Stage 3 of the 2026 UAE Tour Women looked, on paper, like the calm before the storm. One more flat day in Abu Dhabi, one more sprint expected, one more chance for the sprinters to bank time and confidence before the race tilts upwards on Jebel Hafeet.
In reality, it was a day that never fully settled. The pace was high, the attempts to form a break were constant, and the finale again became a fight for position rather than a neat procession of lead-out trains. Lorena Wiebes still won – her third straight stage and her closest sprint yet – but this time Lara Gillespie made her work for every centimetre on the run to the line at Abu Dhabi Breakwater. Amalie Dideriksen came through for third after timing her effort well as the front wheels drifted across the road in the final 100 metres.
Wiebes, still in red, summed up the shape of the day neatly after the finish. She lost Barbara Guarischi in the late chaos, had to surf wheels and spend time in the wind before launching, and still found the power to finish it off: “I lost Barbara, so I needed to find my way by myself and went through the wind quite a lot before I could start my sprint, so it was a hard one. But the team did an amazing job all day long to chase the breakaway, so we had to finish it off again, and again it was a chaos sprint.”
A five-rider break finally sticks after an hour of failed moves
The opening hour was quick and nervy, with riders repeatedly testing whether anyone would be allowed up the road. There was a clear incentive for several teams and riders to animate the stage: intermediate points, TV time, and the simple reality that waiting politely for Wiebes has not been a winning strategy so far this week.
Eventually, after roughly 30 kilometres of racing, the elastic snapped and a five-rider breakaway formed. April Tacey and Sara Luccon were central to the move, and they were joined by Sonia Rossetti, Gaia Segato and Elisa De Vallier. Once the group established itself, the gap grew to just over three minutes, enough to force SD Worx-Protime and the other interested sprint teams into a measured, steady chase rather than a relaxed day in the wheels.
The race’s key feature remained exposure. When the route hit the bridges and open sections around the islands, the pace lifted and the bunch stretched into thinner lines, not quite full-blooded echelons, but enough to keep everyone on edge and to steadily trim the advantage of the leaders.
Crosswinds on the bridge bring the bunch closer, then Berton rolls the dice
As the peloton crossed the bridge section with around 45 kilometres to go, the tempo spiked and the break’s cushion started to collapse quickly. The advantage that had looked comfortable earlier was down to under two minutes, and it was clear the stage was shifting into its second act: catch the break, then decide whether to accept a sprint or try to deny it.
The break was caught with about 40 kilometres remaining, and almost immediately, Nina Berton went alone. It was the kind of attack that only makes sense in this context: if the dominant sprinter is unbeatable in a head-to-head run to the line, then the only alternative is to arrive without her.
Berton committed fully, pushed her lead out to as much as 1:39, and forced the peloton to organise again. It was also a move that revealed the race’s underlying dynamic. No one wanted to donate riders to a full chase too early, because everyone still had their own sprint ambitions, but leaving Berton out too long was risky.
By the time she reached the final kilometres, the gap was shrinking in blocks rather than seconds. At seven kilometres to go she was down to around 22 seconds, the kind of number that reads like hope, but feels like inevitability when a full peloton is finally lined out behind.
The catch sets off the fight for position, the lead-out trains trade the front
Once Berton was reeled in inside the final five kilometres, the stage became a tug of war between trains that never quite fully locked into place. The road offered space, then took it away. One team would appear at the front, then be swamped or edged aside. Riders were forced to make repeated accelerations just to hold position.
UAE Team ADQ were prominent as the sprint approached, and so were several other squads trying to build momentum at the right moment. Uno-X Mobility came through close to the two-kilometre mark, Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto and Movistar showed briefly, and FDJ United-Suez opened their lead-out on the right approaching the flamme rouge. Cofidis then appeared alongside, adding another layer of pressure and narrowing the available lanes.
It never became a single-file procession. It stayed messy, fast, and reactive – a sprint where the best placed rider would be the one who could read the movement and still deliver power after repeated micro efforts.
Photo Credit: LaPresseWiebes launches with 200 metres to go, Gillespie nearly draws level
FDJ’s Franziska Koch drove the final lead-out phase for Vittoria Guazzini, and that wheel became the key reference point. Wiebes and Gillespie both found their way onto it at the crucial moment, which mattered because it gave them a clean launchpad when others were still fighting for clear air.
Wiebes opened her sprint with around 200 metres left. Gillespie came alongside in the last 70 metres and, by Wiebes’ standards, it was uncomfortably close – less than a bike length, and visibly tighter than the previous two days. But Wiebes held her speed to the line, keeping a small but decisive margin. Dideriksen timed her effort to take third in the slipstream, just ahead of a fast-finishing chase behind.
Wiebes called it another chaotic sprint and another hard one without her ideal set-up in the last kilometre, but the outcome remains the same: three stages, three wins, and red still firmly on her shoulders going into the decisive final day.
UAE Tour Women 2026 stage 3 result
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