Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) repeated last year’s performance as he sprinted to victory on the uphill finish on Hatta Dam on stage 2 of the UAE Tour. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) finished second, while Arnaud Démare (Groupama - FDJ) took third place. Ewan is also the new leader of the race.

Right from the start, two riders attacked and the peloton was more than happy to let the duo get away. They kept the gap at around three minutes for the majority of the day, just waiting for the two riders to come back. That happened with just over 20 km to go, opening up the stage once again.

Victor Campenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling) and Nicola Conci (Trek-Segafredo) attacked on the penultimate climb of the day and managed to get a gap of 20 seconds with 7 km to go. However, the teams of the sprinters were not going to let the win slip away and with 3 km left, it all came back together for the final sprint.

Bennett tried to get the jump on Ewan on the steep percentages on the final 150 meters but the Australian was quick to react. He came back and soon after passed the Irish champion to take the win and the overall race lead.

Tomorrow, the GC riders will get their chance to shine with the mountain top finish on Jebel Hafeet.