Pidcock saved his ride for the decisive final stage and produced the move of the race: a sharp acceleration on the last ascent of the Alto de la Primera Cruz that no one could follow. He crested alone and used his descending to consolidate, soloing to victory in Lucena. The win, with its finishing-line bonus, lifted him from outside the top five onto the final GC podium in third at +0:27 — a strong early-season statement for the Pinarello-Q36.5 project.

Christen was the best of the chasers on the final climb, taking second on the stage at +0:10 behind Pidcock's solo move. The 21-year-old Swiss climbed to fourth overall at +0:44 and sealed the best-young-rider classification — a clean confirmation of his status as one of UAE's brightest GC prospects heading into the 2026 season.

Grégoire backed up his bonus-second raid from stage 4 with a strong final climb, taking third on the stage at +0:12. He finished fifth overall at +0:44, level on time with Christen — a solid GC week that underlined his all-round ambitions for Groupama-FDJ in 2026.