Tulett’s smart move for Visma | Lease a Bike in UAE Tour: “We took the initiative and were rewarded”

Only Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck) dared to go solo up the road, but the Swiss rider was caught before the intermediate sprint. With the stage shortened due to strong winds, there were still time bonuses on offer — and Tulett made sure to take advantage. Behind Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), who crashed heavily in the finale, Tulett crossed the line second at that intermediate sprint.

That earned him two bonus seconds. On the rising final kilometre, Tulett then showed himself again, although he narrowly missed out on the top ten at the finish. Thanks to 11th place — and those collected bonuses — the rider from Sevenoaks will start Tuesday’s individual time trial fifth overall.

“The strong wind caused a lot of nervousness in the peloton,” Tulett said afterwards in a team press release. The decision to shorten the stage only added to the tension. “We heard during the race that the stage was being shortened, so we had to switch quickly — and we did that really well as a team.”

On the reduced course, the yellow-and-black squad decided to take control. “We took the initiative and were rewarded on the road with two bonus seconds. In the sprint I hit the front a bit too early and ended up blowing myself up. A finish like this suits me, so there definitely could have been more,” Tulett said, slightly disappointed.

Still, the overall feeling remained positive. “We can look back on this stage in a positive way. There are plenty of challenges still to come in this race. We’re aiming for a good result in the general classification. Tomorrow’s time trial will be the first test. We’ve also got stages three and five circled in red. I came here with a lot of motivation, so I’m looking forward to fighting for the win together with my teammates,” Tulett concluded.