Remco Evenepoel seizes the UAE Tour lead with a blazing time-trial performance on stage 2
Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) rocketed to the race lead at the UAE Tour on stage 2, delivering a dominant time-trial display on Hudayriyat Island and earning his seventh win of the season.
The Belgian secured his second time-trial victory of 2026, clocking a swift 13:03 over the flat 12.2km course at an average speed of 56 kph. He beat Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) by six seconds, with Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United) rounding out the podium in 13:15 as the day’s opening rider.
How the stage unfolded
After Isaac del Toro’s surprise win on stage 1, stage 2 presented another prime opportunity for a GC shake-up with a flat time trial that would reshuffle potential general classification standings. Early starters faced the clock on Hudayriyat Island, while race leader Del Toro began much later as the last rider down the ramp.
Rémi Cavagna, the former French time-trial champion, was first off and set what would become one of the quickest times of the day at 13:15. Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) also posted a strong ride, entering the checkpoint within four seconds of Cavagna before finishing in 13:29.
Despite Cavagna’s fast start, his time stood only briefly as Evenepoel departed. The triple world time-trial champion gradually moved into the hot seat, gaining nine seconds at the checkpoint before crossing the line in 13:03.
Evenepoel appeared to hold firm on the hot seat as other contenders struggled to beat him. Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon-CMA CGM) finished in 13:34, failing to challenge the leading time.
Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) offered the closest challenge, completing the course in 13:09 at the checkpoint and finishing six seconds behind Evenepoel at 13:09. However, Tarling was still four seconds slower than Evenepoel at the checkpoint and six seconds back at the finish, making him the second-best so far.
Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) produced a solid ride with 13:28, placing him fourth after 33 riders. Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Daan Hoole (Decathlon-CMA CGM) also delivered commendable times of 13:33 and 13:29 respectively.
As the GC contenders began their efforts early to maximize favorable conditions, Evenepoel remained the benchmark to beat, leaving several rivals with work to do on the upcoming mountainous days ahead at Jebel Mobrah and Jebel Hafeet.
Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep) posted strong times of 13:37, while Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) limited his losses with a 13:45.
Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) finished nearly a minute down on Evenepoel at 14:00, and 2020 UAE Tour winner Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was even further back at 14:07.
All eyes, though, stayed on Evenepoel’s teammate Isaac del Toro, who waited through the long stage to challenge the leaderboard. Del Toro’s mid-stage performance saw many riders move past without threat to the top, and when he finally started, he could not improve the position.
Del Toro crossed the checkpoint 32 seconds behind Evenepoel, clocking 6:56, before finishing with a total time of 13:45, ending the attempt with a gap but losing further to Evenepoel’s time by 42 seconds.
Final results
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