'The focus is on a Jebel Hafeet result and UAE Tour GC will follow' says Max Poole

dsm-firmenich PostNL climber sits in sixth place ahead of the final stage on Sunday, but remains level-headed after the best winter of his career

07:51, Sunday 25th February 2024

George Poole

Junior Writer

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Max Poole is one of the peloton's taller figures, but can move his large frame up the world's toughest climbs

Spirits were high in dsm-firmenich PostNL's temporary camp in the car park of Dubai Harbour on Thursday afternoon.

Whilst Fabio Jakobsen had not finished in the top three on the day, the Dutch sprinter had enjoyed the opportunity to open his legs and the team's GC hope, Max Poole, had come away from a hectic finale unscathed. His time on favoured terrain would not arrive again until Sunday, but the British rider is no stranger to chipping in over the fast run into a sprint.

'I I do [get involved], obviously the goal is to get to 3km but I can also do a pull there at the end, so I try and help out when I can," Poole told GCN after the end of stage 5. "It is good for me anyway."

No luck would follow for Jakobsen or dsm-firmenich PostNL on stages 5 and 6, with the Dutch sprinter missing out on challenging for the top five on both days. But for the Dutch WorldTeam, attention and ambitions will quickly shift towards the final stage, in which Poole will be hoping to jump into the top five on general classification.

The British climber stared down the headwinds on stage 2 to finish 14th in the individual time trial.

"I think it's always the same with TTs, you always feel like you're done after halfway but I did a good TT," he reflected - before riding to fourth place on the stage 3 mountaintop finish to Jebel Jais.

In the end, Poole had been unable to follow the accelerations of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale's Ben O'Connor inside the final kilometre, but he puts this down to having already committed to sprinting for the victory rather than going alone.

"I think it already started before [Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale attacked]. They'd already put a guy on [the front] who did 2km and really lined it out, and then UAE just rode not so hard, just a steady tempo with Vine and then [Decathlon] just hit everybody with surprise," he said.

It was Valentin Paret-Peintre who went for broke with just over a kilometre to ride, heeding the guidance of his team leader O'Connor and setting a searing tempo for the Australian to launch from. Once O'Connor had his eyes on the finish line, there would be no stopping the 28-year-old.

"Already coming to 1km [to go], I was just getting ready for the sprint and trying to get myself around the fast guys, and then they hit us, [but] I was already committed to the sprint so I had to wait. I lost a few seconds but it's not too bad."

Losing five seconds across the line and a further 10 through time bonuses to O'Connor, Poole is wise enough to know that rather than a minute of seconds, the GC may be decided by a minute or more come the end of Sunday's tough stage to Jebel Hafeet. He currently sits sixth overall with a deficit of 18 seconds to the podium and 31 seconds to race leader, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates).

At 11km in length, Jebel Hafeet has earned a reputation for being where the best climber in the race shows himself. Over the years, the list of winners atop Jebel Hafeet includes Adam Yates, Tadej Pogačar and Alejandro Valverde, which goes to show the difficulty of this test.

With an average gradient of 6.6%, Poole is confident that Jebel Hafeet will suit him better than Jebel Jais earlier in the week, echoing the thoughts of Ineos Grenadiers' Tobias Foss.

"I think probably Sunday [suits me best]," said Poole. "It's probably more for the pure climbers because yesterday [Jebel Jais] was longer but also more punchy at the end. I think Sunday will be better for me, but we'll have to wait and see."

Poole reaping benefits of the best winter of his career

When asked what his ambitions can be on the seventh and final stage of the UAE Tour, Poole was level-headed, refusing to be drawn into talk of the overall podium or alike.

"We have to look more for a day result and the GC follows that anyway. I think if I can just focus on doing a good ride for the day, we'll see what happens but there's a lot of guys still in contention."

Poole is perhaps right to be cautious, with O'Connor clearly in supreme form, Vine a noted strong performer in the punishing heat that will face the riders in stage 7, and the top 14 overall containing a list of contenders all within a minute of the red jersey.

But having shown himself to be riding well himself earlier in the week, Poole can certainly take confidence heading into the final stage. Besides, the 20-year-old already knew he would be in good shape for this week after a strong winter of preparation.

"To be honest, it was probably the best winter I've had so far," he noted. "I spent quite a lot of time before the team camp away, so I had a really good winter under me and then I was up on the volcano for a few weeks before."

His dsm-firmenich PostNL side enjoyed a spell of altitude training on Mount Teide ahead of the start of the season.

"We had a really hard camp there and luckily I recovered ok after that - I was pretty done after that," he said, before becoming slightly more candid as he cracked a laugh.

"When I get back home after altitude, I was completely fucked, but I'm happy that I feel ok here!"

For all the important information about the 2024 UAE Tour, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub for our full preview, the race startlist and much more.