Lorena Wiebes seals back-to-back victories to dominate first half of UAE Tour

Lorena Wiebes completed back-to-back stage victories and retained the leader’s red jersey on day two of the second UAE Women’s Tour on Friday.

SD Worx-Protime’s Dutch rider outsprinted the chasing pack on the long flat run towards the finishing line of the 113-kilometre trip from Al Mirfa to Madinat Zayed.

The UAE Team ADQ’s Chiara Consonni, who was third the previous day, improved to take second spot and lie 12 seconds behind Wiebes in the general classification (GC).

Joining them on the podium was Clara Copponi, finishing third in only her second race for her new team, Lidl-Trek.

Wiebes stayed out of the wind until the final two kilometres before launching her sprint off teammate Lotte Kopecky’s wheel and never lost the lead up to the finishing line.

“The final kilometre made it difficult to win today. There was a crash close to me. I had to be careful. I opened my sprint quite early but it went OK,” Wiebes said.

“It was hard to time the sprint because [Liv AlUla] Jayco came with a lot of speed from the right side. But my team did an amazing job and Lotte [Kopecky] gave me a strong lead out again today.

“We rode for the intermediate sprints yesterday because Lotte wanted to go for it to take time bonus before tomorrow's queen stage, so it was better for me to go with her.”

Wiebes' teammate Kopecky gained four seconds over the rest of her GC rivals thanks to Intermediate Sprints bonuses. The World Champion sits in fourth place, 17 seconds behind Wiebes, ahead of tomorrow's uphill finish in Jebel Hafeet, where the final 10km could be decisive.

“To take two victories in a row is a confidence booster to start the season,” Wiebes added. “We are a lot of strong Dutch riders so it’s not a surprise that we already have a