After Soudal-QuickStep's success in the UAE Tour, race leader Remco Evenepoel said another stage win is also on his Middle East bucket list, even if overall victory is the main goal for Sunday's finale.

By Saturday evening, Soudal-QuickStep had won two stages thanks to sprinter Tim Merlier and one stage in the team time trial, for a total of three out of six stages, keeping Evenepoel in the lead for the fourth consecutive day.

However, Evenpoel will be defending the red leader's jersey against a very different terrain and backdrop than the skyscrapers of Abu Dhabi, where Merlier won his second stage.

"Who knows, you tell me," Evenpoel replied jokingly when asked by a reporter what he thought would happen on the steep slopes of Jebel Hafeet on Sunday afternoon.

"No, I'll protect the jersey. Protecting the jersey is my main goal, I think the stage win is secondary, but tomorrow I'm going for the double."

He also agreed that while the UAE Tour is another building block in his progression to the Giro d'Italia, the only World Tour race in the Middle East is itself a very important goal.

"Yes, it's a one-week WorldTour race, and so far the only WorldTour race I've won is the Tour de Pollogne (2020)."

"For me, the Giro is the big goal, but for sure, I want to win more WorldTour one-week races and at least get on the podium.

"And so far I think it's going well. But as long as I have the red jersey on the last day, I don't think I have any choice but to win."

Lemko said he would not be disappointed if he lost to a stronger rider on Sunday. He promised, however, that his goal is also clear: to win the stage.

The nine-second time difference against Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers) is not huge, he noted, but there are tactical advantages and room for maneuver. For example, if Plapp won and at the same time Evenpoel claimed second place, Plapp would still win overall even after the time bonuses were added.

"It is better to go 9 seconds faster than 9 seconds slower. We have a strong team that can control the race.

Evenpoel was aware that he was in danger of losing focus, as Sourdal-Quick Step, which has won three jerseys (points, best young rider, and overall) and three stages, has dominated the race so far. As an example, he cited Friday's stage.

"Yesterday [Friday], when I almost missed the echelon, there were a few moments when I wasn't focused. But in the end I was able to recover easily, so it wasn't a big problem"

. [10 km before that there was a narrow chicane and I told my teammates that I wanted to be in the first position to be safe for the wide road that followed.

"I knew I had to stay focused today because of the small mistakes I made yesterday. All day today I couldn't get out of the top 20 or 30 positions and it showed in the final results. And tomorrow we have to focus on winning the race.