Jebel Mobrah (United Arab Emirates) - wednesday 18 february 2026 - The unprecedented uphill finish at Jebel Mobrah shakes up the general classification, delivering both the stage win and the Red Jersey to Antonio Tiberi, who secures the first WorldTour victory of his career. The Bahrain Victorious rider responded to the initial attacks launched by Felix Gall, taking control with 4000 metres to go and managing to hold off the comeback by Isaac Del Toro. The latter had approached the brutal gradients of the final climb cautiously before finishing 15” behind the new Red Jersey and ahead of the 2024 winner, Lennert Van Eetvelt. A different story for Remco Evenepoel, who tried to respond to the early attacks but then lost ground, crossing the line 2’03” down on the winner. In the general classification, Tiberi leads by 21” over Del Toro and 1’00” over Harold Tejada. Rounding out the provisional top five are Lennert Van Eetvelt and Luke Plapp.

PRESS CONFERENCE
Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner and new Red Jersey Antonio Tiberi said: "This win means a lot to me as much as it does for my team, my family, my girlfriend and all the people who have believed in me since I took up cycling. They know all the sacrifices I’ve made to get here. Today’s win gives me confirmation that I’ve had a good winter, without any hiccups like last year with sickness and a stupid crash during the training camp. I wanted to see in a serious climb like today’s what the good level I had reached could bring me. I knew I could do well, but to leave people like Isaac Del Toro and Remco Evenepoel behind, it’s big! Having such feelings on the bike in February give me so much desire for my coming goals". Speaking seconds after the stage finish, the stage winner and new Red Jersey Antonio Tiberi said: "This is amazing. It's a dream come true. I've been dreaming to this kind of victory since I turned pro. It finally arrived after the beginning of the season was already good from the first race. I was waiting for this day. Only in the last 300 metres I felt the victory coming. But from the bottom of the climb, I was feeling very good. When I realised Remco [Evenepoel] was in trouble and Isaac Del Toro wasn't up there either. I wasn't sure if it was a good day for me or if they were waiting for the final. But I tried to do my race. I attacked and I managed to push as hard as possible till the finish. I was hearing that Del Toro was coming back really fast. In the last kilometre, I used all the energy that was remaining in my body and I went full gas till the finish".
The Green Jersey Isaac Del Toro said: "On the profile, it looked like a very hard climb, something I never did as a leader for the team. I had to be careful with my efforts up the hill. The team did a perfect job trying to control and help me. Thanks to them, I was able to try and do well in the final. I would have loved to catch Antonio Tiberi but he was going so fast, chapeau to him. I really tried. I wasn’t super confident with the group I was in. Maybe 21 seconds deficit are a lot or nothing, we’ll see. I remain optimistic".

STATISTICS
3rd professional win for Antonio Tiberi after stage 5 of the Tour de Hongrie in 2022 and the final GC of Tour de Luxembourg on the 22nd of September 2024: 514 days had passed since then.
Italy records its 5th win at the UAE Tour, the first in an uphill finish. So far, the winners for Italy were Elia Viviani (’19) and Jonathan Milan (2x last year) in bunch sprints, and Filippo Ganna in the ’21 TT. It’s thus the first time Italy wins stages in back-to-back editions of the race.
Isaac del Toro (2nd) posted his 2nd UAE Tour stage podium in 3 stages run: winner in Liwa, 25th in the TT, 2nd in Jebel Mobrah.
3rd stage podium at the UAE Tour for Lennert Van Eetvelt (3rd), after a 3rd in Jebel Jais and a win in Jebel Hafeet two years ago, when he went on to win the final GC.

TOMORROW'S STAGE
STAGE 4, FUJAIRAH-FUJAIRAH, 182 KM - PALMS SPORTS STAGE
The route - The stage starts in Fujairah and features a turnaround in the enclaves of Hatta (Dubai) and Masfut (Ajman), crossing the desert areas of the Hajar Mountains. This is the stage that passes through the greatest number of different Emirates. The entire route takes place on wide, well-paved roads, mostly straight through the desert, where wind and sometimes sand may be a factor.
Final kilometres - The final km is on a wide avenue.

STAGE 3 RESULTS
1° Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) 
km 183 in 4h24’44" average speed 41.476 km/h
2° Isaac Del Toro (Uae Team Emirates Xrg) a 15″
3° Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché) a 29″
4° Harold Tejada (Xds Astana Team) a 41″
5° Felix Gall (Decathlon Cma Cgm Team) a 51″
6° Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility)
7° Derek Gee-West (Lidl Trek) a 1’07”
8° Jørgen Nordhagen (Team Visma | Lease A Bike)
9° Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step)
10° Luke Plapp (Team Jayco Alula) a 1’13” 

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1° Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)
2° Isaac del Toro (UAe Team Emirates Xrg) a 21″
3° Harold Tejada (Xds Astana Team) a 1’00”
4° Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché) a 1’07”
5° Luke Plapp (Team Jayco Alula) a 1’19”
6° Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) a 1’21”
7° Derek Gee-West (Lidl Trek) a 1’22”
8° Felix Gall (Decathlon Cma Cgm Team) a 1’28”
9° Jørgen Nordhagen (Team Visma | Lease A Bike) a 1’30”
10° Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) a 1’43” 

THE OFFICIAL JERSEYS
Red Jersey, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by AD Ports Group - Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)
Green Jersey, leader of the Points Classification, sponsored by Mubadala - Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
White Jersey, Best Young Rider, sponsored by Burjeel Holdings - Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)
Black Jersey, leader of the Intermediate Sprint Classification, sponsored by ALDAR - Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Premier Tech)