Professional cyclist Remco Evenepoel won the UAE Tour, celebrating his first victory since winning the Road World Championship.

The Belgian successfully defended his lead in the stage race through the United Arab Emirates on the final leg to Jabal Hafit. On the more than 1200 meter high mountain, Brit Adam Yates won ahead of Evenepoel and Frenchman Geoffrey Bouchard on Sunday.

Evenepoel had taken the overall lead after the second of seven stages and was 59 seconds ahead of Australian Lucas Plapp and a minute ahead of Yates in the final standings. The best German was Ben Zwiehoff in eighth place, at the same time as his Bora teammate Emanuel Buchmann. Evenepoel's last win until Sunday was winning the World Championships in Australia at the end of September. Overall, the exceptional talent has already clinched 38 professional victories.