Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) finished on the podium in third place in the third stage time trial of the UAE Tour on Tuesday.

The Dutch time trial champion is now in fourth place overall, ahead of him are Stefan Bissegger (EF Education Easypost) and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), who finished first and second in the time trial, and stage 1 sprint winner, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Phoenix).

"I'm happy with this performance," said Dumoulin, who finished 15 seconds behind time trial winner Bissegger and 8 seconds behind Ganna. "I finished behind two true specialists. So I have nothing to be ashamed of. [The course was perfect for them. I like longer, hilly courses. But I still finished third, so I'm very happy. It's nice to run a course like this in a competition."

Next to finish on the 9km course in the Emirate of Ajman was defending champion Tadej Pogachal, followed by teammate João Almeida.

Pogachar is only 4 seconds behind Dumoulin, while Almeida is 8. 2020 winner and 2021 runner-up Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) also finished 12th on this stage, 15 seconds behind Dumoulin.

"It gives me a lot of confidence to be a little bit ahead of the other guys," Dumoulin said. I'm confident that I'm a little bit ahead of the other guys," Dumoulin said. There are a lot of guys right behind me, but today I'm in a good position for the rest of the week."

The UAE Tour will be Dumoulin's first race of the 2022 season; in 2021, after taking a six-month break from racing, he was forced to end the season early after breaking his wrist in a training crash on a curve. He is aiming to compete in the Giro d'Italia in May, his first Grand Tour since 2020.

For now, however, he will attempt to climb on the crucial slopes of Jebel Jais on Wednesday's stage 4 and Jebel Hafit on the final stage 7.

"I want to enjoy the next few days in a good mood," Dumoulin said.