Antonio Tiberi delivered an impressive ride on the opening stage of the UAE Tour, finishing third behind stage winner Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) and Cees Bol (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).

Originally scheduled as a 144 km stage starting at Madinat Zayed Majlis, the route was shortened to 118 km due to strong winds, with two laps of the circuit removed before the final uphill sprint to Liwa Palace.

While last year’s edition favoured the sprinters, won by Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), this year the general classification contenders came to the fore, with the Italian sprinter also involved in a crash with around 1 km to go.

Del Toro launched his decisive move with 400 metres to go, with Tiberi responding immediately and fighting for victory all the way to the line, ultimately securing a strong third place.

Antonio Tiberi commented:

“I’m really surprised because I didn’t expect to fight for the podium today. The sensations were good right from the start. It was a really fast race with a tailwind from the beginning, and they also shortened the stage slightly.

In the final, my objective was just to stay as far forward as possible to avoid crashes and potential gaps. In the last kilometre, I saw it was all straight and uphill, which made it really hard. I was in fifth position and my legs felt good, so I decided to go full gas for the stage. Maybe it would have been better to follow Del Toro, but you need a really strong effort in the last 400 metres. In the end, I finished third and I’m super happy.”