place, once again finishing behind race leader Lorena Wiebes.
Thanks to today’s result, Lara Gillespie now sits second overall in the General Classification and in the Points Classification, and she will start tomorrow’s stage wearing the green jersey once again.
After the finish, Lara Gillespie said: “We came very close to the win today. We believed in it, we gave everything, and we were just a little bit short. I’m really happy because once again we showed how strong we are as a team. Tomorrow we’ll be even more united as we try again to go for the win.”
Tomorrow’s stage will be the final and decisive one of the UAE Tour Women: 156 km from Al Ain – Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium to the uphill finish at Jebel Hafeet. The entire team will work for its leader Elisa Longo Borghini, who will be aiming to secure the overall victory for the third time in her career.
(ph. @facepeeters)
