Dutch cyclist Lorena Weps won the first stage of the 2026 Women's Tour of the Emirates in its fourth edition, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Ports Group. Weps delivered a strong performance on the stage, which stretched from the coast of Al Maryah in Al Marina City to the finish line in Zayed City in the Al Dhafra region. Weps took the lead in the general classification after covering the 111-kilometer race distance in 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 17 seconds, beating Irish star Lara Gillespie of the UAE ADQ team, who finished second, while British Zoe Backsted, star of the German Canyon SRAM team, came in third. At the conclusion of the stage, Weps secured the red jersey for the overall leader, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Ports Group, and also claimed the green jersey for the points classification leader, sponsored by Mubadala. British Zoe Backsted won the white jersey for the best young rider, sponsored by Burg Holding, while Dutch rider Fimke de Vries of the Dutch Visma Lease a Bike team earned the black jersey for the intermediate sprint leader, sponsored by Al Dar. The first stage was launched by the Secretary-General of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Arif Hamad Al-Awani, the Executive Director of the Events Sector, Talal Al-Hashemi, and the Head of the Corporate Communications Office, Abdel-Rahim Al-Zarouni, alongside representatives from Masoud Equipment, Norma Shahin and Khalid Masoud, and Sahid Abu Hamad from Madinat. Lorena Weps, the stage winner, stated that the victory is a fantastic start to the season, noting that her team worked well in the last ten kilometers. She added: "We knew from our experience two years ago that this was a difficult finish, as the straight is very long. We benefited from other teams in the final part of the race, and luckily, I managed to get a good gap for the final sprint. I said this morning that winning one stage was my goal, but we will try to win the next two stages as well." The winners were presented with their jerseys by Arif Hamad Al-Awani, Colonel Saif Mohammed Al-Amiri, Head of Traffic and Patrols Department (Al Dhafra Region), Moza Saif Al-Mazroui, Director of the Office of the Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra, Talal Al-Hashemi, and Mosa Saif Al-Mansouri, representing the Ministry of Education.
