That Friday’s fifth stage in the United Arab Emirates would end in a sprint came as no surprise. With 160 flat kilometers on the roads around Dubai, a sprint was inevitable, but the race was anything but dull in the Middle East. From the start, the peloton set a blistering pace. Today’s stage, with an average speed of 48.8 km/h, will go down in history as the fastest ever in the UAE Tour.

With Olav Kooij absent, McLay - normally the lead-out man for team leader Kooij - delivered an impressive fourth-place finish yesterday. However, that was not in the cards today due to crashes in the peloton late in the stage. “The plan was once again to sprint with Daniel today”, said sports director Jesper Mørkøv. “Everything was going really well until the final kilometers. Unfortunately, our riders were held up by two crashes and couldn’t contest the sprint.” The fifth stage was ultimately won by Belgian rider Tim Merlier.

“Finals at such high speeds are always tricky. In this lineup, our guys haven’t raced many sprint finishes together yet. With a bit more luck, we might have secured another strong result today. It’s great to see the riders seizing their opportunities now that we’re missing a few key teammates here. It was a day full of learning moments", Mørkøv added.

The seventh edition of the UAE Tour will conclude this weekend with another mostly flat stage on Saturday, followed by the traditional climb up Jebel Hafeet on Sunday. “Our plan for tomorrow remains unchanged. We expect another fast stage, and hopefully, we can give Daniel another shot at success in the sprint", the sports director concluded.