UAE Tour 2022 - Jasper Philipsen takes Stage 5 win, Tadej Pogacar retains lead despite late puncture

Updated 26/02/2022 at 12:18 GMT

Jasper Philipsen was the fastest at the finish once again, as he took his second stage of the UAE Tour and tightened his grip on the green jersey. Tadej Pogacar kept hold of the leader's red jersey, but it was a frantic day for the Slovenian as he had to chase hard after suffering a puncture late in the day.

'Strikes gold' - Philipsen wins Stage 5

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) secured victory on Stage 5 of the UAE Tour, as race leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) survived a scare to retain his red jersey.

In what was always likely to be a day for the sprinters on the run to Al Marjan Island, Alpecin-Fenix did brilliantly to put their star man in position to deliver before a bit of chaos caused alarm.

Easily visible in his green jersey as leader of the points classification, Philipsen found a wheel after his lead-out man broke a chain, peeled off with a 200m to run and had too much in the tank for Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) and Sam Bennett (Bora–Hansgrohe).

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"It was a nice finish and we lined up well with the team, with a good plan,” Philipsen said on Eurosport. “Then with the final kilometre, my lead man lost his chain so it was chaos to find a good wheel.

“But in the end it all came out well, so super happy."

After securing his second stage of the race, Philipsen added: “Winning is never boring so it is the same feeling.”

Pogacar retained his lead at the head of the race, but there were moments of alarm for the Slovenian.

With a little over six kilometres to run, he was brought to a halt by a puncture.

With the teams winding up the speed in the peloton, he was forced into a frantic chase through the cars.

He got back on with under two kilometres remaining, and was shepherded to the finish line by his team.

The two-time Tour de France champion ended up increasing his lead in the general classification by two seconds to four over Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), as he took time in the intermediate sprint.

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