WIEBES, THE UNSTOPPABLE

European Champion wins the first stage of the UAE Tour Women ahead of her compatriots Charlotte Kool and Nienke Veenhoven

Dubai Harbour, 6 February 2025 – The 2025 UAE Tour Women began in the same way as last year, with European champion Lorena Wiebes taking a dominant sprint victory at Dubai Harbour. Wiebes outsprinted her Dutch compatriots Charlotte Kool and 20-year-old Nienke Veenhoven, continuing her streak of impressive sprint finishes over recent seasons and wearing the Red Jersey, as happened in the 2024 edition. The stage featured a long breakaway by Cristina Tonetti, Sylvie Swinkels, and Linda Laporta, who were eventually caught with 3 km to go. Italian rider Tonetti, however, claimed the satisfaction of wearing the first Black Jersey of the UAE Tour Women as the leader of the Intermediate Sprints classification.

Lorena Wiebes was awarded the Red Jersey by H.E. Talal Mustafa Al Hashemi – Executive Director of Events Sector – and Furrugh Jawaid – Representative of General Motors

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx – Protime)
2 – Charlotte Kool (Team Picnic PostNL) at 4″
3 – Nienke Veenhoven (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) at 6″

Lorena Wiebes was awarded by H.E. Saeed Hareb – General Secretary of Dubai Sports Council – and H.E. Aref Al Awani – General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council

STAGE RESULTS

1 – Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx – Protime), 149km in 3h57’37”, average speed 37.623 km/h
2 – Charlotte Kool (Team Picnic PostNL) s.t.
3 – Nienke Veenhoven (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) s.t.

Lorena Wiebes wears also the Green Jersey. She was awarded on stage by H.E. Naser Aman Al Rahma – Assistant Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council – and Deepak Jain – CEO of MODON

THE OFFICIAL JERSEYS

The leader jerseys of the UAE Tour Women are provided by ALÉ

• Red Jersey, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by International Holding Company: IHC – Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx – Protime)
• Green Jersey, leader of the Points Classification, sponsored by MODON – Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx – Protime) – worn by Charlotte Kool (Team Picnic PostNL)
• White Jersey, Best Young Rider, sponsored by TAQA – Nienke Veenhoven (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)
• Black Jersey, leader of the Intermediate Sprint Classification, sponsored by ALDAR – Cristina Tonetti (Laboral Kutxa – Fundación Euskadi)

PRESS CONFERENCE
Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner and Red Jersey Lorena Wiebes said: “I’m really happy to win again and finish off the work of the team. It was a bit chaotic in the sprint like always but we were able to sprint. I first want to thank my team-mates and tell them that I’m still the fastest at the moment. We wanted to control the whole day. We entered the last corner in a perfect position and I still had my lead out with me. They delivered me at perfection for sprinting. I felt that I was overtaking Charlotte [Kool] but I know since the Amstel Gold Race that somebody is always likely to come on one side”.

Nienke Veenhoven was awarded on stage by Mr. Abdulraheem Hassan Alzarooni – Corporate Communication Officer Director in Abu Dhabi Sports Council – and Ali Al Falasi – Representative of Al Burjeel Holdings

The White Jersey Nienke Veenhoven said: “It’s special to make the top 3 because you really needed to sprint today. I’m proud of the girls how we did the sprint together. We made it quite long, I just trusted my team-mates. At the end, I only had to sprint. Of course you want to win but it’s no shame finishing third behind Lorena [Wiebes] and Charlotte [Kool]. Maybe in the future I can beat them. I’m not there yet but I hope to close the gap”.

The Black Jersey Cristina Tonetti was awarded on stage by Mrs. Reem Al Rashedi – Marketing Director at Abu Dhabi Sports Council – and Mr. Bader Al Mansoori – representing ALDAR

The Black Jersey Cristina Tonetti said: “The champions are the girls who win races, I’m still far away from there. But at least I can enjoy this medal today. Our breakaway got a big gap but there was a lot of head wind. With the tail wind it was a little bit better and I tried to resist to the peloton. But it was impossible to stay away. We raced hard for the intermediate sprints. I’d like to break away again to retain the Black Jersey but a lot of wind is expected tomorrow so we’ll see what’s possible really”.

STATISTICS

• 4th win at the UAE Tour Women for Lorena Wiebes after stage 2, 2023, and the first 2 stages last year.
• Lorena Wiebes is closing on his 100th professional win. Today she won for the 94th time as a pro.
• The Netherlands are the second country with a stage podium lockout (Wiebes/Kool/Veenhoven) at the UAE Tour Women after Italy (Longo Borghini/Realini/Persico, Jebel Hafeet, 2023).
• The Dutch monopoly of the Green Jersey at the UAE Tour Women continues. So far the leader of the points classification has been Lorena Wiebes 7 times and Charlotte Kool twice.

TOMORROW’S STAGE
STAGE 2, AL DHAFRA FORT-AL MIRFA, 111 KM – AL MIRFA STAGE

The Route

The desert stage. It starts from Al Dhafra Fort in the desert to reach Madinat Zayed. There are wide, straight roads punctuated by sequences of roundabouts as the route arrives in the built-up area. After passing the city, the route crosses the desert again for over 60 km toward the coast, heading directly to Al Mirfa.

Final kilometres

The finale takes place on a wide road with perfect pavement and just one curve at a roundabout before the final straight. The finishing straight is 8 meters wide and on asphalt.

#UAETourWomen

Photo Credits: Sprint Cycling Agency