Favorites stage 5 UAE Tour 2025 | The big names again, but watch out for Visma | Lease a Bike

The first days of the UAE Tour did not disappoint. There was a classic sprint, a wonderful time trial featuring the world's top cyclists, Tadej Pogacar, excellent on Jebel Jais, and, on day four, a fierce echelon battle and a nice bunch sprint. Will the fifth day bring something different? It could be a quiet day, with the sprinters at the front of the pack. IDLProCycling.com gives you a detailed preview.

Course stage 5 UAE Tour 2025

While we had wind on day four, we are not really expecting it on Friday. We start and finish in Dubai, which could be a quiet 160 kilometers. The third chance for the sprinters at the finish is a given. And with all those sprint stages and ambitious sprinters, we also look forward to that.

The day's breakaway riders can again indulge themselves in the battle for the black. Black? Yes, the intermediate sprint classification has a black jersey as an award. Lovely, especially at 30 degrees in the desert. Less important riders have been battling for days, and Friday will be no different. The sprint will once again lead along wide roads, so there is plenty of room for everybody.

Times
Start: 03:55 AM EST
Finish: 07:30 AM EST

Weather stage 5 UAE Tour 2025

The temperature will rise to 29 degrees in the afternoon, so the sun will again win against the clouds. The wind will blow from the north at wind force 3, so as mentioned before, echelons do not seem to be an option.

Favorites stage 5 UAE Tour 2025

Copy paste? We think so. There are many incredibly fast men at the start of this round, and the differences have been minimal so far. Jonathan Milan proved himself a real killer on behalf of Lidl-Trek, with two victories out of two sprint opportunities. But the others were never far behind, and with a slightly better positioning and/or lead-out, they might just win.

A hat-trick for Milan on Friday is, therefore, no easy task. Tim Merlier was already in good shape in the Emirates and was just millimeters away in stage four for Soudal-Quick Step. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) always needs a few more races to win, so maybe after two sprints, it will be good for him.

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Milan by millimeters ahead of Merlier, Philipsen third

Behind them, a whole group hopes for that perfect sprint: Fabio Jakobsen (Picnic-PostNL) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) did well after not participating on the first day. Arvid de Kleijn does not seem to have it all his own way yet on behalf of Tudor after crashing hard in the AlUla Tour. But the same goes for him: if it all goes well for once...

Other men who were, in principle, among the front runners? Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) looked good, as did the Bahrain train of Phil Bauhaus and the always combative Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché). Sam Welsford tried on behalf of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe but could not keep up with Danny van Poppel. The pressure is on there, which is not the case at Visma | Lease a Bike. Daniel McLay is free to sprint there after Olav Kooij's illness.  

Favorites stage 5 UAE Tour 2025, according to IDLProCycling.com

Top favorites: Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)
Outsiders: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceunick), Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla), Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Fabio Jakobsen (Team Picnic-PostNL)
Longshots: Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain), Gerben Thijssen (Intermarche-Wanty), Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) and Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling Team)

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])      

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