'It was a huge ride' - Jay Vine leads UAE’s stage 2 statement at Tour Down Under
Jay Vine admitted the ochre jersey had been on his mind long before UAE Team Emirates-XRG blew stage 2 apart on Corkscrew Road. After a decisive acceleration on the climb, Vine and teammate Jhonatan Narváez rode clear and finished together in Uraidla, underlining UAE’s early control of the race.
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“It’s been on my mind since the last time I wore it. I really love this jersey,” Vine said in the post-race interview. “It’s incredible to win on such a hard stage. We’ve got such a strong position now with me and Johnny, and being led out by Adam is pretty incredible as well.”
UAE’s plan was clear. They reeled in the break before the Corkscrew, Adam Yates lifted the pace, and Vine hit out with only Narváez able to follow. Over the top, the pair committed straight away, stretched the gap, and never gave the chasers a chance to claw it back.
While Vine and Narváez did the damage up front, Yates settled into a different kind of work behind, marking every move in the chase group.
“With two guys in the front, it’s pretty simple what’s going to happen,” Yates said. “I just followed the guys that were attacking and we ended up with a group of five or six. They were working quite well together, but we had two super strong guys in the front. So yeah, it was a good day for the team.”
Looking ahead, Vine made it clear UAE have no intention of easing off, even with stages to come that can look calmer on paper.
“We’ve got a sprinter here in Molano, so we’ll try to take as much as we can from this Tour. The guys are riding really strongly. Mikkel Bjerg and Vegard Stake Laengen rode their hearts out early on, and it was a huge ride from the whole team today.”
Tour Down Under 2026 - Stage 2 Results
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