Defending Abu Dhabi Tour champion Rui Costa revealed he “pushed himself to the limit” in a bid to retain the title he famously won a year ago.
The Portuguese secured a memorable victory on home soil for UAE Team Emirates on Jebel Hafeet 12 months ago – the Stage 3 win last February setting up glory at the Yas Marina Circuit a day later on the team’s debut campaign as a UCI WorldTour side.
This time, Costa, Fabio Aru and Diego Ulissi all battled for victory on Stage 5 on Sunday, but ultimately fell short although Ulissi and Costa both finished inside the top 10 as Alejandro Valverde took home the crown.
Costa, 31, finished ninth on Sunday, 55 seconds behind Valverde, with Italy’s Ulissi eighth and Aru 16th.
It meant a second top 10 finish in a row for Costa, coming eighth in the GC with Ulissi seventh.
Costa, the 2013 world road race champion, said: “We put in a lot of effort in the first part of the climb, and in the final part we pushed it to the limit to secure a top 10 place.
“We knew it would be a really challenging stage at Jebel Hafeet, but we saw it as an opportunity to benchmark my condition against the other riders.
“It was great to ride again in Abu Dhabi, see the support of our home fans and we look forward to a long and successful season with the team.”
Ulissi, 28, added: “I had a better day. The final climb was really hard, as we knew. I haven’t raced since Australia and I only managed a short training camp before Abu Dhabi.
“Maybe, in comparison to some other riders, I missed some rhythm. But I am quite satisfied, especially to get a top 10 finish in the final stage and in the overall GC.”
And even though climber Aru missed out on a win on his UAE debut, the 2015 Vuelta a Espana champion can be satisfied with his bow after joining from Astana, claiming 13th place overall. “It was my first race of year and I missed rhythm. But that was an important test and I’m satisfied.”
The team’s riders will now depart for Europe ahead of an action-packed March calendar that includes the Strade Bianche (March 3), Paris-Nice (March 4-11) and Tirreno-Adriatico (March 7-13).
