Adam Yates goes into the ultimate stage of the UAE Tour on Sunday hoping that he can flip the tables on a troublesome begin to the race on Jabel Hafeet, the identical climb the place in 2020 he successfully gained UAE outright.
In 2020, Yates gained over a minute on future UAE teammate Tadej Pogačar on the primary ascent of Jebel Hafeet, shifting into the lead, after which ran third on the race’s second summit end on the identical climb a number of days later.
The race was then suspended due to COVID-19, however Yates’ superiority within the mountains was already past doubt.
At present mendacity tenth general after stage 6, the place he safely crossed the road in 68th place, after shedding time within the opening crosswinds stage, Yates stays a distant however distinct risk on GC. Certainly, race chief Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) advised reporters earlier this week he doesn’t rule out a serious assault by Yates on the 10-kilometre Jebel Hafeet.
The Briton was in a quietly defiant temper earlier than the stage 6 begin, saying that he’ll push for one of the best outcome doable and that, as he repeatedly stated, at this level within the sport, he has “nothing to lose.”
“It’s a climb that fits me much more than Jebel Jais, which is sort of regular and common, however Jebel Hafeet is a really completely different beast, eight p.c at 10 kilometres, in order that’s a correct climb.
“It’s suited me up to now, we’re just a little bit far down on GC, however we’ve bought nothing to lose, so we’ll give it our greatest and see what occurs.”
Collaborating in his first occasion of 2023, Yates says he has a much bigger appreciation of his racing situation and that “I’m in good condition. It’s by no means straightforward to try this, however by some means I at all times handle to come back right here and at the very least be up combating and be in rivalry.”
“There are usually not many phases that go well with me on this race, Jebel Jais will not be the right climb for me, however even there, I used to be second within the dash [behind Evenepoel] the opposite day, so I’ve bought probability for tomorrow. We’ll see.”
As for Evenepoel’s feedback that Yates might nonetheless blow the race aside regardless of being 1:14 down, Yates’ response is measured, however he doesn’t look like ruling something out.
“As I stated, I’ve bought nothing to lose, and the workforce’s motivated, and as we stated from the very starting, we got here right here to win,” Yates concluded.
“We’ve misplaced a little bit of time on the primary stage and just a little bit right here and there, so possibly it’s going to be fairly difficult to win. However in the long run, we’ve bought nothing to lose, and we’ll strive.”
After profitable their ‘house’ race outright in 2021 and 2022 with Tadej Pogačar, who opted to race in Andalucia relatively than the Center East this February, UAE Staff Emirates have already gone some technique to restoring any dents of their morale with a fantastic bunch dash win for Juan Sebastian Molano in Dubai Bay on stage 4.
And even when claiming the general seems onerous, combating for a second stage win on the race’s most emblematic climb – be it with Yates, Brandon McNulty or another choice – would definitely be a fantastic approach for the house workforce to spherical off the race.
