2024 AlUla Tour (2.1), Saudi Arabia
Formerly Saudi Tour

4th edition: Jan 30 - Feb 3, 2024

Saudi/AlUla Tour podium history | 2023 edition | Start list
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5

2024 AlUla Tour overall map

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Saturday, February 3: 5th & Final Stage, AlUla Old Town - Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid, 150.2 km

Stage 5 map & profile

Simon Yates wins stage five and the 2024 AlUla Tour. AlUla Tour photo

Plato's dialogue Phaedo is available in both audiobook & Kindle eBook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the start city of AlUla at 3:35 PM, local time: 18C (65F), fair, with the wind from the northeast at 9 km/hr (5 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage five summary.

There were some smiling riders at the start of the final stage of this 2024 AlUla Tour, but also some tense ones. Time had come for the final showdown: the queen stage of the event taking off from the picturesque Old Town of AlUla and finishing at the Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid. And straight from the start, it was ‘flat out’: an intense battle to get into the early breakaway.

AN INTENSE BREAKAWAY BATTLE 
Two men managed to pull away at kilometre 2: Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) and Changizi (Tudor Pro Cycling Team). But the two Danes had to give all they had to stay clear of a very fast peloton. They would eventually be caught by two other riders, Conca (Q36.5) and Koishi (JCL Team Ukyo) at km24, and three more, Batsaikhan, Tzortzakis (Roojai Insurance) and Malucelli (JCL Team Ukyo) just before km 30 while the gap over the pack had reached a maximum 2’. Most of these breakaway riders were of course interested by the Most Active rider points up for grabs at the various intermediate sprints. The first of them (at km 57) was won by Batsaikhan virtually taking command of the Orange jersey standings. 

BATTLE FOR ORANGE 
But things weren’t to work out between the seven men and after Tzortzakis and Koishi were the first to be dropped, the pack led by JCL team Ukyo started chasing hard. All the escapees would finally be caught by the peloton at km 78. Despite a solo effort from Tzorzakis, in the lead from km 98 to 107, the pack reached the second intermediate sprint (km 107,4) bunched and this time Oka claimed the most points. Just after that sprint, Bonillo (Euskaltel Euskadi) and Changizi gave it a go. And while Changizi failed to keep up with his companion, Bonillo continued on his own. At km 114, the Spaniard enjoyed a 45” lead. He was later to be caught at km 120. 

LECERF FIRST TO ATTACK 
As the road started rising, Green jersey Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) was one among many dropped sprinters. Meanwhile his team mate William Lecerf was the first to attack on the toughest gradients of the decisive climb. The young Belgian was then joined by Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla), Rafal Majka and Finn Fisher-Black (both UAETeam Emirates). They reached the top with a 15” advantage over five chasers including Sobrero and Formolo. At the bonus sprint (8 kms to go) Fisher-Black captured 3 precious seconds ahead of Lecerf and Yates. 

YATES WINS ON SPONSOR HOME SOIL 
The front four managed to remain together all the way to the line despite the pressure of the chasers. In the final sprint Simon Yates outsprinted Lecerf and Fisher-Black to the line. The 31-year-old Brit claims his first victory this year after starting his season in Australia. Thanks to his 34th career win, Yates conquers this 2024 edition of the AlUla Tour with a very slim 3-second advantage over Lecerf (best young rider) and Fisher-Black. Thanks to his two stage successes, Tim Merlier wins the points classification while Tatsushi Oka (JCL Team Ukyo) claims the Orange jersey for the most active rider of the event and Bora Hansgrohe finish best team.

Complete results:

150.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.043 km/hr

1	Simon Yates	Jayco-AlUla	3hr 24min 37sec
2	William Junior Lecerf	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
3	Finn Fisher-Black	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
4	Rafal Majka	UAE Team Emirates	@ 2sec
5	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:05
6	Anders Halland Johannessen	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
7	Gianluca Brambilla	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:07
8	Matteo Sobrero	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
9	Davide Formolo	Movistar Team	0:11
10	Ivan Romeo	Movistar Team	0:29
11	Fred Wright	Bahrain Victorious	0:34
12	Rick Pluimers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
13	Jonas Koch	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
14	Giovanni Carboni	JCL Team UKYO	s.t.
15	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
16	Nico Denz	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
17	Gotzon Martín	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
18	Lucas Hamilton	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
19	Fredrik Dversnes	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
20	Filippo Conca	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
21	Merhawi Kudus	Terengganu Cycling Team	s.t.
22	Tobias Ludvigsson	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
23	Thomas Pesenti	JCL Team UKYO	s.t.
24	Ben Hermans	Cofidis	s.t.
25	Roland Thalmann	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
26	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
27	Jonathan Lastra	Cofidis	s.t.
28	Edoardo Zambanini	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
29	Luis Angel Mate	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
30	Enekoitz Azparren	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
31	Xabier Azparren	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
32	Carter Bettles	Roojai Insurance	s.t.
33	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	s.t.
34	Maximilian Schachmann	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
35	Nathan Earle	JCL Team UKYO	s.t.
36	Luc Wirtgen	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	0:57
37	Finlay Pickering	Bahrain Victorious	1:03
38	Rui Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	1:26
39	Jasha Sütterlin	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
40	Erik Resell	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
41	Casper Van Uden	dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
42	Igor Chzhan	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
43	Anton Kuzmin	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
44	Paul Ourselin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
45	Daniil Marukhin	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
46	Alessandro De Marchi	Jayco-AlUla	1:30
47	Johan Jacobs	Movistar Team	2:01
48	Unai Zubeldia	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
49	Aimé De Gendt	Cofidis	s.t.
50	Jan Maas	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
51	Carlos Canal	Movistar Team	s.t.
52	Alessandro Romele	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
53	Martin Svrcek	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
54	Elmar Reinders	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
55	Vegard Stake Laengen	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
56	Hassan Al Ibrahim	Saudi Arabia	s.t.
57	Enzo Leijnse	dsm-firmenich PostNL	2:07
58	Nicolas Vinokurov	Astana Qazaqstan Team	2:51
59	Atsushi Oka	JCL Team UKYO	2:59
60	Aiman Cahyadi	Terengganu Cycling Team	s.t.
61	Mathias Norsgaard	Movistar Team	s.t.
62	Andreas Miltiadis	Terengganu Cycling Team	s.t.
63	Simon Pellaud	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	3:03
64	Henrik Pedersen	Uno-X Mobility	3:21
65	Julien Simon	TotalEnergies	s.t.
66	Cesare Benedetti	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
67	Emilien Jeannière	TotalEnergies	s.t.
68	Joey Rosskopf	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
69	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
70	Luka Mezgec	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
71	Fabio Christen	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
72	John Degenkolb	dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
73	Dries Van Gestel	TotalEnergies	s.t.
74	Louis Bendixen	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
75	Søren Wærenskjold	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
76	Tim Merlier	Soudal Quick-Step	5:39
77	Hassan Aljumah	Saudi Arabia	s.t.
78	Dusan Rajovic	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
79	Andrea Pasqualon	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
80	Tegshbayar Batsaikhan	Roojai Insurance	s.t.
81	Yuma Koishi	JCL Team UKYO	s.t.
82	Matteo Malucelli	JCL Team UKYO	s.t.
83	Bert Van Lerberghe	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
84	Tim Naberman	dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
85	Ayco Bastiaens	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
86	Nolann Mahoudo	Cofidis	s.t.
87	Nicolas Debeaumarché	Cofidis	s.t.
88	Andoni Lopez De Abetxuko	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
89	Jordi Warlop	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
90	Gleb Syritsa	Astana Qazaqstan Team	6:46
91	Ludovic Robeet	Cofidis	7:01
92	Zuladri Zulkurnain	Terengganu Cycling Team	s.t.
93	Iker Bonillo	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
94	Erlend Blikra	Uno-X Mobility	7:54
95	Azzam Alabdulmunim Abdulaziz	Saudi Arabia	s.t.
96	Davide Cimolai	Movistar Team	s.t.
97	Irwandie Lakasek	Terengganu Cycling Team	s.t.
98	Changizi Sebastian Kolze	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
99	Jason Tesson	TotalEnergies	10:08
100	Wan Abdul Rahman Hamdan	Terengganu Cycling Team	10:15
101	Masaki Yamamoto	JCL Team UKYO	10:24
102	Maikel Zijlaard	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
103	Arvid De Kleijn	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
104	Matteo Moschetti	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
105	Thanachat Yatan	Roojai Insurance	11:38
106	Ali Al Shaikhahmed	Saudi Arabia	s.t.
107	Polychronis Tzortzakis	Roojai Insurance	13:50
108	Ahmed Madan	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
109	Phuridet Inthapiw	Roojai Insurance	s.t.
110	Fakhruddin Mazuki	Terengganu Cycling Team	s.t.
111	Ahmed Al Omrani Abdulaziz	Saudi Arabia	s.t.
112	Alhur Alkulaif	Saudi Arabia	s.t.
113	Ali Al Sulaymi	Saudi Arabia	s.t.
114	Arttasorn Pansaard	Roojai Insurance	s.t.

