SD Worx-Protime's Anna van der Breggen is the latest GC contender to abandon the UAE Tour Women, pulling out ahead of stage 4 with illness.
According to a statement on social media, the Dutch rider is suffering with a throat infection, and decided on Sunday morning not to start the final stage to Jebel Hafeet.
"The stage finishing at Jebel Hafeet was the day she had marked in this stage race," the team said. "Over the past few days, she had hoped that she would feel better. However, with the spring classics in mind, it has been decided not to take any risks."
Van der Breggen joins Marlen Reusser (Movistar) in the list of GC riders who travelled to the UAE and started the first sprint stages, but won't make it to the decisive day of climbing. Reusser didn't start stage 3 after crashing at speed on stage 2, though she came away with relatively minor injuries – only cuts rather than any fractures.
Two-time defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) started the race as favourite anyway, but two of her main rivals pulling out will only have improved her chances of winning again atop Jebel Hafeet on Sunday.
In terms of remaining challengers, Longo Borghini will face Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek), Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-Suez) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) on the decisive stage 4, where all the GC action is packed into one day and one climb.
Van der Breggen, who returned to racing in 2025 after temporarily retiring, had a lowkey year last year in comparison to the GC-winning heights of the peak of her career, and though she came to the UAE Tour with an eye on a top result, she did admit at the start of the season that her ambitions are no longer about winning Grand Tours.
She will now return to Europe, where her next race is expected to be Strade Bianche in a month's time.
Despite the loss of Van der Breggen on the last day, SD Worx-Protime will still leave this race on a successful note, with Lorena Wiebes winning all three sprint stages and likely to take home the sprinter's jersey at the end of the week.
