A near-total domination of the climbing days. Jan Christen turned a disastrous Stage 1 (two crashes, 11 seconds lost) into the overall win, attacking alone on the final climb of Stage 5 to take both the stage and the maglia, plus the white youth jersey. Igor Arrieta backed him faultlessly as the team's second card, finishing third overall and third on the decisive stage to complete a UAE 1-3 with Higuita sandwiched between them, while Kevin Vermaerke rounded out a deep climbing roster that controlled the summit finishes. UAE also won the teams classification — the complete result to open the desert season.

Lidl - Trek came for the flat days and delivered. Jonathan Milan was the fastest man in the desert, winning the crosswind-affected Stage 1 from a reduced group and then a cleaner Stage 2 bunch kick to take a stranglehold on the points classification, which he wore home. The hat-trick bid fell short on Stage 4 when, without a clean lead-out, Milan went too early and faded to second behind Malucelli, but two wins and the green jersey made it a thoroughly successful campaign for the team's sprint project once the road tilted uphill and GC ambitions ended.

Astana were everywhere on the selective days. Sergio Higuita rode aggressively all week — third on the Stage 3 summit, then attacking first on the Stage 5 climb despite a crash at km 88 — to finish second overall, just 13 seconds short. Matteo Malucelli supplied the headline stage win on Stage 4, pouncing on a burnt-out Milan's wheel in the chaotic Hegra sprint, and Nicolas Vinokurov added a GC top-10. A productive, attacking week that yielded a stage and the runner-up step.

Tudor's week pivoted on Yannis Voisard. He timed the Stage 3 summit-finish sprint to perfection to win ahead of Eulálio and Higuita and take the overall lead, which the team defended through the Stage 4 sprint day. But the steeper, longer final climb to the Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid exposed his limits: Voisard was the first GC rider dropped and slid to sixth overall. A stage win and two days in the leader's jersey still made it a strong outing for the ProTeam.

The American development squad punched above its weight on the climbs. Byron Munton was the surprise of the final day, surviving Higuita's attack to crest with the leaders and then finishing second on Stage 5 behind Christen. Stefan de Bod rode a steady, consistent week to take fourth overall at +25 seconds. Two riders in the GC top four for a small ProTeam was a standout result against WorldTour-backed climbing rosters.

Bahrain centred their week on Afonso Eulálio, who bridged to Christen on the Stage 3 climb and took second on the summit behind Voisard, riding into GC contention. He held on through the final climb to finish fifth overall at +29 seconds. The team also did much of the front-of-bunch chasing on Stage 5, but without a stage win or a podium step it was a solid rather than spectacular campaign for the squad.

The Malaysian Continental squad were the week's most persistent animators. Zhe Yie Kee was in the early breakaways and intermediate-sprint skirmishes often enough to win the Most Active (combativity) classification, while Juan Pedro Lozano spent the final stage up the road in the day's break and collected intermediate sprints. No result on GC or in a stage, but the team made itself the race's most visible aggressor.