 

Final GC after stage 5:

• GC winner: Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla)
• Points classification winner: Time Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)
• Best young rider: William Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step)
• Teams classification winner: Bora-hansgrohe

810.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.517 km/hr

1	Simon Yates	Jayco-AlUla	18hr 37min 5sec
2	William Junior Lecerf	Soudal Quick-Step	@ 3sec
3	Finn Fisher-Black	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
4	Matteo Sobrero	Bora-hansgrohe	0:12
5	Gianluca Brambilla	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	0:18
6	Davide Formolo	Movistar Team	0:22
7	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	0:32
8	Rick Pluimers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	0:40
9	Ivan Romeo	Movistar Team	s.t.
10	Merhawi Kudus	Terengganu Cycling Team	0:45
11	Jonas Koch	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
12	Jonathan Lastra	Cofidis	s.t.
13	Luis Angel Mate	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
14	Fred Wright	Bahrain Victorious	0:52
15	Nico Denz	Bora-hansgrohe	0:54
16	Tobias Ludvigsson	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
17	Casper Van Uden	dsm-firmenich PostNL	1:14
18	Rafal Majka	UAE Team Emirates	1:20
19	Anders Halland Johannessen	Uno-X Mobility	1:21
20	Rui Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	1:46
21	Fredrik Dversnes	Uno-X Mobility	1:48
22	Gotzon Martín	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1:52
23	Thomas Pesenti	JCL Team UKYO	s.t.
24	Enekoitz Azparren	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
25	Maximilian Schachmann	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
26	Edoardo Zambanini	Bahrain Victorious	1:58
27	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	s.t.
28	Giovanni Carboni	JCL Team UKYO	2:01
29	Ben Hermans	Cofidis	s.t.
30	Elmar Reinders	Jayco-AlUla	2:12
31	Carter Bettles	Roojai Insurance	2:32
32	Roland Thalmann	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	2:40
33	Luka Mezgec	Jayco-AlUla	3:29
34	Dries Van Gestel	TotalEnergies	3:44
35	Johan Jacobs	Movistar Team	3:56
36	Jasha Sütterlin	Bahrain Victorious	4:27
37	Luc Wirtgen	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	4:36
38	Julien Simon	TotalEnergies	4:48
39	Mathias Norsgaard	Movistar Team	4:49
40	Carlos Canal	Movistar Team	5:00
41	Tim Merlier	Soudal Quick-Step	5:23
42	Henrik Pedersen	Uno-X Mobility	5:34
43	Joey Rosskopf	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	6:01
44	Andoni Lopez De Abetxuko	Euskaltel-Euskadi	6:09
45	Atsushi Oka	JCL Team UKYO	6:13
46	Matteo Malucelli	JCL Team UKYO	6:54
47	Erik Resell	Uno-X Mobility	7:11
48	Jordi Warlop	Soudal Quick-Step	7:36
49	John Degenkolb	dsm-firmenich PostNL	7:40
50	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	7:54
51	Cesare Benedetti	Bora-hansgrohe	8:15
52	Lucas Hamilton	Jayco-AlUla	8:18
53	Søren Wærenskjold	Uno-X Mobility	8:24
54	Jan Maas	Jayco-AlUla	8:25
55	Aimé De Gendt	Cofidis	8:28
56	Alessandro Romele	Astana Qazaqstan Team	8:32
57	Paul Ourselin	TotalEnergies	8:42
58	Davide Cimolai	Movistar Team	9:00
59	Dusan Rajovic	Bahrain Victorious	9:25
60	Finlay Pickering	Bahrain Victorious	9:29
61	Simon Pellaud	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	9:30
62	Fabio Christen	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	9:34
63	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	9:38
64	Anton Kuzmin	Astana Qazaqstan Team	9:50
65	Nolann Mahoudo	Cofidis	10:04
66	Martin Svrcek	Soudal Quick-Step	10:07
67	Bert Van Lerberghe	Soudal Quick-Step	10:20
68	Aiman Cahyadi	Terengganu Cycling Team	10:24
69	Filippo Conca	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	10:42
70	Xabier Azparren	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	10:43
71	Nicolas Vinokurov	Astana Qazaqstan Team	10:52
72	Andrea Pasqualon	Bahrain Victorious	11:26
73	Matteo Moschetti	Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	11:27
74	Nicolas Debeaumarché	Cofidis	11:28
75	Andreas Miltiadis	Terengganu Cycling Team	11:37
76	Daniil Marukhin	Astana Qazaqstan Team	11:56
77	Ayco Bastiaens	Soudal Quick-Step	12:05
78	Sebastian Kolze Changizi	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	12:08
79	Vegard Stake Laengen	UAE Team Emirates	12:11
80	Igor Chzhan	Astana Qazaqstan Team	12:17
81	Emilien Jeannière	TotalEnergies	12:58
82	Arvid De Kleijn	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	13:50
83	Masaki Yamamoto	JCL Team UKYO	14:03
84	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	14:15
85	Gleb Syritsa	Astana Qazaqstan Team	15:01
86	Nathan Earle	JCL Team UKYO	15:06
87	Erlend Blikra	Uno-X Mobility	15:07
88	Maikel Zijlaard	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	15:41
89	Tim Naberman	dsm-firmenich PostNL	15:47
90	Iker Bonillo	Euskaltel-Euskadi	16:07
91	Louis Bendixen	Uno-X Mobility	16:26
92	Enzo Leijnse	dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
93	Hassan Aljumah	Saudi Arabia	16:53
94	Tegshbayar Batsaikhan	Roojai Insurance	17:52
95	Hassan Al Ibrahim	Saudi Arabia	18:28
96	Wan Abdul Rahman Hamdan	Terengganu Cycling Team	19:45
97	Ludovic Robeet	Cofidis	19:46
98	Yuma Koishi	JCL Team UKYO	19:52
99	Azzam Alabdulmunim Abdulaziz	Saudi Arabia	20:36
100	Unai Zubeldia	Euskaltel-Euskadi	23:15
101	Alessandro De Marchi	Jayco-AlUla	23:54
102	Irwandie Lakasek	Terengganu Cycling Team	24:33
103	Jason Tesson	TotalEnergies	26:04
104	Zuladri Zulkurnain	Terengganu Cycling Team	26:08
105	Fakhruddin Mazuki	Terengganu Cycling Team	28:19
106	Arttasorn Pansaard	Roojai Insurance	31:43
107	Thanachat Yatan	Roojai Insurance	31:53
108	Alhur Alkulaif	Saudi Arabia	35:25
109	Polychronis Tzortzakis	Roojai Insurance	35:46
110	Ali Al Shaikhahmed	Saudi Arabia	39:56
111	Phuridet Inthapiw	Roojai Insurance	42:35
112	Ali Al Sulaymi	Saudi Arabia	44:34
113	Ahmed Madan	Bahrain Victorious	45:46
114	Ahmed Al Omrani Abdulaziz	Saudi Arabia	51:34

 

Stage 5 map & profile

Stage 5 map

Stage 5 profile

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Friday, February 2: Stage 4, Hegra - Maraya, 142.2 km

Stage 4 map & profile

Tim Merlier (left) beats Bryan Coquard for the stage win. Getty Sport photo

Plato's dialogue Apology is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the city of Alula, close to the stage four route at 3:25 PM, local time: 17C (63F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the west at 18 km/hr (11 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage four summary.

It’s hard to find a more spectacular site around the world for the start if a cycling race. The 122 riders of the AlUla Tour indeed had the privilege of all gathering at the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hegra this morning. Only poor Dylan Groenewegen, sick for the last two days missed out on such an opportunity. After riding on the gravel paths between the spectacular tombs for the neutral start, this fourth stage started flat out as soon as kilometre 0. 

FIVE MEN IN THE FIRST BREAKAWAY 
Five men took off, Bonillo (EUS), Bettles, Yatan (ROI), Oka (JCL) and Aljumah (SAU). But after enjoying a 50” advantage, there was not much they could do against the hungry pack led by Orange jersey Tzortzakis in a quest for Most Active rider points. The front five were caught just before the first intermediate sprint (km 21) claimed by Vangheluve (SOQ) ahead of Oka and Bettles. After a very short moment of calm, three other men managed to break away: Bonillo, again, Batsaikhan (ROI) and Miltiadis (TSG). Their lead reached 3’50” at km 30.   DSM AND

SOUDAL QUICKSTEP PUT THE PRESSURE ON
Teams dsm-firmenich PostNL and Soudal Quickstep then moved to the front of the peloton and set a fast enough tempo to keep the front men well under control. At the second intermediate sprint won by Bonillo ahead of Batsaikhan and Miltiadis, the gap had dropped to 2’25. The pace increased as the riders entered the Ashar Valley. At the first passage on the line just by the Maraya concert hall, giving out bonus seconds, Bonillo made it first in front of Batsaikhan and Miltiadis with the pack now only 1’15” behind.

MILTIADIS LAST SURVIVOR 
On the long descent, Miltiadis decided to pull away on his own. While both his former breakaway companions were rapidly caught, the rider from Cyprus still had a 45” lead with under 15kms to go. With 10kms, the four-time national champion could still enjoy a 25” lead. A crash then occurred in the peloton sending the likes of Pierre Latour (TEN) and Henok Mulueberhan (AST) to the ground. Miltiadis was eventually caught with five kilometres to go.

NO STOPPING MERLIER 
On the final uphill straight, a very confident Tim Merlier powered away. A perfectly timed effort although the Belgian was almost caught by Bryan Coquard who thought he had triumphed. Merlier claims his second consecutive stage success by beating Coquard and Casper Van Uden. The Soudal Quickstep sprinter enjoys the perfect day also capturing the overall lead with a 4” advantage over Van Uden. Merlier will therefore be wearing the Green jersey for tomorrow’s final and very demanding stage from AlUla Old Town to the Heights of Harrat Uwayrid. He also leads the points classification while Van Uden remains best young rider of the Tour and Atsushi Oka reconquers the Orange jersey for the most active rider.

Complete results:

141.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.503 km/hr

1	TIM MERLIER	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	3hr 11min 43sec
2	BRYAN COQUARD	COFIDIS	s.t.
3	CASPER VAN UDEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
4	RICK PLUIMERS	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
5	LUKA MEZGEC	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
6	MATTEO MOSCHETTI	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
7	DAVIDE CIMOLAI	MOVISTAR TEAM	@ 3sec
8	SØREN WÆRENSKJOLD	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
9	RUI OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
10	EMILIEN JEANNIERE	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
11	MATTEO SOBRERO	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
12	MATTEO MALUCELLI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
13	CARLOS CANAL BLANCO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
14	NICO DENZ	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
15	MERHAWI KUDUS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
16	ANDONI LOPEZ DE ABETXUKO	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
17	JONAS KOCH	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
18	WILLIAM JUNIOR LECERF	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
19	IVAN ROMEO ABAD	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
20	GIANLUCA BRAMBILLA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
21	ELMAR REINDERS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
22	DAVIDE FORMOLO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
23	LORENZO MILESI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
24	SIMON YATES	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
25	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
26	JONATHAN LASTRA MARTINEZ	COFIDIS	s.t.
27	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
28	FINN LACHLAN FOX FISHER	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
29	FRED WRIGHT	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	0' 12''
30	FABIO CHRISTEN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
31	FREDRIK DVERSNES	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
32	ANDERS HALLAND JOHANNESSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	0' 15''
33	NORSGAARD MATHIAS JØRGENSEN	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
34	JOHAN JACOBS	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
35	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
36	GIOVANNI CARBONI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
37	THOMAS PESENTI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
38	DRIES VAN GESTEL	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
39	GOTZON MARTIN SANZ	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
40	ALESSANDRO ROMELE	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
41	RAFAL MAJKA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
42	ATSUSHI OKA	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
43	BEN HERMANS	COFIDIS	s.t.
44	ENEKOITZ AZPARREN IRURZUN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
45	JULIEN SIMON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
46	ERLEND BLIKRA	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
47	DUSAN RAJOVIC	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
48	BREINER HENRIK PEDERSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
49	NILS EEKHOFF	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	0' 21''
50	ABDULAZIZ AZZAM ALABDULMUNIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
51	FABIEN DOUBEY	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
52	EDOARDO ZAMBANINI	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
53	NOLANN MAHOUDO	COFIDIS	0' 25''
54	MASAKI YAMAMOTO	JCL TEAM UKYO	0' 30''
55	NUR AMIRULL FAKHRUDDIN MAZUKI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
56	UNAI ZUBELDIA ELDUAIEN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	0' 33''
57	HASSAN ALJUMAH	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
58	ERIK NORDSAETER RESELL	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
59	ALI AL SHAIKHAHMED	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	0' 37''
60	ANTON KUZMIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
61	PAUL OURSELIN	TOTALENERGIES	0' 38''
62	DANIIL MARUKHIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
63	MARTIN SVRČEK	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 41''
64	CARTER BETTLES	ROOJAI INSURANCE	0' 46''
65	JASON TESSON	TOTALENERGIES	0' 54''
66	BERT VAN LERBERGHE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 59''
67	JORDI WARLOP	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
68	BRAM WELTEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
69	JAN MAAS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	1' 00''
70	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
71	CESARE BENEDETTI	BORA-HANSGROHE	1' 03''
72	ROLAND THALMANN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
73	ANDREAS MILTIADIS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	1' 07''
74	AYCO BASTIAENS	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	1' 15''
75	TIM NABERMAN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
76	XABIER BERASATEGI GARMENDIA	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	1' 19''
77	JASHA SÜTTERLIN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	1' 21''
78	ANDREA PASQUALON	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
79	NICOLAS VINOKUROV	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	1' 32''
80	AIMAN CAHYADI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	1' 36''
81	LUDOVIC ROBEET	COFIDIS	1' 48''
82	HASSAN AL IBRAHIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	1' 54''
83	AIME DE GENDT	COFIDIS	2' 01''
84	SIMON PELLAUD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
85	NICOLAS DEBEAUMARCHE	COFIDIS	2' 10''
86	SEBASTIAN KOLZE CHANGIZI	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	2' 23''
87	ARVID DE KLEIJN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
88	LUC WIRTGEN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	2' 36''
89	GLEB SYRITSA	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	2' 39''
90	JOHN DEGENKOLB	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
91	LOUIS BENDIXEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	3' 11''
92	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
93	WAN ABDUL RAHMAN HAMDAN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
94	IRWANDIE LAKASEK	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
95	FILIPPO CONCA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	3' 58''
96	IKER BONILLO MARTIN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	4' 43''
97	TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
98	ALHUR ALKULAIF	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
99	ARTTASORN PANSAARD	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
100	NATHAN EARLE	JCL TEAM UKYO	4' 49''
101	YUMA KOISHI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
102	ENZO LEIJNSE	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	4' 51''
103	MAIKEL ZIJLAARD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	4' 55''
104	IGOR CHZHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	6' 25''
105	XAVIER FINLAY PICKERING	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	6' 46''
106	PIERRE LATOUR	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
107	ZULADRI AMIN ZULKURNAIN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
108	LUCAS WALDE HAMILTON	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	7' 36''
109	WARRE VANGHELUWE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	8' 40''
110	VEGARD STAKE LAENGEN	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	8' 58''
111	POLYCHRONIS TZORTZAKIS	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
112	AHMED AL OMRANI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
113	PHURIDET INTHAPIW	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
114	ALI ALSULAYMI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
115	THANACHAT YATAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
116	XABIER AZPARREN IRURZUN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	9' 09''
117	AHMED MADAN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	9' 32''
118	JUAN SEBASTIAN MOLANO	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	10' 14''
119	IVO MANUEL ALVES OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.

 

GC after stage 4:

• GC leader: Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)
• Points classification leader: Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)
• Best young rider: Casper van Uden (Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL)
• Teams classification leader: Jayco AlUla

