Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) won Stage 3 of the UAE Tour after a perfectly-timed attack on the summit of Jebel Jais on Wednesday.
The Australian, who surged clear of a vastly reduced field with 1.2 km to go, finished ahead of Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny).
"It’s been a while since I last won a mountain top. It was amazing. The boys were super good today. Second win of the year it’s pretty cool. I was not confident in my sprint at the end so we decided to go full before the 1 km to go mark," said O'Connor.
Vine is the new Red Jersey of the race. His second-placed finish put the UAE Team Emirates rider into the overall lead with O’Connor in second place, while Brandon McNulty dropped to third overall.
PROVISIONAL STAGE RESULTS
- Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), 176 km in 4h16’21”, average speed 41.194 km/h
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) +5″
- Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) s.t.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates)
- Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team)
- Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates)
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