Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won Stage 6 of the UAE Tour on Jebel Hafeet, soloing clear with 2.5 km remaining to take the Red Jersey from Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious). Del Toro now leads the GC by 20 seconds heading into tomorrow's likely sprint finale, 21 seconds separated them at the start of the day.
The 168 km stage from Al Ain Museum ran flat for 150 km before the 10.6 km summit finish. A nine-rider break, including Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) and Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon-CMA CGM), was kept on a short leash by UAE, Bahrain Victorious and Lotto-Intermarché, never gaining more than two minutes.
UAE's two-card hand
Decathlon-CMA CGM set the initial tempo on the climb, thinning the favourites' group to around 15 by the 6 km mark. That pace was enough to crack pre-race favourite Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), who lost contact with roughly 5 km to go and slid to 10th overall, 2:25 down.
From there, UAE played their depth. Adam Yates took over pacing duties inside the final 5 km, pinning Tiberi into a defensive position while conserving del Toro for the finish. Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) and Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana) attacked first, but the decisive move came at -2.5 km when del Toro accelerated hard. Only Tiberi tried to follow, and he could not hold. The Italian faded in the final kilometre, and both Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) and Gall came past him.
Plapp's second place at 12 seconds lifts him to third overall at 1:14, while Gall and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) sit fifth and sixth respectively.
"This is just a mentality game, that you can be confident enough to keep trying," del Toro said. "Today is one of the top three victories in my career. When you win with a team like this it's even more special."
"Tadej Pogacar told me to enjoy this race, try and win it but never look back, whatever happens," del Toro added.
With Stage 7 expected to end in a bunch sprint, Tiberi's only realistic path back to Red runs through bonus seconds and crosswind chaos on the exposed desert roads.
Our stage 7 prediction for the UAE Tour is that Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) will seal the final sprint, and Isaac del Toro will be crowned as the 2026 general classification winner.
Image credits: Luca Bettini / SprintCyclingAgency
