Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) won the summit finish on Jebel Hafeet to claim both Stage 4 and the overall title at the UAE Tour Women, her third victory at the Middle East's only Women's WorldTour race.
A late solo attack inside of the final 4km of the 10 km climb dropped Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) and took the red jersey from sprinter Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who had led the GC through the opening three flat stages.
The new race format, which repositioned Jebel Hafeet as the finale rather than the penultimate stage, kept the overall classification open until the final hour. UAE Team ADQ and Canyon//SRAM controlled the 145 km desert approach, suppressing breakaways and keeping the peloton intact to the base of the climb.
Once the road tilted upward at Green Mubazzarah, the race split instantly. Wiebes was distanced from the opening kilometres.
Decisive moves on the upper slopes
Photo credit: RCS/Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency
A selection of six GC contenders formed, including Niewiadoma, Longo Borghini and Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv AlUla Jayco). Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx–Protime) abandoned ahead of the stage start, with the team citing a throat infection, so was not in contention on today's ascent. With 3.7 km remaining, Longo Borghini accelerated. Niewiadoma followed initially, but a second surge at within the final 3km opened a gap the Polish rider could not close.
Niewiadoma subsequently faded, caught and passed by both Trinca Colonel and Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike), dropping from second wheel to fifth on the stage.
"They started attacking, and I like to play, so I went into the game," Longo Borghini said after the stage. "I stayed calm and chill until I saw them pretty tired, then I did one attack. I saw Kasia following me, and when I saw she looked a bit tired, I went again and could drop her."
The Italian admitted her form was less certain than in 2025. "We came here not sure about my shape because we took it a little bit easier this winter, and it was a bit harder to win this year compared to last year," she said.
Longo Borghini added that the stage had a significant emotional resonance for her: "This climb reminds me one friend I lost last year," she said. "This victory goes to him".
Trinca Colonel's second place on the stage secured the overall runner-up spot for Liv AlUla Jayco. De Vries completed the podium in both the stage and GC after riding a more conservative pace on the lower slopes. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) finished fourth.
Longo Borghini's third title extends her record on Jebel Hafeet, where she has taken each of her UAE Tour Women overall wins.
She has won every edition of UAE Tour Women aside from the 2024 edition which was won by Lotte Kopecky.
Cover image credit: RCS/Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency
