A thrilling finale marked Stage 4 of the 2026 UAE Tour, delivering a second consecutive stage win for an Italian rider. Jonathan Milan powered to victory in the sprint, beating Vernon and his brother Matteo, who claimed the first WorldTour podium of his career.
The sprint finish was far from a foregone conclusion, as the four-man breakaway – Patrick Gamper, Stefan De Bod, Lorenzo Milesi and Georg Steinhauser – held off the peloton until inside the final kilometre, setting up a dramatic conclusion. On the eve of the Dubai stage, once again suited to the sprinters, there are no changes in the overall standings, with Antonio Tiberi still holding the Red Jersey.
Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner Milan said: “I still feel some pain in my hand but I’m fine after the crash on stage 1. It feels great to win today and even more with my younger brother also in the top 3. I saw him in the last kilometre, that’s the last moment I saw him. After finish, I saw him cheering on me and he came to me to say that he was third. This is his first WorldTour race, let’s don’t put pressure on him please! I’m really proud of what he did today, he’ll have many years to have fun and to enjoy cycling. We’ll see in the future if he gets as fast as me, but let him enjoy cycling first and we’ll figure out what he’ll become”.
The Red Jersey Antonio Tiberi said: “Today I started to realise a bit what I did yesterday. It’s been a great performance. I’m super happy with it. Today it’s been another good job with the team, we made sure that nobody was dangerous in the breakaway. It’s really nice to put on the red jersey, I like it and I hope to bring it home. Tomorrow, it should be another sprint finish. I know Jebel Hafeet, it’s a pretty good climb for me, I’ll do my best to keep the jersey. I won’t only look at Isaac Del Toro. I consider everyone, some other guys here are in good shape and I believe Remco [Evenepoel] will try something on Saturday”.
Stage 4 Brief Results:
- Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), 182km in 4h03’06”, average speed 44.920 km/h
- Ethan Vernon (NSN Cycling Team) s.t.
- Matteo Milan (Groupama–FDJ United) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 4:
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)
- Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG) at 21″
- Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) at 1’00”
- Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché) at 1’07”
- Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) at 1’19”
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