The opening stage of the 2025 UAE Tour featured an unpredictable finale on the rolling dunes of Liwa, which culminated in a demanding uphill sprint.
With a host of strong sprinter teams in attendance, there was no shortage of squads attempting to bring about a fast finish at Liwa Palace, however, the fast men were tested on the 8 percent steep ramps up the finishing straight.
Finn Fisher-Black, fresh off his podium performance at the Tour Down Under, was positioned well and ready to take advantage of the tough finish. He displayed excellent form in the chaotic final metres, securing second place behind Jonathan Milan, an impressive start to the race.
The New Zealander also snatched bonus seconds with his podium place on the stage, and now sits second overall, heading into tomorrow’s race against the clock with confidence and ready to build on a promising start to the UAE Tour.
Ergebnis:
Finn Fisher-Black:
Looking at the profile, it was one of those stages that could go either way, so we had to be ready to take advantage of that. Sam was our main goal for today, but I had in the back of my mind that if the finale was 10 seconds or so too long for the sprinters, then I might be able to take my chances and make the jump. In the end, it proved to be a tough finish, and I was right up there, but ahead of the line I had nowhere to go. In terms of the GC, I’m feeling good and that gives me a lot of confidence, so we’ll be looking to make the most out of it this week.
Shane Archbold, Sports Director:
Today was an interesting one. We had a look at the final kilometre and it appeared to be pretty tough. Obviously Sam was Plan A for today, with all the teams being pretty motivated to have the day end in a sprint. Milan was the fastest but Finn put in an excellent performance today. He was always cautious about it, but he knew how hard the finale was, and that there was the possibility to take some bonus seconds. It turned out well, with him taking second, and with that some bonus seconds heading into the rest of the week. The plan is to take as much time on stage two and three as possible with him, so it’s off to a good start.
Photo: Getty Sport