The 2025 UAE Tour Women racing concluded with Lorena Wiebes securing her third stage win in Abu Dhabi, while Elisa Longo Borghini comfortably wrapped up the overall title after taking the lead yesterday. The final 128km stage from the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy to Abu Dhabi Breakwater was expected to end in a bunch sprint, and the peloton delivered just that.
An early breakaway attempted to disrupt the script, with riders including Nina Berton, Loes Adegeest, and Morgane Coston making moves to escape the grasp of the bunch. However, with SD Worx-Protime controlling proceedings for Wiebes, the gap was never allowed to grow significantly. A late attack from Elinor Barker in the final 30km briefly threatened to shake things up, but the British rider was reeled back in within the last 5km.
As the sprint teams jostled for position, a crash in the final kilometres disrupted some lead-out trains, but Wiebes remained untroubled. She found her own path through the chaos and launched her sprint at the perfect moment, taking a clear victory ahead of Sara Fiorin and Amalie Dideriksen.
Photo Credit: Sprint Cycling AgencySpeaking after the stage, Wiebes was pleased with how things played out despite the hectic finale. “It’s nice to finally win the last stage of the UAE Tour Women and the team worked very hard for it. It was chaotic in the last kilometres. I lost the train but I found my way out and I was able to sprint. I knew that it was mostly headwind towards the finish so I didn’t want to come too early to the front. I felt somebody on the right and that meant it was time for my final effort. I hit something with my right knee and my handlebar with 10km to go. For a few kilometres I had no power in my right leg. But then it was full adrenaline. It’s really nice to start the season with three stage wins at the UAE Tour Women. For the team it’s something we can build on for the rest of the year.”
Post-race reactions from GC riders
Elisa Longo Borghini, who led the race from the decisive summit finish on stage three, sealed the overall win by 2 minutes and 6 seconds ahead of teammate Silvia Persico. The Italian was delighted to deliver a home victory for UAE Team ADQ. “I was used to represent Italy and for the first time I was representing two countries: Italy and the UAE. I’m proud of it because the UAE Tour Women is our home race. At the beginning of the season, the team made a clear call that we had to be fit for this race. But winning the GC plus the second place and the intermediate sprint and teams classifications, it’s incredible. It shows the level we’re at and how strong we rode over those four days. Today we had to do the sprints with Silvia Persico to contest the second place overall. At the end we wanted to set up the final sprint for Lara Gillespie. Having the leader’s jersey, it was also better to stay at the front and stay out of troubles. Starting on the right foot is always nice. It’s a big booster of motivation for the coming races.”
Photo Credit: Sprint Cycling AgencyRunner-up Persico reflected on the strength of her squad, saying, “I’m super happy. We worked really hard these days. It was our first race together and I feel very good with these girls. Yesterday, I felt strong so I told Elisa Longo Borghini that I’d ride full gas for her. For me, it’s important to start the season with a good result.”
Kimberley Le Court Pienaar, who finished third overall, admitted she had hoped to move up a step on the podium. “We went in with a plan to win the intermediate sprints to move up to second overall. We tried but UAE Team ADQ was just a better team. I’m still very happy with our achievements. It was the craziest stage from my perspective. I had a really good winter break for 2025 season, it’s a very good feeling to finish the first stage race in the top 3 overall. First race and first WorldTour podium is a dream result.”
Among the other jersey winners, Antonia Niedermaier claimed the White Jersey as the best young rider, while Lara Gillespie secured the Black Jersey for the intermediate sprints classification. Niedermaier spoke about her experience of racing in the crosswinds: “It’s a great feeling to share the final podium with the other distinctive jerseys winners, especially for the first race of the season. They’re such strong and famous riders! Elisa Longo Borghini is a nice person, we can always talk to her and I congratulated her warmly. I’ve learned how to ride in the crosswinds during this UAE Tour Women. It was my first time experiencing echelons. Today my team-mates kept me in good positions to defend my jersey. I hope to do well in the mountainous stage races like Giro, Tour, Vuelta, Tour de Suisse and Romandie in the future.”
2025 UAE Tour Women Stage 4 result
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2025 UAE Tour Women GC result
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Main photo credit: Sprint Cycling Agency
