Cycling: Tour de France champion Pogacar extends overall lead with stage three win

Adam Yates moved up to second overall at the UAE Tour but could not shake off Tadej Pogacar as the Tour de France champion snatched the stage three win to increase his lead. The climb to Jebel Hafeet became a straight fight between the race leader and the defending champion as they shook off Joao Almeida and Sepp Kuss on the 10-kilometre ascent to the first of two summit finishes in the race. Yates, making his debut for the Ineos Grenadiers this week, made a series of attacks but could not drop Pogacar from his wheel, and the UAE Team Emirates rider then used the slight descent on the approach to the line to come around Yates and take the victory. That pushed his advantage to 43 seconds over Yates, with Joao Almeida dropping to third, a further 20 seconds back. Almeida, who began the five seconds behind Pogacar in second, conceded 48 seconds on the climb as he reprised the familiar grimaces seen when he lost control of the Giro d'Italia in the final week last season. With Almeida's Deceuninck-Quick Step team-mate Mattia Cattaneo sticking with him and Jumbo-Visma's Chris Harper distanced midway up the climb, Yates moved up from fifth place after limiting his losses in Monday's time trial. Chris Froome, making his debut for Israel Start-Up Nation as he continues his recovery, was distanced by the main contenders some seven kilometres from the summit as he rode in comfortably. The seven-stage race will continue with a flat stage on Al Marjan Island on Wednesday before the potentially decisive summit finish at Jebel Jais on Thursday.