Lemmen battles on Jebel Jais but falls short near the finish
The struggling Team Visma | Lease a Bike, which lost its leader after Olav Kooij withdrew due to illness, had both Lemmen and Thomas Gloag in the peloton when the road started to climb. When Gloag could no longer keep up, it became clear that Lemmen had to step up for the Dutch squad.
The 29-year-old remained well-positioned for most of the climb, but when several teams pushed the pace in the final kilometers, Lemmen could no longer hold the wheels of his rivals. He then paced himself to the finish, crossing the line in 30th place. Tadej Pogačar took the stage victory.
“The final stage will be another chance to test the legs”
Bart Lemmen
“I have mixed feelings about today”, Lemmen said afterward. “I didn’t really know what to expect beforehand. Looking back, I might have hoped for a little more. I was in a good position for a while, but in the final part, the pace increased significantly. I lost the wheel of the rider in front of me, and once that happens on this climb, you’re not coming back. At that point, I was also at my limit. I gave it my all today. It wasn’t a bad performance, but I just wasn’t strong enough to stay with the very best. In that sense, it was a fair race.”
Lemmen is already looking ahead to the coming days. “The final stage will be another chance to test the legs. The next three days will be about finding opportunities. Losing Olav means we’re missing a key rider for the sprint stages, but we won’t just give up. We’ll make a plan and see what’s possible”, the Dutchman concluded.
Sports director Jesper Mørkøv also shared his thoughts. “Bart and Thomas were our key riders today, and they gave everything they had. Unfortunately, Bart had to let go in the final kilometers after being well-positioned for most of the climb. Now, we shift our focus to tomorrow. We’ll try to put our fast riders in the mix again.”
/
UAE Tour
Stage 3
Result
Rankings
Result
1
Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates – XRG
04:36:04
2
Oscar Onley
Team Picnic PostNL
+00:00:00
3
Felix Gall
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
+00:00:00
30
Bart Lemmen
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:00:56
77
Tosh Van der Sande
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:10:51
88
Thomas Gloag
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:12:49
124
Niklas Behrens
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:15:57
126
Daniel McLay
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:15:57
Rankings
1
Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates – XRG
08:20:41
2
Joshua Tarling
INEOS Grenadiers
+00:00:18
3
Pablo Castrillo
Movistar Team
+00:00:23
24
Bart Lemmen
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:01:34
74
Thomas Gloag
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:13:32
82
Tosh Van der Sande
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:14:29
95
Niklas Behrens
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:17:25
116
Daniel McLay
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
+00:19:19
Powered by Pro Cycling Stats
Subjects
Cycling – World Tour men
Bart Lemmen
Jesper Mørkøv
1
UAE Tour
