Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) knows the climb to Jebel Jais better than most riders, having raced at the UAE Tour every year since 2021. When asked what it takes to win on the 21.1km ascent ahead of stage 3, he told Cyclingnews, unambiguously, "Tadej Pogačar".
To the Dane, it was as simple as that, and once the 181 kilometres of stage 3 at the 2025 UAE Tour had ticked by, it was indeed Pogačar who, of course, sprinted away from his rivals to take his first victory of the season and move into the race leader's jersey.
