After fourth overall among the UAE Tour’s biggest names, Harold Tejada wants to shine in the Grand Tours

What many expected to be a straight fight between Del Toro and Evenepoel instead became a duel between Tiberi and Del Toro. The Mexican made his move on the stage to Jebel Hafeet, taking the leader’s jersey from the Italian in the process. Right behind those top names, Tejada delivered a standout ride to fourth in the general classification.

Tejada, who had quietly travelled to the UAE with big ambitions, looked back on the week with satisfaction. “First of all, I want to thank my team for the hard work. We knew it would be a difficult week with such a strong start list, but they did a fantastic job,” the Colombian climber said via the team's website.

A top-five finish didn’t come out of nowhere for Astana’s leader. “Our goal was a top five, or even fighting for the podium. So fourth place is the perfect middle ground,” Tejada explained — suggesting his ambitions in the UAE were actually even higher. “Of course you always want more, but in the end, fourth is a great result,” he added, pleased with what he delivered.

With that result in the bank, Tejada is already looking ahead positively. “I feel improvement, and results like this confirm I’m on the right track. It’s a great start to the season,” said the climber, who only rode his first race of the year after the Colombian national championships — and immediately showed strong form.

Tejada believes this performance can open doors in bigger races. “This has given me huge motivation for Paris-Nice and the Grand Tours, where I’d like to show myself even more,” he said. The Colombian is on the provisional start list for both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, and he’ll head towards those goals with real ambition.

So far, the Astana GC man has never finished inside the top ten of a Grand Tour — although he came close with 12th in the 2025 Vuelta. In 2026, Tejada — and his team — will be hoping he can take one more step on the sport’s biggest stage.