660 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 43.893 km/hr

1	TIM MERLIER	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	15hr 12min 12sec
2	CASPER VAN UDEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	@ 4sec
3	BRYAN COQUARD	COFIDIS	0' 14''
4	MATTEO SOBRERO	BORA-HANSGROHE	0' 21''
5	RICK PLUIMERS	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	0' 22''
6	LUKA MEZGEC	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	0' 24''
7	FINN LACHLAN FOX FISHER	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	0' 26''
8	MERHAWI KUDUS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	0' 27''
9	GIANLUCA BRAMBILLA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
10	DAVIDE FORMOLO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
11	JONAS KOCH	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
12	WILLIAM JUNIOR LECERF	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
13	IVAN ROMEO ABAD	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
14	JONATHAN LASTRA MARTINEZ	COFIDIS	s.t.
15	SIMON YATES	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
16	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
17	ELMAR REINDERS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
18	FRED WRIGHT	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	0' 34''
19	RUI OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	0' 36''
20	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
21	NICO DENZ	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
22	DRIES VAN GESTEL	TOTALENERGIES	0' 39''
23	NILS EEKHOFF	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
24	ANDONI LOPEZ DE ABETXUKO	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	0' 46''
25	MATTEO MOSCHETTI	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	1' 19''
26	DAVIDE CIMOLAI	MOVISTAR TEAM	1' 22''
27	FREDRIK DVERSNES	UNO-X MOBILITY	1' 30''
28	MATTEO MALUCELLI	JCL TEAM UKYO	1' 31''
29	ANDERS HALLAND JOHANNESSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	1' 32''
30	GOTZON MARTIN SANZ	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	1' 34''
31	THOMAS PESENTI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
32	RAFAL MAJKA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
33	ENEKOITZ AZPARREN IRURZUN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
34	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
35	EDOARDO ZAMBANINI	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	1' 40''
36	FABIEN DOUBEY	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
37	JULIEN SIMON	TOTALENERGIES	1' 43''
38	GIOVANNI CARBONI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
39	BEN HERMANS	COFIDIS	s.t.
40	NORSGAARD MATHIAS JØRGENSEN	MOVISTAR TEAM	2' 06''
41	JOHAN JACOBS	MOVISTAR TEAM	2' 11''
42	JORDI WARLOP	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	2' 13''
43	CARTER BETTLES	ROOJAI INSURANCE	2' 14''
44	ROLAND THALMANN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	2' 22''
45	BREINER HENRIK PEDERSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	2' 29''
46	LORENZO MILESI	MOVISTAR TEAM	2' 36''
47	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	2' 56''
48	CARLOS CANAL BLANCO	MOVISTAR TEAM	3' 15''
49	JASHA SÜTTERLIN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	3' 17''
50	ATSUSHI OKA	JCL TEAM UKYO	3' 30''
51	ARVID DE KLEIJN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	3' 42''
52	LUC WIRTGEN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	3' 55''
53	MASAKI YAMAMOTO	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
54	DUSAN RAJOVIC	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	4' 02''
55	SEBASTIAN KOLZE CHANGIZI	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	4' 30''
56	JOHN DEGENKOLB	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	4' 35''
57	NOLANN MAHOUDO	COFIDIS	4' 41''
58	BERT VAN LERBERGHE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	4' 57''
59	CESARE BENEDETTI	BORA-HANSGROHE	5' 10''
60	SØREN WÆRENSKJOLD	UNO-X MOBILITY	5' 19''
61	MAIKEL ZIJLAARD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	5' 33''
62	ERIK NORDSAETER RESELL	UNO-X MOBILITY	6' 01''
63	ANDREA PASQUALON	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	6' 03''
64	NICOLAS DEBEAUMARCHE	COFIDIS	6' 05''
65	FABIO CHRISTEN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	6' 29''
66	JAN MAAS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	6' 40''
67	AYCO BASTIAENS	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	6' 42''
68	SIMON PELLAUD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	6' 43''
69	AIME DE GENDT	COFIDIS	s.t.
70	ALESSANDRO ROMELE	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	6' 47''
71	BRAM WELTEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	6' 53''
72	ERLEND BLIKRA	UNO-X MOBILITY	7' 29''
73	PAUL OURSELIN	TOTALENERGIES	7' 32''
74	AIMAN CAHYADI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	7' 41''
75	LUCAS WALDE HAMILTON	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	8' 00''
76	PIERRE LATOUR	TOTALENERGIES	8' 05''
77	NICOLAS VINOKUROV	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	8' 17''
78	MARTIN SVRČEK	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	8' 22''
79	GLEB SYRITSA	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	8' 31''
80	ANTON KUZMIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	8' 40''
81	XAVIER FINLAY PICKERING	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	8' 42''
82	ANDREAS MILTIADIS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	8' 54''
83	XABIER BERASATEGI GARMENDIA	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	9' 20''
84	IKER BONILLO MARTIN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	9' 22''
85	WARRE VANGHELUWE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	9' 39''
86	WAN ABDUL RAHMAN HAMDAN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	9' 46''
87	EMILIEN JEANNIERE	TOTALENERGIES	9' 53''
88	FILIPPO CONCA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	10' 24''
89	TIM NABERMAN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
90	XABIER AZPARREN IRURZUN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	10' 25''
91	VEGARD STAKE LAENGEN	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	10' 26''
92	JUAN SEBASTIAN MOLANO	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	10' 38''
93	DANIIL MARUKHIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	10' 46''
94	IGOR CHZHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	11' 07''
95	IVO MANUEL ALVES OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	11' 10''
96	HASSAN ALJUMAH	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	11' 30''
97	TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	12' 29''
98	ABDULAZIZ AZZAM ALABDULMUNIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	12' 58''
99	LUDOVIC ROBEET	COFIDIS	13' 01''
100	LOUIS BENDIXEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	13' 21''
101	YUMA KOISHI	JCL TEAM UKYO	14' 29''
102	ENZO LEIJNSE	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	14' 35''
103	NUR AMIRULL FAKHRUDDIN MAZUKI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	14' 45''
104	NATHAN EARLE	JCL TEAM UKYO	14' 48''
105	JASON TESSON	TOTALENERGIES	16' 12''
106	HASSAN AL IBRAHIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	16' 43''
107	IRWANDIE LAKASEK	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	16' 55''
108	ARTTASORN PANSAARD	ROOJAI INSURANCE	18' 09''
109	ZULADRI AMIN ZULKURNAIN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	19' 23''
110	THANACHAT YATAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	20' 31''
111	UNAI ZUBELDIA ELDUAIEN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	21' 30''
112	ALHUR ALKULAIF	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	21' 51''
113	POLYCHRONIS TZORTZAKIS	ROOJAI INSURANCE	22' 12''
114	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	22' 40''
115	ALI AL SHAIKHAHMED	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	28' 34''
116	PHURIDET INTHAPIW	ROOJAI INSURANCE	29' 01''
117	ALI ALSULAYMI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	31' 00''
118	AHMED MADAN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	32' 12''
119	AHMED AL OMRANI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	38' 00''

 

Stage 4 map & profile:

Stage 4 map

Stage 4 profile

---

Thursday, February 1: Stage 3, AlUla International Airport - Alula Camel Cup Track, 170.6 km

Stage 3 map & profile

Tim Merlier wins stage three. Photo: Getty Sport

Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2023 Tour de France, 2023: The Viking Again Conquers the Tour is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at AlUla at 3:20 PM, local time: 14C (58F), mostly cloudy, with the wind from the west at 26 km/hr (16 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage three summary.

Rare enough to be mentioned, it was rather cloudy at the start of stage 3 in front of the AlUla International Airport. Cloudy and cold but that wasn’t too much of a concern for the 124 riders still in the race. On the menu today: 170kms of fairly flat roads and an eventful finish at the AlUla Camel Cup track that the riders and followers would get to visit for the very first time on the event.

After quite a lot of battling as soon as km0, it took six kilometres for three men to finally break away: Mate (EUS), Tzortzakis (ROI) and Koishi (JCL). At the first intermediate active sprint (km 16), Mate captured the most points (3) ahead of Tzortzakis and Koishi. The gap reached a maximum 4’30” at km 24 before team UNO X Mobility took command of the pack and started chasing.

ECHELONS
At the second sprint (km 57) this time won by Tzortzakis, the gap remained 3’35” adrift. The race was then to blow up after a left hand turn and a long descent in a slight crosswind. The pack, led by Movistar and Total Energies, indeed broke up into several groups with the likes of Majka (UAE) and Coquard (COF) stranded behind. Meanwhile, as the battle continued between the different groups, the front three were caught at km 98. The wind not quite blowing hard enough and a change in direction saw the entire peloton bunch up together again.

THE SAME 2 IN THE LEAD

And exactly when the situation calmed down, courageous Polychronis Tzorzakis gave it another go. He was rapidly caught by his former breakaway companion, Luis Angel Mate and both men powered away. At km 116 their lead had reached 3’50”. But this breakaway wasn’t going to last as Soudal Quickstep and DSM Firmenich PostNl put the pressure on. Again, due the crosswind, the pack broke into several groups. At km 146 with just over twenty kilometres to go, the front two were caught by a group of 34 riders in the leading group.

FIRST 2024 WIN FOR MERLIER
Left struggling behind were Green jersey Waerenskjold (UNO) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) and they would never manage to return. Despite the wind, the front group remained together for the loop around the Camel Cup. On the long final straight, with few team mates left, pure power and speed made the difference and Tim Merlier proved to be the fastest. The Belgian conquered his first success of the season by beating Arvid De Kleijn and Casper Van Uden. At 31 years of age, he claims his 35th professional victory (including a stage at the Tour de France in 2021).

VAN UDEN BACK IN COMMAND
Thanks to his third spot, Casper Van Uden moves back into the overall leadership and will be wearing the Green Jersey for tomorrow’s stage 4 between Hegra and Maraya. The Dutchman also leads the point’s and youth classification while Tzortzakis captures the Most Active rider’s orange jersey.

