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Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) claimed victory in the first stage of the 2025 UAE Tour Women.
Having been led out perfectly by her teammates, she took part in a drag race against her rival and Dutch compatriot Charlotte Kool (Picnic PostNL) but was comfortably the quickest.
Kool had to settle for second, while Nienke Veenhoven (Visma-Lease a Bike) was third.
The result means Wiebes will swap her European Champions’ jersey for the red jersey, as the overall leader of the race.
Wiebes opened her account in just her first race of the 2025 season, just as she did here last year at the same finish at Dubai Harbour.
Whereas Kool was forced to start her sprint early, running out of teammates on the finishing straight, Wiebes was guided into position by lead-out riders Marta Lach and Barbara Guarischi, who took control of the peloton from Human Powered Health following the crucial final corner inside the last kilometre.
The pair were side by side with a few hundred metres left, but Wiebes had fresher legs and a faster kick, ending up with a comfortable winning margin on the line.
“The feeling is really good,” said a smiling Wiebes at the finish. “I think it was really a fair sprint. We were both [her and Kool] fully in the wind. I’m happy that my sprint is still at a high level. But there are still two stages to come, so I need to keep going.
“I think the team did a really good job to put us into position. It was chaotic, as expected. But we went well into the next corner,…
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