In a stunning round of news, Stefan Bissegger has just won the stage 3 time trial of the UAE Tour. This is a great achievement as he just passed World Champion Filippo Ganna to get the title. The competition was indeed fierce at Ajman, where the time trial took place.
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His victory is indeed worthy, he finished the time trial at 9:43 and the time trial had a 9-kilometer stretch. Beating Ganna was no easy feat as the World Champion already conquered two different time trials this season.
Talking about other riders, their performance was also remarkable, especially Tadej Pogačar from the Team UAE Emirates. He came at the fourth position, but that is also a good victory, which means his recovery from COVID-19 has been well.
The event resumes on Wednesday, but there are a lot of threats for Bissegger. Tom Dumoulin from Jumbo-Visma came third and will be also be competing in the Giro d’Italia. Right now, he’s a threat for Bissegger.
Let’s see how the Team UAE Emirates will be handling the rest of the season. João Almeida and Tadej Pogacar will certainly be in high spirits after showing brilliant skills at stage 3.
Bissegger stated after the race:
I had a really good time trial today. I was also pretty confident that I had good power and so could have a good time. It’s always nice to win and make it because you never know in a time trial, it’s hard to say how good the others are and if someone has the best day of their lives. I knew at the finish that my time was really good.
I was looking forward to this time trial for a long time. I had a rough winter with a broken scaphoid and it took a long time until it was fixed. I’m really happy to be back.
The time trial course in Ajman was not technical, flat, and wide roads. A stiff wind was blowing from the coast though, which made it a slog on the way back. This was certainly no problem for Bissegger though, he has a really good compact build. Also, his wind-efficient position is one of the best in the world, so he could tackle this time trial easily.
Bissegger finished half the track at 4:26 and at 9:43, he passed the finish line. His average speed was a bit over 55.5km/h. Ganna, on the other hand, finished the time trial one second late than Bissegger. His wins at the Étoile de Bessèges and Tour de la Provence inspired Bissegger to do better and he did that.
It was a slow and delayed start for Dumoulin but he had an aggressive pace later on. He was ten seconds behind Stefan Bissegger when the time trial ended.
Let’s see how the rest of the Tour pans out when it resumes on Wednesday. Stay tuned for more updates!
Also Read: Andre Greipel Praises Mark Cavendish, Says He’s Finally Ready For Tour De France
Featured Image Via YouTube/Tour de Suisse
