So you didn't watch the women's UAE Tour. Maybe it's still too early in the season for you to get excited about bike racing. Maybe the roadside scenery fills you with a sense of existential dread. Or maybe you just aren't keen to watch bike races held in countries with questionable human rights records.
All of that makes sense. All we'll say is, by not tuning in, you actually missed some pretty engaging bike racing.
Let's get you up to speed.
Lorena Wiebes picked up where she left off
You could have worked out that Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) was dominant in the sprints by looking at the race results, but that's only part of the story. Yes, the Dutchwoman won three of the race's four stages – not entirely unexpected – but the way she did so was just as notable as the number of wins she ended up with.
Stage 1 was probably the closest of Wiebes's three wins, with her compatriot and big rival Charlotte Kool (Picnic PostNL) challenging her early in the sprint, before Wiebes kicked away to win with relative ease. It seemed as if we were in for some great battles between the pair – like at last year's UAE Tour where Kool beat Wiebes on the final stage – but it didn't shake out that way.
Kool was a long way behind when Wiebes won from a small group on stage 2 – more on that in a moment – and when Wiebes won easily on the final stage, Kool finished 23rd, having been boxed in on the approach. Of note on that final stage: Wiebes' lead-out train fell apart completely on the chaotic approach to the finish, but it didn't make a difference. Wiebes surfed the wheels of her rivals and still managed to win by about 37 bike lengths.
For those keeping count: Wiebes now has 96 wins in her career, and she's only 25 years old.
Stage 2 was bonkers
The UAE Tour isn't exactly known for its beautiful vistas – unless wide highways built across interminable deserts are your thing – but the terrain does have one thing going for it: crosswinds. And on stage 2, a day where the winner averaged a blistering 48 km/h, we got plenty of crosswinds.
Echelons were forming from the moment the flag dropped, and it took only 2.5 km before the winning move of the day was formed. There were five riders in that group: Lily Williams (Human Powered Health), Wiebes – who sprinted across to the front group with apparent ease, while everyone else was suffering in the gutter – and then three riders from the home team, UAE Team ADQ: Karlijn Swinkels, Lara Gillespie, and overall GC favourite (and new recruit) Elisa Longo Borghini.
It was a curious move for Longo Borghini to get up the road so early, with the race's queen stage coming the following day, and for a time the break was left to dangle mere seconds in front of the peloton, seemingly destined to get caught. But then their lead started to grow – to more than three minutes – and at some point, it was clear that the audacious early move was going to pay off.
Wiebes was always going to win the sprint from that group – which she did very easily – but the bigger question was: what impact would a hard day out front have on Longo Borghini? Going into the Jebel Hafeet stage the Italian champ had a 1:46 lead over her biggest GC rival – Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), in her first full season back on the road – but had Longo Borghini spent too much energy?
Turns out, nope.
Stage 3 was UAE Team ADQ show
With such a lead coming into the queen stage, Elisa Longo Borghini didn't have to do much to win her first tour with her new team. She could have just followed the best climbers and she would have been fine. But where's the fun in that?
Instead, the 33-year-old attacked from the remnants of the peloton with 3.2 km to go on the stage-ending Jebel Hafeet climb and rode away to an easy victory, effectively sewing up the race overall.
Longo Borghini was clearly the strongest climber in the race, but she owes a big deal of thanks to her teammate and compatriot Silvia Persico. Persico rode on the front for virtually the entirety of the 10.9 km Jebel Hafeet climb, her strong tempo shredding the peloton to just a select few.
She was distanced when Mavi Garcia (Liv AlUla Jayco) tried to get away with 5.4 km remaining, but managed to get back on terms, then got back to the front to continue driving the pace. And when Longo Borghini made her winning move, Persico was again dropped by those who set off in pursuit, before fighting back once more to rejoin the chase with 1 km left. Persico didn't just finish with that group, she somehow had enough to punch away and take second on the stage, ultimately giving UAE Team ADQ a 1-2 on final GC as well.
It was a killer ride from the versatile Italian. Persico's many fans will be hoping this result is the start of a return to form after the 27-year-old had a rather lacklustre 2024 by her lofty standards.
There were several other noteworthy performances
While Wiebes and Longo Borghini earned most of the headlines at the 2025 UAE Tour, there were several other performances that are worth taking note of.
Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) had a breakout 2024 with a bunch of top-10s in WorldTour one-days and a stage win at the Giro, and the 28-year-old Mauritian has started 2025 in promising fashion too. She was third on Jebel Hafeet behind the UAE Team ADQ duo and finished third overall – her best ever result in a WorldTour stage race.
Also impressive on Jebel Hafeet was 25-year-old Monica Trinca Colonel who joins the WorldTour this year with Liv AlUla Jayco. The Italian climber was fourth on the queen stage and will be one to keep an eye on this season.
There were also a few riders who maybe didn't quite perform as expected. Her GC tilt was likely gone after missing the winning move on stage 2, but Ferrand-Prévot would probably have liked a better result on Jebel Hafeet than 18th. Dropped with more than 6 km to race, the multi-discipline world champ ended up losing 3:39 on the day.
Noted climber Ashleigh Moolman (AG Insurance-Soudal) also shipped more than four minutes – finishing behind Wiebes – and Lidl-Trek recruit Riejanne Markus was even further back. Still, it's early in the year and the UAE Tour is not the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Looking ahead
So what to make of the 2025 women's UAE Tour? What can a four-stage race in early February tell us about the (long) season ahead? A bit, but not much.
It's no surprise that Elisa Longo Borghini won the tour overall. She was the best climber (and all-rounder) on the startlist, and she clearly prepared well for this race, targeting a good result in her new team's home tour. That certainly doesn't mean she'll have it quite so easy once the season is in full swing.
Most of her biggest rivals weren't at the UAE Tour, both when it comes to the stage races (Demi Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma, Évita Muzic etc.) or indeed the Classics (Lotte Kopecky, Vollering, Marianne Vos etc.). And those rivals that were at the race presumably didn't put as much emphasis on being good at the UAE Tour as Longo Borghini did (Juliette Labous, Markus etc.). All of that means it's far too early to tell what this win means for Longo Borghini's season and how she'll stack up in a season where many of the top riders are now racing with different teams.
When it comes to the sprinting stakes though, the UAE Tour probably gave a clearer idea of how the season is shaping up. Charlotte Kool has looked the rider most likely to beat Wiebes in sprints in recent seasons but Wiebes was clearly superior in the UAE. It will take something special from Kool and others to rise to Wiebes' level in 2025, but hopefully that's what we see. Otherwise, expect another 20+ wins season from the Dutch powerhouse.
The 2025 Women's WorldTour continues at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on March 1.
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