UAE Tour 2026 Stage 6

February 21, 2026 Jebel Hafeet hosts the second and final mountain top finish of the UAE Tour for 2026. In the last few years, between eight and twelve riders have finished within 1 minute of the winner which realistically makes this a two horse race for GC given the time gaps from Jebel Mobrah. The first 155KM after leaving Al Ain crisscross the desert along the border with Oman but never strays far from Al Ain itself. The course is completely flat until the base of the Jebel Hafeet with 11KM to go. The climb is almost 11KM long at an average of 7%. It is wide and exposed and we have seen a headwind block the racing in the past. There are moments on the mountain, particularly through steep corners, that are good places to attack but sitting on the wheels for the first half will be advantageous given the speed of the climb. Isaac del Toro starts the day 21 seconds behind Antonio Tiberi but they won't be the only ones in contention for the stage. Jebel Hafeet is very different than Jebel Mobrah and suits more riders so hopefully we see a nice open race for the stage and, potentially, the GC. A larger break got away than what we're used to seeing and they were pushing the average pace up at around 50KM/HR for the first few hours. Josh Tarling and Peter Øxenberg of Ineos, Stefan Bissegger of Decathlon CMA CGM, Axel Huens and Johan Jacobs of Groupama-FDJ United, Mark Stewart of Modern Adventure, and Mattia Gaffuri of Picnic-PostNL comprised the group of seven. With 49KM to go, the gap was 1 minute 50 seconds and the race was over 15 minutes ahead of the fastest anticipated schedule. UAE-XRG and Lotto Intermarché were pulling hard in the peloton to keep things in check with Nils Politt, Rune Herregodts, and Baptiste Veistroffer. Herregodts and Veistroffer were alone in the chase with 25KM to go as Jebel Hafeet emerged through the haze ahead in the distance. Through the intermediate sprint in Green Mubazzarah with 14KM to go, the gap was still at 1 minute 45 seconds even as other teams came forward to position for the climb. The break arrived at the based of Jebel Hafeet with 1 minute 25 seconds. Jacobs was the first to pull the pin and go backwards as Tarling forced the pace for the chances of Øxenberg. Behind, UAE-XRG were riding with Florian Vermeersch until 8.4KM to go when Decathlon CMA CGM took over for their man, Felix Gall. The French squad made a significant increase in the speed and with 7KM to go, the gap was down to 20 seconds as Gregor Mühlberger pulled an elite favorites group away with his teammate Gall, Antonio Tiberi of Bahrain Victorious, Isaac del Toro of UAE-XRG, Harold Tejada of XDS-Astana, and Lennert Van Eetvelt of Lotto Intermarché When Mühlberger pulled off just inside 7KM to go, the games started among the favorites group. No one wanted to pull and they were reeled back in by the rest of the GC riders to form a group of 20. Øxenberg was caught with 6KM to go as Gall and Tejada went on the attack with Adam Yates setting the pace in the GC group. Del Toro made his attack with 4.3KM to go and was immediately followed by Tiberi. They were quickly across to Gall and Tejada and went straight passed. Tiberi was on his limit but he stayed on the wheel and del Toro backed off slightly. Luke Plapp of Jayco AlUla did an incredible ride to get himself out of the chase group and across to del Toro and Tiberi. He made contact with 2.8KM to go but at the same moment, del Toro made one more bid for victory. Tiberi started to lose a few bike lengths and 500M later, the gap opened wide. The road flattened with 2KM to go and Tiberi and Plapp looked like they may be able to swap turns but Tiberi was struggling to hold wheel and was distanced. Tiberi's head hung low at 1,700M as Plapp rode away from him. Gall was next to pass Tiberi who had completely blown up. Del Toro was also struggling inside the final kilometer but the road dipped down for a moment of reprieve before he arrived at the finish to take his second win of the week. Plapp came across the line just 12 seconds later with Gall in for third at 21 seconds. Tiberi finished strong in fourth but at 31 seconds from del Toro, it wasn't enough to save his GC lead. Once the bonus seconds were factored in, del Toro took over the GC lead and now sits a comfortable 20 seconds ahead of Tiberi and 1 minute 14 seconds ahead of Plapp who punched above his weight class for an impressive third place. The final podium should be set as long as everyone stays safe in the expected bunch sprint stage tomorrow.