KASIA 5TH ON STAGE & UAE GC AS TEAM CLAIMS CLASSIFICATION WIN

After three flat, fast stages largely destined for the sprinters, the general classification riders finally had their moment as the road tilted skywards to the Jebel Hafeet summit on the final stage of UAE Tour Women.

It was a day that Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney had been eagerly awaiting; an opportunity to set an early-season benchmark on the relentless 10km ascent, and to see whether a strong winter of training would translate into racing.

She was able to do exactly that. Composed and in control as the decisive moves began, Kasia responded when Longo Borghini (UAD) launched the first serious acceleration with 6km remaining, halving the group to just six riders. From there, the uphill racing turned more cagey and tactical, with Kasia poised to both launch and respond to attacks.

With just over 3km remaining, Longo Borghini went again with a vicious acceleration that opened up daylight, but Kasia was able to claw her way back to the wheel. As the pattern repeated, it eventually got the better of Kasia, who overreached in the warm conditions while trying to remain in contention for the win. The classy Italian rode clear to claim victory on her team’s home soil, while Kasia was gradually reeled in by previously distanced riders, who passed her during a brief respite in the final kilometre.

Kasia crossed the line fifth on the stage, 59 seconds down on an in-form Longo Borghini, securing the same position on the final General Classification. She reflected on the outcome:

“It’s not the dream result, but we came here for the first openers of the season, and we’re able to learn from the stages what we still need to work on before the bigger goals.”

“The final climb came after a very passive race as there was not enough wind to create any action. The team did an amazing job positioning me into the bottom of the climb, where I then only had to focus on my final effort. I did my best and left it all out there until I hit the wall and got distanced from Elisa [Longo Borghini]. On the downhill section, I got passed by two riders, yet with the heat, I had a hard time recovering to get back on their wheel.”

The 156km queen stage was a race of two distinct parts – measured, then all-out. Despite numerous attacks and bursts of action on the flat terrain, it recorded the slowest average speed of any stage across all four editions of the UAE Tour Women, at 36.9kph. From the very beginning of the stage, and the tour itself, the ambitions of many riders were fixed on Jebel Hafeet and the sustained maximal effort it would demand, a perspective Kasia echoed.

“I wish we hit the mountain stage earlier so the whole tour wouldn’t be just about waiting, and then maybe there’d be some more fun once the big stage was over! I’m not sure I enjoyed the easy stages when there was no wind, but I definitely appreciated the all-out effort on the climb, which is hard to simulate when you just train.”

Looking at the week as a whole, Kasia highlighted the squad’s collective strength, which propelled them to victory in the team classification based on the accumulated time of the best three riders.

“As a team we were all dialled in, committed and ready to give our best, so to be rewarded with winning the team classification definitely gave us something to celebrate after a week of learning and working together.”

The team went into the final stage with Zoe Bäckstedt and Chiara Consonni sitting third and fourth on the General Classification, thanks to podium finishes and consistently strong sprint performances. Zoe also started the day in the white jersey as leader of the young rider classification, an honour she defended with real tenacity on the climb.

The 21-year-old was committed fully to the team effort, pulling hard at the base of Jebel Hafeet before UAE Team ADQ took control of the pacing. She was distanced just under 7km from the summit, but continued to dig deep to finish a commendable 17th on terrain far from her preferred. Only one young rider surpassed Zoe on the day – talented climber Ciabocco (TPP), who secured the white jersey by 1.42 minutes.

Despite that, Zoe was delighted after her first UAE Tour Women, an appearance made possible by a shorter-than-planned cyclo-cross season.

“I enjoyed this stage race a lot, it was my first time here and it was an awesome experience! My personal highlights were third on stage one – I didn’t expect to sprint this good – and the final climb today. It’s a super nice feeling. It shows that when we work as one, we are one of the best teams out there, and it’s something we can take into the next races!”

Tiffany Cromwell, who has now started and finished all four editions of UAE Tour Women, offered her perspective on the week.

“I think overall, we can be happy with our tour when you look at the results. We didn’t get the win, but we were on the podium plenty of times. However, we know that as a team we still need to improve our sprint lead-outs to give better support to our sprinters. It was good that we could analyse them from the TV coverage each day and learn what was good and what we still need to do better.”

“I think the way that the team rode today for Kasia was super strong. She committed and took her chance on the climb, and unfortunately came up short, but showed she is in good form. The atmosphere was good, the team dynamic was strong, and the team podium at the end was definitely a surprise! It’s a nice way to finish off a tour when we all get to stand on the podium together.”