Primoz Roglic takes overall at UAE Tour

Primoz Roglic won the general classification of the UAE Tour. The Slovenian rider of Team Jumbo-Visma led the race since day one. His classification was never in danger thanks to impressive team work.

For Roglic, it’s his second individual win of the season. Yesterday, he won the queen stage of the race. Earlier this week, he already won the team time trial which laid the foundations for his success. For Team Jumbo-Visma it’s the fifth victory this year.

The final stage of the World Tour race ended in a bunch sprint, as expected. In the last kilometres, Roglic was kept in front perfectly by his teammates. As a result, he crossed the finish line safely in the first group. Teammate Laurens De Plus finished ninth in the general classification, 1.49 behind the winner.

“The wind was really strong today”, Roglic said. “Because of that, it was a nervous race from the start. But we finished the race the same way we started it. We showed we are very strong. It’s a good thing we bring the red jersey home.”

The Slovenian could count on strong team work the entire race. “It’s important to be protected well. We didn’t want to risk anything and finished it perfectly. We started this race well by winning the team time trial and continued in the same way.”

The UAE Tour was the first race of the season for Roglic. “It’s a good start to my season. We have trained very hard. It’s nice I’m immediately successful”, he said.

Last year, Roglic won three stage races: the Tour of Slovenia, the Tour de Romandie and the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. Besides this, he finished fourth in the Tour de France. This season, the general classification of the Giro d’Italia is one of his main goals.

Sam Bennett triumphs on closing stage:

In the last 10km, BORA – hansgrohe took over a large portion of the tempo setting, and the breakaway was caught not long afterwards.

The teams of the sprinters, including BORA – hansgrohe, then began to jostle for position. After the last corner, in a fast-paced sprint finish in Dubai to cap off the final stage of the race, Ewan opened up his sprint, but was overtaken by Kristoff and Gaviria. After an excellent lead-out by his teammates, Sam Bennett was able to push past the sprinters in the final metres, and cross the line in first position to take his second win of the season.

BORA – hansgrohe also won the team classification.

Stage 7 Brief Results:

1. Sam Bennett (Bora – Hansgrohe), 145km in 3h17’51”, average speed 43.972km/h
2. Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
3. Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) s.t.

Final General Classification:

1. Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma)
2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) at 31″
3. David Gaudu (Groupama – FDJ) at 44″

Jerseys:

• The Red Jersey, sponsored by Emirates (General individual classification by time) – Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma)
• The Green Jersey, sponsored by ADNOC (General individual classification by points) – Elia Viviani (Deceuninck – Quick-Step)
• The White Jersey, sponsored by Nakheel (Best Young Rider born after 1 January 1994) – David Gaudu (Groupama – FDJ)
• The Black Jersey, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Aviation (Intermediate Sprint Jersey Classification) – Stepan Kuriyanov (Gazprom – RusVelo)