Portugal Colonial - Tiberi takes UAE Tour lead from Evenepoel

Bahrain Victorious rider Tiberi pipped Mexican Isaac del Toro by 15 seconds, with Belgian Lennert Van Eetvelt 29 seconds behind in third place.

"This is amazing. It's a dream come true. I've been dreaming of this kind of victory since I turned pro," said the 24-year-old, who finished fifth on the 2024 Giro d'Italia but had never previously won a stage of a World Tour race.

"I attacked and I managed to push as hard as possible till the finish. I was hearing that Del Toro was coming back really fast.

"In the last kilometre, I used all the energy that was remaining in my body and I went full gas until the finish."

Tiberi holds a 21-second lead in the general classification over Del Toro, with Colombian Harold Tejada 39 seconds further back in third place overall.

Double Olympic champion Evenepoel lost the leader's red jersey after finishing more than two minutes behind Tiberi after a hilly 183km ride from Umm al Quwain to Jebel Mobrah.

Thursday's 182km of racing is a sprint battle starting and finishing in Fujairah. The seventh and final stage takes place on Sunday.

A.Santos--PC