Abu Dhabi - Following his victory of Tour de France last year, Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) started the new season off with a win. He completed the 7-stage UAE Tour, the first world series race this season, 35 seconds ahead of Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) and 1:02 minutes ahead of Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick-Step).

Pogačar won all stages bar the first one, which he finished fifth.

He was happy after the race, saying it was one of his major goals of the season. This is also a home race for his team, making it all the more special, the 22-year-old added.

He praised him teammates, saying this was one of their biggest victories.