Complete results:

170.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.674 km/hr

1	TIM MERLIER	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	3hr 59min 52sec
2	ARVID DE KLEIJN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
3	CASPER VAN UDEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
4	LUKA MEZGEC	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
5	JUAN SEBASTIAN MOLANO	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
6	DUSAN RAJOVIC	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
7	RUI OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
8	BRYAN COQUARD	COFIDIS	s.t.
9	LUCAS WALDE HAMILTON	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
10	GLEB SYRITSA	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
11	MERHAWI KUDUS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
12	WILLIAM JUNIOR LECERF	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
13	DAVIDE FORMOLO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
14	DRIES VAN GESTEL	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
15	IVAN ROMEO ABAD	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
16	FRED WRIGHT	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
17	JONAS KOCH	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
18	MATTEO SOBRERO	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
19	NILS EEKHOFF	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
20	NICO DENZ	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
21	FINN LACHLAN FOX FISHER	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
22	ELMAR REINDERS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
23	SIMON YATES	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
24	JONATHAN LASTRA MARTINEZ	COFIDIS	s.t.
25	RICK PLUIMERS	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
26	BERT VAN LERBERGHE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
27	GIANLUCA BRAMBILLA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
28	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
29	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
30	NORSGAARD MATHIAS JØRGENSEN	MOVISTAR TEAM	@ 13sec
31	MAIKEL ZIJLAARD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	0' 14''
32	ANDONI LOPEZ DE ABETXUKO	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	0' 19''
33	IVO MANUEL ALVES OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	0' 23''
34	JORDI WARLOP	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 26''
35	WARRE VANGHELUWE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
36	SEBASTIAN KOLZE CHANGIZI	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	0' 55''
37	ANDERS HALLAND JOHANNESSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
38	HENOK MULUEBERHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
39	JASHA SÜTTERLIN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
40	SIMON PELLAUD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
41	PIERRE LATOUR	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
42	ENEKOITZ AZPARREN IRURZUN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
43	NOLANN MAHOUDO	COFIDIS	s.t.
44	IGOR CHZHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
45	MARTIN SVRČEK	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
46	JULIEN SIMON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
47	CARTER BETTLES	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
48	BEN HERMANS	COFIDIS	s.t.
49	FABIEN DOUBEY	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
50	THOMAS PESENTI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
51	NICOLAS DEBEAUMARCHE	COFIDIS	s.t.
52	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
53	JOHAN JACOBS	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
54	TIM NABERMAN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
55	EDOARDO ZAMBANINI	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
56	ANDREA PASQUALON	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
57	FREDRIK DVERSNES	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
58	JAN MAAS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
59	JOHN DEGENKOLB	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
60	XABIER AZPARREN IRURZUN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
61	GOTZON MARTIN SANZ	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
62	LUDOVIC ROBEET	COFIDIS	s.t.
63	CESARE BENEDETTI	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
64	HASSAN AL IBRAHIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
65	LUC WIRTGEN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
66	LORENZO MILESI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
67	ROLAND THALMANN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
68	VEGARD STAKE LAENGEN	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
69	CARLOS CANAL BLANCO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
70	XAVIER FINLAY PICKERING	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
71	XABIER BERASATEGI GARMENDIA	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
72	BRAM WELTEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
73	IKER BONILLO MARTIN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
74	MICHAEL VINK	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
75	WAN ABDUL RAHMAN HAMDAN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
76	NIKLAS MÄRKL	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
77	RAFAL MAJKA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
78	GIOVANNI CARBONI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
79	ATSUSHI OKA	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
80	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
81	AYCO BASTIAENS	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
82	MATTEO MOSCHETTI	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
83	DAVIDE CIMOLAI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
84	ENZO LEIJNSE	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
85	MATTEO MALUCELLI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
86	MASAKI YAMAMOTO	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
87	AIME DE GENDT	COFIDIS	s.t.
88	BREINER HENRIK PEDERSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	1' 13''
89	ANTON KUZMIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	1' 20''
90	ERLEND BLIKRA	UNO-X MOBILITY	2' 34''
91	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	2' 57''
92	DYLAN GROENEWEGEN	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
93	AIMAN CAHYADI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	5' 04''
94	SØREN WÆRENSKJOLD	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
95	ERIK NORDSAETER RESELL	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
96	FABIO CHRISTEN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
97	ANDREAS MILTIADIS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
98	ALESSANDRO ROMELE	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	5' 53''
99	ALI ALSULAYMI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
100	POLYCHRONIS TZORTZAKIS	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
101	ABDULAZIZ AZZAM ALABDULMUNIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
102	TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
103	ALHUR ALKULAIF	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
104	UNAI ZUBELDIA ELDUAIEN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
105	THANACHAT YATAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
106	NUR AMIRULL MAZUKI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
107	PAUL OURSELIN	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
108	ZULADRI AMIN ZULKURNAIN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
109	HASSAN ALJUMAH	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
110	FILIPPO CONCA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
111	YUMA KOISHI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
112	NICOLAS VINOKUROV	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	6' 21''
113	DANIIL MARUKHIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
114	PHURIDET INTHAPIW	ROOJAI INSURANCE	9' 26''
115	ARTTASORN PANSAARD	ROOJAI INSURANCE	9' 26''
116	JASON TESSON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
117	EMILIEN JEANNIERE	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
118	AHMED AL OMRANI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
119	IRWANDIE LAKASEK	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
120	ALI AL SHAIKHAHMED	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
121	AHMED MADAN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
122	NATHAN EARLE	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
123	LOUIS BENDIXEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.

 

GC after stage 3:

• GC leader: Casper van Uden (dsm-firmenich-PostNL)
• Points classification leader: Casper van Uden (dsm-firmenich-PostNL)
• Best young rider: Casper van Uden (dsm-firmenich-PostNL)
• Teams classification leader: Soudal Quick-Step

