The climb to Jebel Hafeet was the final judge of the UAE Tour on Sunday and saw podium hopes dashed for Aberaeron cyclist Joshua Tarling.

With European and British championship titles to his name, Ffosyffin’s Josh Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers) is always an exciting rider to watch. At the start of the race, he was in second place, 21″ behind Pogacar. Stage 6 had earned him a White Jersey for Best Young Rider.

The race on February 23 was stage 7 of the seventh edition of the week-long UAE Tour, the one and only UCI WorldTour race in the Middle East, organised by Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

For the fourth consecutive year, the UAE Tour concluded at Jebel Hafeet. The big favourite was the Red Jersey, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), who has already won on this climb in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

In the opening phase, the peloton approached an unprotected median strip, where several riders crashed face-first. This caused significant injuries to several riders, who were forced to abandon the seventh stage of the WorldTour race. It’s one more incident in series of crashes.

Josh Tarling was involved in the nasty crash. Initially he stood looking pained but then shook his injured arm and got back on his bike.

Pogacar put his stamp on an almost perfect week in a stage raced at extremely high speed (47.129 km/h average). Only Giulio Ciccone and Oscar Onley managed to stay on his wheel, even if only for 200 metres. Ciccone crossed the line 32″ behind Pogacar, finishing 3″ ahead of Pello Bilbao, who secured his third career podium at the UAE Tour.

Jonathan Milan confirmed his Green Jersey, Djordje Djuric retained the Black Jersey, and Ivan Romeo claimed the White Jersey after Josh’s struggles at the start of the climb.