Van Wilder moves up in the UAE Tour GC after summit finish

Van Wilder moves up in the UAE Tour GC after summit finish

Stage three of the Middle East race came with a double dose of action: early crosswinds and the climb to Jebel Jais, one of the longest ascents in the first weeks of the season. The peloton was hoping for a quiet day until the base of the day’s only hurdle, but with the wind picking up with more than 90 kilometers from the finish, the bunch got split into two big groups.

Several general classification riders were caught on the back foot, which resulted in a hectic chase for around 20 kilometers, when the race came back together and two men were allowed to snap the elastic. They remained off the front until the early ramps of the climb, where the peloton numbered some 50-odd riders. One of these was Jan Hirt, and the Tour of Oman runner-up put in a strong dig, getting a gap and forcing the others to work hard in order to reel him in.

A couple of more attacks came, but it was only with 1200 meters to go that a move got away and Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) took the win. Ilan Van Wilder rode a solid stage, remaining calm until the flamme rouge, where he put in a dig that landed him fifth at the top.

“The echelons made the day a bit nervous and stressful, but I stayed calm and well placed thanks to the excellent job of my Soudal Quick-Step teammates. On the ascent I tried to do my best, but went a bit into the red when I tried to follow the late attacks. Luckily, I didn’t lose time and at the end of the day I am content with how things went. The white jersey is a bonus, but my main goal here is to get a good result in the standings”, said Ilan, who is fourth overall with four stages to go.

 

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images

Race details

1 Ben O'Connor
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
4:16:21
2 Jay Vine
UAE Team Emirates
0:05
3 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
0:05
4 Max Poole
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
0:05
5 Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step
0:05
6 Attila Valter
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:05
7 Matthew Riccitello
Israel - Premier Tech
0:05
8 Pello Bilbao López de Armentia
Bahrain - Victorious
0:05
9 Einer Rubio Reyes
Movistar Team
0:05
10 Simon Carr
EF Education - EasyPost
0:05
12 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
0:05
22 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
0:20
93 Ayco Bastiaens
Soudal Quick-Step
17:31
111 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
17:31
113 Jordi Warlop
Soudal Quick-Step
17:31
114 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
17:31
1 Jay Vine
UAE Team Emirates
7:39:44
2 Ben O'Connor
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
0:11
3 Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
0:13
4 Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step
0:21
5 Pello Bilbao López de Armentia
Bahrain - Victorious
0:22
6 Max Poole
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
0:31
7 Tobias Foss
INEOS Grenadiers
0:33
8 Simon Carr
EF Education - EasyPost
0:36
9 Mikkel Bjerg
UAE Team Emirates
0:37
10 Attila Valter
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:39
16 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
1:01
26 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
1:31
99 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
18:47
109 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
18:55
111 Ayco Bastiaens
Soudal Quick-Step
18:59
113 Jordi Warlop
Soudal Quick-Step
19:03
1 Mark Stewart
Team Corratec - Vini Fantini
32 pt
2 Jay Vine
UAE Team Emirates
32 pt
3 Ben O'Connor
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
20 pt
4 Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
20 pt
5 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
20 pt
6 Arvid de Kleijn
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
16 pt
7 Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step
12 pt
8 Mikkel Bjerg
UAE Team Emirates
12 pt
9 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
12 pt
10 Jakub Mareczko
Team Corratec - Vini Fantini
12 pt
1 Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step
7:40:05
2 Max Poole
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
0:10
3 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
0:22
4 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
0:40
5 Harold Martín López Granizo
Astana Qazaqstan Team
0:42
6 Matthew Riccitello
Israel - Premier Tech
0:45
7 Natnael Tesfatsion
Lidl - Trek
1:09
8 Alexy Faure Prost
Intermarché - Wanty
1:31
9 Iván Romeo Abad
Movistar Team
2:01
10 Pelayo Sánchez Mayo
Movistar Team
2:30
1 UAE Team Emirates 23:00:08
2 Bahrain - Victorious 0:59
3 Soudal Quick-Step 1:57
4 Lidl - Trek 2:35
5 Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 4:09
6 Movistar Team 4:30
7 Team Visma | Lease a Bike 5:32
8 EF Education - EasyPost 7:18
9 Lotto Dstny 7:20
10 INEOS Grenadiers 8:49

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