518.8 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 43.196 km/hr

1	CASPER VAN UDEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	12hr 0min 37sec
2	TIM MERLIER	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	@ 2sec
3	MATTEO SOBRERO	BORA-HANSGROHE	0' 10''
4	NILS EEKHOFF	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
5	BRYAN COQUARD	COFIDIS	0' 12''
6	RICK PLUIMERS	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	0' 14''
7	FRED WRIGHT	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
8	FINN LACHLAN FOX FISHER	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	0' 15''
9	MERHAWI KUDUS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	0' 16''
10	GIANLUCA BRAMBILLA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
11	DAVIDE FORMOLO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
12	JUAN SEBASTIAN MOLANO	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
13	JONAS KOCH	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
14	DRIES VAN GESTEL	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
15	IVAN ROMEO ABAD	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
16	WILLIAM JUNIOR LECERF	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
17	JONATHAN LASTRA MARTINEZ	COFIDIS	s.t.
18	LUCAS WALDE HAMILTON	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
19	SIMON YATES	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
20	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
21	LUKA MEZGEC	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
22	ELMAR REINDERS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
23	RUI OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	0' 25''
24	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
25	NICO DENZ	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
26	MAIKEL ZIJLAARD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	0' 30''
27	ANDONI LOPEZ DE ABETXUKO	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	0' 35''
28	IVO MANUEL ALVES OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	0' 48''
29	WARRE VANGHELUWE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 51''
30	HENOK MULUEBERHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	1' 03''
31	JORDI WARLOP	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	1' 06''
32	XABIER AZPARREN IRURZUN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	1' 08''
33	ANDERS HALLAND JOHANNESSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	1' 09''
34	FREDRIK DVERSNES	UNO-X MOBILITY	1' 10''
35	ARVID DE KLEIJN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	1' 11''
36	GOTZON MARTIN SANZ	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
37	MATTEO MOSCHETTI	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
38	PIERRE LATOUR	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
39	THOMAS PESENTI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
40	DAVIDE CIMOLAI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
41	EDOARDO ZAMBANINI	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
42	RAFAL MAJKA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
43	ENEKOITZ AZPARREN IRURZUN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
44	FABIEN DOUBEY	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
45	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
46	ROLAND THALMANN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
47	LUC WIRTGEN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
48	JULIEN SIMON	TOTALENERGIES	1' 20''
49	GIOVANNI CARBONI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
50	MATTEO MALUCELLI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
51	BEN HERMANS	COFIDIS	s.t.
52	VEGARD STAKE LAENGEN	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
53	CARTER BETTLES	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
54	NORSGAARD MATHIAS JØRGENSEN	MOVISTAR TEAM	1' 43''
55	JASHA SÜTTERLIN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	1' 48''
56	JOHAN JACOBS	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
57	JOHN DEGENKOLB	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
58	MICHAEL VINK	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
59	NIKLAS MÄRKL	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
60	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
61	XAVIER FINLAY PICKERING	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
62	SEBASTIAN KOLZE CHANGIZI	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	1' 59''
63	BREINER HENRIK PEDERSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	2' 06''
64	LORENZO MILESI	MOVISTAR TEAM	2' 25''
65	CARLOS CANAL BLANCO	MOVISTAR TEAM	3' 04''
66	ATSUSHI OKA	JCL TEAM UKYO	3' 07''
67	MASAKI YAMAMOTO	JCL TEAM UKYO	3' 17''
68	DUSAN RAJOVIC	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	3' 39''
69	NICOLAS DEBEAUMARCHE	COFIDIS	3' 47''
70	BERT VAN LERBERGHE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	3' 50''
71	CESARE BENEDETTI	BORA-HANSGROHE	3' 59''
72	NOLANN MAHOUDO	COFIDIS	4' 08''
73	ANDREA PASQUALON	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	4' 34''
74	SIMON PELLAUD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
75	IGOR CHZHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
76	AIME DE GENDT	COFIDIS	s.t.
77	IKER BONILLO MARTIN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
78	SØREN WÆRENSKJOLD	UNO-X MOBILITY	5' 08''
79	AYCO BASTIAENS	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	5' 19''
80	ERIK NORDSAETER RESELL	UNO-X MOBILITY	5' 20''
81	JAN MAAS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	5' 32''
82	GLEB SYRITSA	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	5' 44''
83	BRAM WELTEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	5' 46''
84	AIMAN CAHYADI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	5' 57''
85	FABIO CHRISTEN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	6' 09''
86	FILIPPO CONCA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	6' 18''
87	ALESSANDRO ROMELE	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	6' 24''
88	WAN ABDUL RAHMAN HAMDAN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	6' 27''
89	NICOLAS VINOKUROV	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	6' 37''
90	PAUL OURSELIN	TOTALENERGIES	6' 46''
91	ERLEND BLIKRA	UNO-X MOBILITY	7' 06''
92	MARTIN SVRČEK	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	7' 33''
93	TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	7' 40''
94	ANDREAS MILTIADIS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
95	XABIER BERASATEGI GARMENDIA	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	7' 53''
96	ANTON KUZMIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	7' 55''
97	TIM NABERMAN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	9' 01''
98	DYLAN GROENEWEGEN	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	9' 03''
99	YUMA KOISHI	JCL TEAM UKYO	9' 32''
100	ENZO LEIJNSE	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	9' 36''
101	EMILIEN JEANNIERE	TOTALENERGIES	9' 42''
102	NATHAN EARLE	JCL TEAM UKYO	9' 51''
103	DANIIL MARUKHIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	10' 00''
104	LOUIS BENDIXEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	10' 02''
105	HASSAN ALJUMAH	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	10' 49''
106	LUDOVIC ROBEET	COFIDIS	11' 05''
107	THANACHAT YATAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	11' 25''
108	ABDULAZIZ AZZAM ALABDULMUNIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	12' 29''
109	ZULADRI AMIN ZULKURNAIN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
110	POLYCHRONIS TZORTZAKIS	ROOJAI INSURANCE	13' 06''
111	ARTTASORN PANSAARD	ROOJAI INSURANCE	13' 18''
112	IRWANDIE LAKASEK	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	13' 36''
113	NUR AMIRULL MAZUKI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	14' 07''
114	HASSAN AL IBRAHIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	14' 41''
115	JASON TESSON	TOTALENERGIES	15' 10''
116	ALHUR ALKULAIF	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	17' 00''
117	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	19' 21''
118	PHURIDET INTHAPIW	ROOJAI INSURANCE	19' 55''
119	UNAI ZUBELDIA ELDUAIEN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	20' 49''
120	ALI ALSULAYMI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	21' 54''
121	AHMED MADAN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	22' 32''
122	ALI AL SHAIKHAHMED	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	27' 49''
123	AHMED AL OMRANI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	28' 54''

 

Stage 3 map & profile:

Stage 3 map

Stage 3 profile

---

Wednesday, January 31: Stage 2, Winter Park - Sharaan Nature Reserve, 199.1 km

Stage 2 map & profile

Soren Waerenskjold wins stage two. Photo: ASO/Pauline Ballet

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2020: The Tour During Covid-19, Better Late Than Never is available in both Kindle eBook and Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the city of Alula, near the start at Winter Park, at 3:25 PM, local time: 19C (67F), fair, with the wind from the west at 18 km/hr (11 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage two report.

A blue sky, bright sun and enthusiastic spectators welcomed the start of day 2 of the AlUla Tour at Winter Park. A nice location to launch the 126 riders for the longest stage of the event: 199kms to the Sharaan Nature Reserve. It took quite a battle for six men to break away from the peloton in different groups. 

5-man group
Eventually, after Azparren (Q36.5) conquered the bonus sprint (at km 20), he was caught by four other riders: Zubeldia (Euskatel-Euskadi), Pansaard (Roojai Insurance), Koishi (JCL Team Ukyo) and Al Shaikhahmed (Saudi National Team) while Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) who had claimed 2 bonus seconds stopped his efforts and awaiyed the pack. After 45kms of racing, the gap had reached 3’40” while team dsm-firmenich PostNL of race leader Casper Van Uden started chasing and took control of the escapees. 

Echelons
At km 67, after a left hand turn, the real action started with team Uno-X Mobility making the best of the slight cross-wind. Indeed the pack broke up into several echelons with riders like Latour (TotalEnergies), Majka (UAE Team Emirates), Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) and even Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) struggling to follow. After the front five were gobbled up by the first part of the peloton at km 80, the situation calmed down after another left turn (headwind). 

The pack bunched up together again at km 98, shortly before three men took off: Azparren (Euskatel-Euskadi), Miltiadis (Terengganu Cycling Team) and Oka (JCL Team Ukyo). They would soon to be caught by two riders from Roojai Insurance: Batsaikhan and Tzortzakis. The front five saw their lead considerably grow: 5’40” at km 119 before the sprinting teams moved up to the front of the pack to start chasing. At the second intermediate sprit (km 123) claimed by Oka, the gap had dropped to 4’40. At the third intermediate sprint (km 160) won again by Oka, the peloton was within striking distance, at only 30”. The leading men were finally caught four kilometres later. 

Latour gives it a go
The pack remained bunched in the final twenty kilometres under the control of several teams including Movistar and Cofidis. On the final climb, while a sick Dylan Groenewegen was dropped, Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) was the first to give it a go. The Frenchman stayed clear until the final kilometre before only just being caught. Led out by his Uno-X Mobility squad, Soeren Warenskjold powered to the line. The Norwegian who had won last year’s stage 3 to Abu Rakah managed to claim his seventh pro success by beating Henok Mulubrhan (Astana Qazaqstan) and Nils Eekhoff (Team dsm-firmenich). 

Unstoppable Waerenskjold
Fourth in stage 1 and victorious today, the former U23 time-trial UCI World Champion moves up to first place of the General Classification and will be wearing the Green jersey for tomorrow’s stage 3 from the AlUla International Airport to the AlUla Camel Cup Track. Waerenskjold also leads the points and youth standings while Atsushi Oka (JCL Team Ukyo) becomes the Most Active rider. 

Complete results:

