Australian champ Luke Plapp will have to prevail in a final-day duel with the man he considers to be "the best rider in the world" if he's to be crowned UAE Tour champion.
Remco Evenepoel stands in Plapp's way, leading the race by just nine seconds from Melbourne's rising star as they face one last, fierce 10km slog on a mountain-top finish to Sunday's seventh and final stage to decide the winner.
World champ Evenepoel will be out to make a statement on the 153km ride from Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium to Jabal Hafeet, a mountain on the border of the UAE and Oman, with the final 10.7 kilometre ascent at an average gradient of 6.4 per cent right up his street.