Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) stormed into the race lead at the UAE Tour in the stage 2 time trial, racking up his seventh victory of the season on Hudayriyat Island.
The Belgian took his second time trial win of 2026 with an average speed of 56kph, setting a time of 13:03 on the flat 12.2km course.
Evenepoel beat Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) into second place, besting the Briton's time by six seconds, while the first starter of the day, Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United) rounded out the podium with a time of 13:15.
Stage 1 winner and race leader Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), seen as Evenepoel's main rival for the overall race victory, was the last man down the start ramp over two hours later. He'd cede the red jersey to Evenepoel, crossing the line with a time of 13:45, 42 seconds down on the Belgian and 27th best on the day.
"It was a fast time trial since the course was completely flat. It wasn't really technical either, so it was a perfect time trial to ride fast. I'm really happy with it," Evenepoel said after the stage.
"In 2023, I was part of the winning team time trial, but I finished second in both mountain stages that year, so to take my first individual victory at the UAE Tour is pretty cool.
"I think Isaac made the most of it. We knew it was better to start a bit earlier. We both have a stage win and now the battle for the overall begins. With some tough climbs coming up, it's always better to defend a lead. This is the perfect scenario for us and we'll try to defend the jersey until Sunday."
Evenepoel is the new race leader heading into stage 3's tough summit finish at Jebel Mobrah. He holds a six-second GC lead over Tarling, while Cavagna lies in third at 12 seconds down.
Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) is the next best of the GC contenders, the Italian lying eighth overall at 30 seconds, while Del Toro is 10th, 32 seconds off Evenepoel's lead.
How it unfolded
Following stage 1 and Isaac del Toro's surprise win, stage 2 of the UAE Tour, a flat 12.2km time trial, would provide another major opportunity for a GC shakeup. Several top contenders for the win would start off early on Hudayriyat Island, while race leader Del Toro would start hours later as the last man down the ramp.
Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United) was the first rider off, the former French time trial champion unsurprisingly setting what would turn out to be one of the quickest times of the day at 13:15. Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) also started strongly, crossing the checkpoint within four seconds of Cavagna before sliding to a time of 13:29 at the finish.
Despite the strong start from Cavagna, however, his time would only last four minutes before stage favourite Remco Evnepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) set off. The triple world time trial champion went nine seconds quicker at the checkpoint before setting a time of 13:03 at the finish line.
Evenepoel settled into what looked like being a long day in the hot seat as other rivals, including Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon-CMA CGM) at 13:34, failed to come close to his time.
Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) came closest. The British rider was the 26th man to record a time, but was four seconds down on Evenepoel at the checkpoint, and six seconds down at the finish. He was nonetheless the second-quickest man to that point.
Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) also put in a good ride, his time of 13:28 good for fourth place after 33 runners, while Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Daan Hoole (Decathlon-CMA CGM) also went well with times of 13:33 and 13:29.
Alongside the time trial specialists, the GC challengers also went out early in order to catch the best of the conditions.
Of course, Evenepoel was the quickest of the hopeful, leaving a host of his rivals with work to do on the two upcoming mountain days at Jebel Mobrah and Jebel Hafeet.
Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep) both put in good times with 13:37 at the line, while Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla) also limited his losses with a time of 13:45.
Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) crossed the line almost a minute down on Evenepoel at 14:00, while 2020 race winner Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was further back at 14:07.
All eyes, though, would be on his teammate Del Toro, though, during the long wait for the race leader to get going. The mid-stage saw dozens of riders passed without troubling the top of the leaderboards before the Mexican got his ride underway to end the day.
In the end, he wouldn't come close to troubling Evenepoel's time. Instead, Del Toro passed through the checkpoint already 32 seconds down with a time of 6:56 before racing to the finish line having lost a further 10 seconds to close out the stage with a time of 13:45.
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