199.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.352 km/hr

1	SØREN WÆRENSKJOLD	UNO-X MOBILITY	4hr 42min 4sec
2	HENOK MULUEBERHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
3	NILS EEKHOFF	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
4	BRYAN COQUARD	COFIDIS	s.t.
5	CASPER VAN UDEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
6	JORDI WARLOP	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
7	RICK PLUIMERS	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
8	MAIKEL ZIJLAARD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	@ 2sec
9	PIERRE LATOUR	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
10	IVAN ROMEO ABAD	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
11	GIANLUCA BRAMBILLA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
12	MATTEO SOBRERO	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
13	CARLOS CANAL BLANCO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
14	LOUIS BENDIXEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
15	FRED WRIGHT	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
16	MATTEO MOSCHETTI	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
17	MERHAWI KUDUS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
18	WILLIAM JUNIOR LECERF	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
19	ANDERS HALLAND JOHANNESSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
20	RAFAL MAJKA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
21	XABIER AZPARREN IRURZUN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
22	SIMON YATES	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
23	EMILIEN JEANNIERE	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
24	LUKA MEZGEC	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
25	DAVIDE FORMOLO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
26	GOTZON MARTIN SANZ	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
27	DAVIDE CIMOLAI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
28	NICOLAS VINOKUROV	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
29	JONATHAN LASTRA MARTINEZ	COFIDIS	s.t.
30	THOMAS PESENTI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
31	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
32	LUCAS WALDE HAMILTON	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
33	EDOARDO ZAMBANINI	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
34	TIM MERLIER	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
35	DRIES VAN GESTEL	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
36	ROLAND THALMANN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
37	XABIER BERASATEGI GARMENDIA	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
38	BERT VAN LERBERGHE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
39	FINN LACHLAN FOX FISHER	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
40	ENEKOITZ AZPARREN IRURZUN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
41	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
42	JONAS KOCH	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
43	FABIEN DOUBEY	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
44	ERIK NORDSAETER RESELL	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
45	ELMAR REINDERS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
46	ANDONI LOPEZ DE ABETXUKO	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
47	FREDRIK DVERSNES	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
48	LUC WIRTGEN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
49	JUAN SEBASTIAN MOLANO	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
50	BEN HERMANS	COFIDIS	0' 11''
51	FILIPPO CONCA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
52	RUI OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
53	GIOVANNI CARBONI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
54	JULIEN SIMON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
55	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
56	VEGARD STAKE LAENGEN	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
57	NICO DENZ	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
58	NATHAN EARLE	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
59	IVO MANUEL ALVES OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
60	CARTER BETTLES	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
61	WARRE VANGHELUWE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
62	MATTEO MALUCELLI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
63	ALESSANDRO ROMELE	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	0' 17''
64	MASAKI YAMAMOTO	JCL TEAM UKYO	0' 35''
65	JASHA SÜTTERLIN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	0' 39''
66	PAUL OURSELIN	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
67	JOHN DEGENKOLB	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
68	BREINER HENRIK PEDERSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
69	MICHAEL VINK	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
70	AIMAN CAHYADI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
71	XAVIER FINLAY PICKERING	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
72	NIKLAS MÄRKL	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
73	JOHAN JACOBS	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
74	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
75	SEBASTIAN KOLZE CHANGIZI	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	0' 50''
76	FABIO CHRISTEN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	0' 51''
77	ARVID DE KLEIJN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	1' 03''
78	NORSGAARD MATHIAS JØRGENSEN	MOVISTAR TEAM	1' 16''
79	ANDREAS MILTIADIS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
80	LORENZO MILESI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
81	TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	1' 33''
82	HASSAN ALJUMAH	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	1' 45''
83	ATSUSHI OKA	JCL TEAM UKYO	1' 58''
84	NOLANN MAHOUDO	COFIDIS	2' 38''
85	NICOLAS DEBEAUMARCHE	COFIDIS	s.t.
86	CESARE BENEDETTI	BORA-HANSGROHE	2' 50''
87	MARTIN SVRČEK	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
88	JAN MAAS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
89	IRWANDIE LAKASEK	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
90	ABDULAZIZ AZZAM ALABDULMUNIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	3' 25''
91	SIMON PELLAUD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
92	AYCO BASTIAENS	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
93	POLYCHRONIS TZORTZAKIS	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
94	HASSAN AL IBRAHIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
95	IKER BONILLO MARTIN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
96	IGOR CHZHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
97	DANIIL MARUKHIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
98	DUSAN RAJOVIC	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
99	WAN ABDUL RAHMAN HAMDAN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
100	THANACHAT YATAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
101	PEERAPONG LADNGERN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
102	ZULADRI AMIN ZULKURNAIN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
103	AIME DE GENDT	COFIDIS	s.t.
104	ANDREA PASQUALON	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
105	YUMA KOISHI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
106	ARTTASORN PANSAARD	ROOJAI INSURANCE	3' 39''
107	BRAM WELTEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	4' 18''
108	ERLEND BLIKRA	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
109	TIM NABERMAN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
110	ANTON KUZMIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	4' 28''
111	LUDOVIC ROBEET	COFIDIS	5' 30''
112	JASON TESSON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
113	ENZO LEIJNSE	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
114	GLEB SYRITSA	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
115	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	5' 58''
116	DYLAN GROENEWEGEN	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
117	AHMED MADAN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	6' 14''
118	UNAI ZUBELDIA ELDUAIEN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	8' 00''
119	NUR AMIRULL FAKHRUDDIN MAZUKI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
120	PHURIDET INTHAPIW	ROOJAI INSURANCE	8' 22''
121	ALHUR ALKULAIF	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	9' 00''
122	AHMED AL OMRANI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	9' 07''
123	ALI ALSULAYMI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	11' 21''
124	ALI AL SHAIKHAHMED	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	14' 35''

 

GC after stage 2:

• GC leader: Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility)
• Points classification leader: Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility)
• Best young rider: Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility)
• Teams classification leader: Uno-X Mobility

348.2 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 43.451 km/hr

1	SØREN WÆRENSKJOLD	UNO-X MOBILITY	8hr 0min 49sec
2	CASPER VAN UDEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
3	HENOK MULUEBERHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	@ 4sec
4	NILS EEKHOFF	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	0' 06''
5	TIM MERLIER	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 08''
6	MATTEO SOBRERO	BORA-HANSGROHE	0' 09''
7	XABIER AZPARREN IRURZUN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
8	BRYAN COQUARD	COFIDIS	0' 10''
9	RICK PLUIMERS	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
10	ANDERS HALLAND JOHANNESSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
11	FRED WRIGHT	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
12	FREDRIK DVERSNES	UNO-X MOBILITY	0' 11''
13	GIANLUCA BRAMBILLA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	0' 12''
14	MATTEO MOSCHETTI	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
15	MERHAWI KUDUS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
16	DAVIDE CIMOLAI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
17	GOTZON MARTIN SANZ	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
18	DAVIDE FORMOLO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
19	JONAS KOCH	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
20	RAFAL MAJKA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
21	JUAN SEBASTIAN MOLANO	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
22	NICOLAS VINOKUROV	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
23	EMILIEN JEANNIERE	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
24	THOMAS PESENTI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
25	DRIES VAN GESTEL	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
26	JONATHAN LASTRA MARTINEZ	COFIDIS	s.t.
27	IVAN ROMEO ABAD	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
28	ANDONI LOPEZ DE ABETXUKO	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
29	WILLIAM JUNIOR LECERF	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
30	PIERRE LATOUR	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
31	EDOARDO ZAMBANINI	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
32	SIMON YATES	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
33	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
34	FINN LACHLAN FOX FISHER	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
35	LUCAS WALDE HAMILTON	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
36	MAIKEL ZIJLAARD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
37	ROLAND THALMANN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
38	ENEKOITZ AZPARREN IRURZUN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
39	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
40	FABIEN DOUBEY	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
41	LUKA MEZGEC	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
42	ELMAR REINDERS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
43	ERIK NORDSAETER RESELL	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
44	LUC WIRTGEN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
45	RUI OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	0' 21''
46	MATTEO MALUCELLI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
47	GIOVANNI CARBONI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
48	JULIEN SIMON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
49	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
50	NATHAN EARLE	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
51	IVO MANUEL ALVES OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
52	VEGARD STAKE LAENGEN	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
53	BEN HERMANS	COFIDIS	s.t.
54	NICO DENZ	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
55	FILIPPO CONCA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
56	WARRE VANGHELUWE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
57	CARTER BETTLES	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
58	ALESSANDRO ROMELE	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	0' 27''
59	LOUIS BENDIXEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	0' 29''
60	JORDI WARLOP	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 36''
61	AIMAN CAHYADI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	0' 49''
62	JOHAN JACOBS	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
63	JASHA SÜTTERLIN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	0' 49''
64	BREINER HENRIK PEDERSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
65	MICHAEL VINK	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
66	PAUL OURSELIN	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
67	NIKLAS MÄRKL	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
68	JOHN DEGENKOLB	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
69	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
70	XAVIER FINLAY PICKERING	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
71	SEBASTIAN KOLZE CHANGIZI	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	1' 00''
72	FABIO CHRISTEN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	1' 01''
73	ARVID DE KLEIJN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	1' 13''
74	LORENZO MILESI	MOVISTAR TEAM	1' 26''
75	NORSGAARD MATHIAS JØRGENSEN	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
76	TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	1' 43''
77	CARLOS CANAL BLANCO	MOVISTAR TEAM	2' 05''
78	ATSUSHI OKA	JCL TEAM UKYO	2' 08''
79	MASAKI YAMAMOTO	JCL TEAM UKYO	2' 18''
80	ANDREAS MILTIADIS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	2' 32''
81	NICOLAS DEBEAUMARCHE	COFIDIS	2' 48''
82	CESARE BENEDETTI	BORA-HANSGROHE	3' 00''
83	NOLANN MAHOUDO	COFIDIS	3' 09''
84	DUSAN RAJOVIC	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	3' 35''
85	ANDREA PASQUALON	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
86	AIME DE GENDT	COFIDIS	s.t.
87	DANIIL MARUKHIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
88	SIMON PELLAUD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
89	IKER BONILLO MARTIN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
90	IGOR CHZHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
91	YUMA KOISHI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
92	BERT VAN LERBERGHE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	3' 46''
93	ARTTASORN PANSAARD	ROOJAI INSURANCE	3' 48''
94	IRWANDIE LAKASEK	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	4' 06''
95	AYCO BASTIAENS	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	4' 20''
96	ERLEND BLIKRA	UNO-X MOBILITY	4' 28''
97	JAN MAAS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	4' 33''
98	BRAM WELTEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	4' 47''
99	HASSAN ALJUMAH	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	4' 52''
100	THANACHAT YATAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	5' 28''
101	WAN ABDUL RAHMAN HAMDAN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
102	GLEB SYRITSA	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	5' 40''
103	JASON TESSON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
104	DYLAN GROENEWEGEN	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	6' 02''
105	ANTON KUZMIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	6' 31''
106	ABDULAZIZ AZZAM ALABDULMUNIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	6' 32''
107	ZULADRI AMIN ZULKURNAIN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	6' 32''
108	MARTIN SVRČEK	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	6' 34''
109	XABIER BERASATEGI GARMENDIA	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	6' 54''
110	POLYCHRONIS TZORTZAKIS	ROOJAI INSURANCE	7' 09''
111	TIM NABERMAN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	8' 02''
112	NUR AMIRULL FAKHRUDDIN MAZUKI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	8' 10''
113	ENZO LEIJNSE	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	8' 37''
114	PEERAPONG LADNGERN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	9' 22''
115	LUDOVIC ROBEET	COFIDIS	10' 06''
116	PHURIDET INTHAPIW	ROOJAI INSURANCE	10' 25''
117	ALHUR ALKULAIF	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	11' 03''
118	AHMED MADAN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	13' 02''
119	HASSAN AL IBRAHIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	13' 42''
120	UNAI ZUBELDIA ELDUAIEN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	14' 52''
121	ALI ALSULAYMI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	15' 57''
122	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	16' 20''
123	ALI AL SHAIKHAHMED	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	18' 19''
124	AHMED AL OMRANI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	19' 24''

