The sixth stage of the WorldTour race saw the traditional early breakaway form quickly. Four riders broke away and gained a lead of over three minutes, but they were eventually caught with four kilometers to go. In the final kilometers, the riders of the yellow-black squad moved up well in support of McLay. The Brit was in a good position in the last 500 meters but unfortunately couldn’t compete for the victory. Once again, Merlier proved to be the strongest.

“It’s unfortunate that Daniel wasn’t able to complete his sprint", reflected sports director Jesper Mørkøv. “It wasn’t a particularly eventful stage, and it was mainly a matter of waiting for the finale. In the last kilometers, Niklas (Behrens) and Tosh (Van der Sande) did a great job for Daniel, but unfortunately, he couldn’t contest for a strong result. Luckily, we got through this stage without any issues, and now we shift our focus to tomorrow.”

The final day of the UAE Tour features the queen stage, with the finish atop the well-known Jebel Hafeet. “As a team, we will do our utmost to support Bart (Lemmen) as best we can. Bart performed well on this climb last year, and he’s in good shape again now. I believe there are opportunities for us tomorrow. In any case, it’s going to be an exciting stage.”