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Charlotte Kool is also the fastest in the final stage of the UAE Tour Women, Longo Borghini overall winner

The last day of the UAE Tour Women saw the final sprint showdown of the race and it was won by Charlotte Kool ahead of Chiara Consonni and Lorena Wiebes. Finishing on the Abu Dhabi Breakwater, Kool negotiated the pack perfectly to hit the front at the right time and power past her former leader for the 2nd time this week. Elisa Longo Borghini successfully stayed out of trouble to secure the general classification victory after her display on Jebel Hafeet yesterday.

The drama in the wind of the last few days wasn’t repeated on the final stage. A break containing Petra Stiasny, Iris Monticolo and Aileen Schweikart was clear for most of the stage but the peloton never let them off the leash. The time gaps never ballooned out to an unreachable level and once the pace went up, the time gap came down quickly. The peloton got close but then eased to let them dangle until closer to the finish line. With them caught, we saw a late attack from Liane Lippert and Emma Norsgaard on the only thing resembling a hill on today’s stage, a steep bridge into Abu Dhabi. They got a gap but as soon as a few riders caught up with them, they backed off, unwilling to take passengers to the finish line.

So after that, the sprint was nailed on. The trains were disrupted early and most of the top names were left to freelance in the pack. Barbara Guarischi stalled whilst leading out as she looked around to find Pfeiffer Georgi on her wheel. As the Italian pulled off the front, Georgi didn’t take up the reins. As the front of the bunch slowed, Mylene de Zoete of Ceratizt WNT burst through and went long. With Wiebes now on the front, the acceleration on the opposite side of the road encouraged Wiebes to go long as well from 250 metres out. Behind her, Emma Norsgaard tried to get onto her wheel but behind her Charlotte Kool was just winding up.

Kool was able to sit in the draft all the way until she closed up to Lorena Wiebes at 150 metres to go. From there it was a clear run to the line as Kool comfortably passed her former leader. The extent of Wiebes’ early gamble was clear when Chiara Consonni also passed the Dutch rider to snatch 2nd place.

“We hadn’t figured it out exactly that way. It was very hectic. I kind of lost my lead-out, Pfeiffer I thought was going on, but actually she was creating a hole. However, I told her to wait, because I didn’t want her to launch Lorena. Then I just had to be patient and wait for a gap. When that came, I just went full on.

The team did so well. We really are a team, we really do this together. Yesterday, we showed with Esmée that we can show many beautiful things. To conclude like this is a dream.”

Charlotte Kool

“It was really chaotic and we lost each other a bit. It was a bit of a gamble and that’s where I made a mistake to start too early. Losing is never fun, but this is instructive for the future. I look back on the UAE Tour with mixed feelings. Of course I am happy with the victory.

The sprint train went really well in the first two days. Today we could’ve done better, but after these three stages we know what things we can adjust towards the future. We showed great things as a team so we can go home with a satisfied feeling.”

Lorena Wiebes

2023 UAE Tour Women Stage 4 results

Results powered by FirstCycling.com