This page contains the stage podium, the race story, GC implications after the stage, and per-rider performance. Read no further if you intend to watch this stage unspoiled.
Two from two for Lorena Wiebes, who held off Chiara Consonni and Nienke Veenhoven in a tense bunch sprint to keep the red jersey.
The 145 km stage from the Dubai Police Academy to Hamdan Bin Mohamed Smart University stayed together as a single bunch despite a nervous, fast run-in. There was no decisive crosswind or echelon split; instead the day came down to positioning on a long, exposed highway finish, with a couple of late crashes adding to the tension.
Wiebes again proved strongest, surging clear in the final metres to beat Chiara Consonni and Nienke Veenhoven. The win extended SD Worx's grip on the race and kept Wiebes in the red jersey, with the sprinters still defining the GC ahead of the queen stage.
Wiebes added more bonus seconds to retain the red jersey. The overall remained tightly packed among finishers, with the climbing GC contenders saving their effort for Jebel Hafeet. No meaningful time gaps opened among the favourites.
Backed up her stage 1 win with a second straight victory after a controlled run-in turned into a tense bunch sprint. Beat Consonni and Veenhoven to retain the red jersey and stay on course for a clean sweep of the flat stages.
Second on stage 2, the closest anyone came to Wiebes on the flat stages. Consonni's consistent sprinting helped Canyon-SRAM build toward the team classification they would eventually win.
Third on stage 2 for Visma | Lease a Bike, a strong sprint result for the 21-year-old in a deep field. One of two podium-level showings in the flat stages as Visma rode an aggressive, all-rounder week behind eventual GC podium finisher Femke de Vries.