Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) looked to have secured his first overall win of the season with a flawless run on stage 5 of the UAE Tour on Thursday.

The British climber may not have been able to ruin the race on the Jebel Hafeet climb as he did two days ago, but this time he did not need such a cavalier approach. Instead, Yates made the most of his rivals' (especially UAE Team Emirates) desire for a stage win to keep the pace high and mark all the main threats to his overall lead.

Special attention was paid to UAE Team Emirates' Tadei Pogachar when the Slovenian attacked several times, and the two chased Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) and David Gaudou (Groupama-FDJ) several times. They seemed to help pull the duo apart.

In the end, Yates and Pogaczar were able to score a race-saving victory for the Slovenian's home team, solidifying Yates' lead in the overall standings. At the end of the stage, Yates had a 1:01 lead over Pogachar, while Luchenko had a 1:33 lead.

"I felt good, I had a big advantage two days ago for sure, but today I just stayed with the other favourites and didn't get into trouble. That's all that matters. Everything went well," Yates told the media at a press conference at the end of the climb.

"Right at the start, I let a small group go up as planned and controlled it from there. The wind made me a little nervous, but the guys supported me perfectly.

The last two days of the race were scheduled to end with a group sprint, but the World Tour Stage Race ended prematurely on Thursday night when all riders (including each team's staff, race organizers, and participating media) were tested for coronavirus at a hotel in Abu Dhabi.