The UAE Tour continues on Tuesday with an individual time trial, with the riders setting off one by one for a 12.1-kilometre test in the United Arab Emirates. No higher mathematics, but at IDLProcycling.com, we try to break down what to expect.Course stage 2 UAE Tour 2026
Flat as a pancake — that’s this UAE Tour chrono. Just like in recent years, the time trial will be raced on Al Hudayriyat Island.
Right after the start there’s a fairly technical section with two corners. After that, it’s full gas in a straight line to the intermediate point, which comes after 5.8 kilometres. Then the riders head back towards the start/finish area, with another technical section as they enter the final three kilometres. The entire time trial is ridden on wide roads.
Climbs
None.
Times
Start: 10:05 AM
Finish: 12:30 PM
Start times to follow.
Weather stage 2 UAE Tour 2026
The sun will be shining in Abu Dhabi, although the riders will need to factor in a light westerly breeze. Temperatures will sit around 24 degrees Celsius.
Favorites stage 2 UAE Tour 2026The man to beat in this individual time trial is, of course, world champion Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe). The Belgian already rode a team time trial in Mallorca with his new squad, but this will be his first solo test against the clock in 2026.
On paper, Josh Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers) looks like the main challenger for Evenepoel. The Brit won this very time trial last year with a solid margin of 13 seconds. On a short, flat course like this, Tarling can really turn his power into speed.
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Joshua Tarling; Evenepoel’s big challenger?
But there are more strong time trialists to watch. Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step), for example, showed several times last season that he can be very sharp in short efforts like these. Stefan Bissegger has been proving his ability against the clock for years, and at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale there’s also Daan Hoole — another rider well suited to this kind of course. Lidl–Trek, meanwhile, can look to a big engine like Max Walscheid.Looking at the general classification picture, it will be up to riders such as Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Derek Gee (Lidl–Trek), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and race leader Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) to limit the damage against Evenepoel. For pure climbers like Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto), that is always going to be a tough assignment.Top favorites: Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Joshua Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers)
Outsiders: Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step), Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG), Daan Hoole, Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Max Walscheid (Lidl-Trek)
Long shots: Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Mattia Cattaneo, Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Florian Vermeersch (UAE Emirates-XRG), Ethan Vernon (NSN), Pablo Castrillo and Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar)