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The rider from Thurgau won the third stage of the UAE Tour, a 9 kilometer time trial, and took the overall leader’s jersey.
Stefan Bissegger in action during the Ajman time trial on Thursday.
imago images / LaPresse
Stefan Bissegger immediately displayed his ambitions at the start of the cycling season. The 23-year-old runner from Thurgau has indeed won the third stage of the UAE Tour, a 9-kilometre individual time trial contested in Ajman on a completely flat course devoid of any technical difficulty (in fact a round trip twice 4.5 km). Bissegger even scored twice, since his performance allowed him to take the overall leader’s jersey.
Bissegger won in front of two great specialists in the solo exercise: he beat the Italian Filippo Ganna (double reigning world champion) by 7 seconds and the Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by 14 seconds. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar follows in fourth place, 18 seconds behind the Swiss.
At the microphone of the UCI, Bissegger had difficulty in hiding (!) His joy. “I was very confident before the start, I knew I would have good power, he explained. There was quite a bit of wind, and we know that can have an influence, but everything went well. I was aware that I had achieved something very good the moment I crossed the finish line.
In the general classification, Bissegger precedes Ganna by 7 seconds – those which separated the two riders during this time – and the Belgian Jasper Philipsen by 12 seconds. Tomorrow, the fourth stage of this first race of the World Tour is announced as a mountain stage, since it will conclude with one of the two finishes at the top of the event, in Jebel Jais, on the sides of the mountain highest in the Emirates, which culminates at 1934 meters.
