Belgian Remco Evenepoel wins the second stage of the 2026 UAE Tour

Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel, star of the German Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe team, won the second (Brightling) stage of the 2026 UAE Tour, the only global race on the agenda of the International Cycling Union in the Middle East. It is held in its eighth edition, organized by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, and sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Ports Group, and continues until February 22nd.

Remco came at the top of the second stage of the individual time trial race after he raced along the 12.2 km flat track on Al Hudayriat Island, at an average speed of 56.092 km/h, and recorded the fastest time of 13 minutes and 3 seconds at the finish line. He beat British Joshua Tarling, star of the Ineos Granderis team, who came second by 6 seconds, and Frenchman Remy Cavagna, star of the French Groupama FDJ United team, who came third by 6 seconds. 12 seconds.
The champion of the first stage, Mexican Isaac del Toro, star of the Emirates

Tawaf shirts
With Remco’s victory in the second stage, the Belgian cyclist topped the overall standings of the Tour, and won the red jersey sponsored by Abu Dhabi Ports Group with a total time of 2 hours, 43 minutes and 59 seconds. The green jersey, sponsored by Mubadala, also went to Remco, while the white jersey, sponsored by Burjeel Holding, went to the best young cyclist and went to Joshua Tarling. As for the black jersey, sponsored by the house, it was won by Italian Jonathan Milan, the star of the Lidl team. German Trek.
Crowning the winners
The winners of the second stage were crowned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Director of the International Events Department at the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, His Excellency Arif Hamad Al Awani, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, His Excellency Ahmed Fadel Al Muhairbi, Acting Director General of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Assistant Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Imran Khoury, Member of the Board of Directors of Burjeel Holding, and Abdullah Al Hameli, President. Executive Director of the Economic Cities and Free Zones Sector at Abu Dhabi Ports Group, Nasser Yousef Al Zaabi, Executive Director of the Strategic Affairs Sector at Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Khaled Al Rashidi, Senior Advisor at Mubadala, Mehdi Zawali, Director of Partnerships at Aldar Properties, Jamie Deane, Executive Director of Sports at Mudon, Eid Adwan, General Manager of Brightling Middle East, India and Africa, and Fayez Al Kathiri, Advisor at Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
Statements of the stage winner
Stage winner and new red jersey wearer, Remco Evenepoel, said: “This is the fastest individual time trial race of my career! The track was pretty flat, which made it perfect for high speed. I’m very happy with what I achieved today. I was aiming for my first individual win at the UAE Tour, especially after winning the team time trial in 2023, and coming second twice on mountain stages, so this win gives me a great feeling today.”
He added: “Isaac del Toro gave everything he had. We knew that starting early would be better, and he won yesterday and I won today, so we both have a stage win now. From this moment, the competition for the overall standings will be open. With a difficult climb coming up, it is better to defend the lead than to have to attack. It is an ideal situation for us, and now we have to defend the lead until next Sunday.”

Widespread international media attention
The UAE Tour 2026 received wide international media attention, as the media follow-up report for the first stage held yesterday in the Al Dhafra region revealed that more than 850 articles were published in 46 different countries following the opening day of the race, which reflects the growing global status of the Tour. Mexico topped the list of countries publishing the most news, followed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, while the most prominent international media such as The Guardian, Cycling News, Velon News and Agence France-Presse devoted extensive coverage to the event and the results of the first stage. The victory of Mexican racer Isaac del Toro, star of the Emirates

Mountain stage
The third stage, which will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, February 18, will be one of the most important and longest stages of the tour, and represents the first of two mountain stages, which is the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority stage, for a total distance of 183 km, and starts from Umm Al Quwain, passing through many of the emirate’s landmarks, then heading directly to the last and most difficult part by climbing the summit of Mount Marawah in Ras Al Khaimah, and the length of the final ascent is about 15 km, the first part with an ascent rate of 7% until the first summit. Then an average rise of 12%, then a final rise of 17%.