UAE Tour

Ilan Van Wilder equalled his best result ever in a World Tour race, finishing fourth overall at a hard edition of the UAE Tour, half a year after concluding in the same position at the Tour de Pologne. What made his achievement maybe even more remarkable than the one of last summer is the fact that it came after a very hard week of racing, which included crosswinds, an individual time trial and two tough summit finishes featuring some punishing gradients.

On the last day of the event, which concluded atop the 10.8km Jebel Hafeet, Ilan put in a resilient display once the going got tough, defending his position in the general classification and coming home just a couple of seconds behind winner Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) for what was Soudal Quick-Step’s sixth top 10 result in as many participations at the UAE Tour.

For the second consecutive year, Tim Merlier took home the green jersey, after one of his best outings ever in a World Tour event. The most in-form sprinter since the start of the season, the man from Kortrijk enjoyed an unforgettable week in the Emirates and has now joined Tom Boonen as the only two Belgian riders to have won three stages and the points jersey in a World Tour week-long stage race. Having stomped his authority over the fast finishes in the AlUla Tour and the UAE Tour, the 31-year-old leaves the Middle East with five victories in the bag.

“I am very happy and proud. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better race. The team worked hard for me and I couldn’t have done it without their amazing support. To take three stages and for the second consecutive year the green jersey makes for a perfect race. Together with the two stages I won in Saudi Arabia, this is a great start to my second season with the Wolfpack and I’m already looking forward to returning to Europe and starting my campaign there”, said Tim, whose victory on Saturday was the 960th in the history of Soudal Quick-Step.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images