 

Stage 2 map & profile:

Stage 2 map

Stage 2 profile

Tuesday, January 30: Stage 1: Al Manshiyah Train Station (Alula) and back, 149.1 km

Stage 1 map & profile

Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL's Casper van Uden takes the first stage. Photo: Charly Lopez

Les Woodland's book The Olympics' 50 Craziest Stories: A Five Ring Circus is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the start/finish city of Alula at 3:40 PM, local time: 20C (68F), fair, with the wind from the east at 11 km/hr (7 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage one report.

After a spectacular opening ceremony staged at the Maraya Concert Hall yesterday evening, the 124 riders of the 2024 edition of the AlUla Tour all gathered together by the Al Manshyhah Train station for the official start of the race: a 149kms loop around AlUla with no major difficulty. Under a bright sunshine, it only took one kilometre for five men to pull away from the peloton: Zubeldia (EUS), Bettles (ROI), Yamamoto (JCL) and two riders from the Saudi Arabia National team, Al Ibrahim and Al Shaikhamed. 

5-man breakaway 
The front group saw their lead reach 3’ as soon as km 8 before the sprinters’ teams (Team Jayco AlulA, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, Soudal Quickstep) took command of the pack. At the first Most Active rider sprint (km 81) won by Zubeldia ahead of Bettles and Yamamoto, there were only four men left in the breakaway, Al Ibrahim failing to keep up with the pace. Meanwhile the gap had dropped down to 2’30”. 

Racing in the desert. Photo: Charly Lopez/Pauline Ballet

Bettles and Zubeldia, the last survivors 
At km 104, Bettles and Zubeldia powered away dropping their companions. Both men reached the 120km mark with a lead of 1’20” on the peloton. While Bettles suffered a puncture, Zubeldia was left alone at the front. The Spaniard managed to reach the second Most Active rider sprint (km 127) clear from the pack earning him the Orange Jersey for tomorrow. He was eventually caught with just under 20kms to go. 

Expected bunched sprint 
Well controlled by teams Jayco AlUla and Soudal Quickstep the pack remained bunched. The bonus sprint (at the second passage on the line, with 10kms to go) and the three bonus seconds going with that was claimed by Sobrero (BOH) ahead of Wright (TBV) and Dversnes (UNO). It was then a question of being well positioned for the final straight. Perfectly led out by his DSM-Firmenich PostNL men, Casper Van Uden flew to the line only just outsprinting Dylan Groenewegen and Tim Merlier. The 22-year-old sprinter from Schledam captures his first professional success after several promising wins in the amateur ranks. 

Van Uden in command 
Thanks to this stage 1 success, Van Uden leads the GC and will be wearing the Green Jersey on stage 2 between Winter Park and the Sharaan

Complete results:

149.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.974 km/hr

1	CASPER VAN UDEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	3hr 18min 55sec
2	DYLAN GROENEWEGEN	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
3	TIM MERLIER	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
4	SØREN WÆRENSKJOLD	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
5	DUSAN RAJOVIC	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
6	ARVID DE KLEIJN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
7	MATTEO MALUCELLI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
8	JUAN SEBASTIAN MOLANO	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
9	GLEB SYRITSA	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
10	DAVIDE CIMOLAI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
11	MATTEO MOSCHETTI	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
12	JONAS KOCH	BORA - HANSGROHE	s.t.
13	JASON TESSON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
14	RUI OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
15	GOTZON MARTIN SANZ	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
16	GIANLUCA BRAMBILLA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
17	HENOK MULUEBERHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
18	ANDREA PASQUALON	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
19	MERHAWI KUDUS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
20	ANDONI LOPEZ DE ABETXUKO	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
21	BRYAN COQUARD	COFIDIS	s.t.
22	DAVIDE FORMOLO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
23	GIOVANNI CARBONI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
24	ATSUSHI OKA	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
25	AIMAN CAHYADI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
26	FABIO CHRISTEN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
27	DRIES VAN GESTEL	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
28	LORENZO MILESI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
29	ANDERS HALLAND JOHANNESSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
30	RICK PLUIMERS	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
31	NICOLAS VINOKUROV	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
32	THOMAS PESENTI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
33	JULIEN SIMON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
34	FRED WRIGHT	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
35	JOHAN JACOBS	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
36	JONATHAN LASTRA MARTINEZ	COFIDIS	s.t.
37	RAFAL MAJKA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
38	EMILIEN JEANNIERE	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
39	AIME DE GENDT	COFIDIS	s.t.
40	EDOARDO ZAMBANINI	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
41	NATHAN EARLE	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
42	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
43	IVO MANUEL ALVES OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
44	ARTTASORN PANSAARD	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
45	JASHA SÜTTERLIN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
46	FINN LACHLAN FOX FISHER	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
47	NUR AMIRULL FAKHRUDDIN MAZUKI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
48	VEGARD STAKE LAENGEN	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
49	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
50	CESARE BENEDETTI	BORA - HANSGROHE	s.t.
51	MATTEO SOBRERO	BORA - HANSGROHE	s.t.
52	WILLIAM JUNIOR LECERF	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
53	SIMON YATES	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
54	LUCAS WALDE HAMILTON	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
55	FREDRIK DVERSNES	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
56	IVAN ROMEO ABAD	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
57	ENEKOITZ AZPARREN IRURZUN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
58	BREINER HENRIK PEDERSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
59	NORSGAARD MATHIAS JØRGENSEN	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
60	DANIIL MARUKHIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
61	ROLAND THALMANN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
62	PIERRE LATOUR	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
63	XABIER AZPARREN IRURZUN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
64	MICHAEL VINK	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
65	NICO DENZ	BORA - HANSGROHE	s.t.
66	BEN HERMANS	COFIDIS	s.t.
67	TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
68	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN	BORA - HANSGROHE	s.t.
69	FABIEN DOUBEY	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
70	NIKLAS MÄRKL	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
71	IKER BONILLO MARTIN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
72	SIMON PELLAUD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
73	ELMAR REINDERS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
74	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
75	PAUL OURSELIN	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
76	FILIPPO CONCA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
77	ERIK NORDSAETER RESELL	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
78	NILS EEKHOFF	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
79	LUC WIRTGEN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
80	SEBASTIAN KOLZE CHANGIZI	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
81	JOHN DEGENKOLB	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
82	WARRE VANGHELUWE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
83	YUMA KOISHI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
84	IGOR CHZHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
85	ALESSANDRO ROMELE	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
86	ERLEND BLIKRA	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
87	MAIKEL ZIJLAARD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
88	XAVIER FINLAY PICKERING	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
89	NICOLAS DEBEAUMARCHE	COFIDIS	s.t.
90	CARTER BETTLES	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
91	LUKA MEZGEC	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
92	LOUIS BENDIXEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	@ 17sec
93	BRAM WELTEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	0' 19''
94	NOLANN MAHOUDO	COFIDIS	0' 21''
95	JORDI WARLOP	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 26''
96	AYCO BASTIAENS	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 45''
97	ANDREAS MILTIADIS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	1' 06''
98	IRWANDIE LAKASEK	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
99	MASAKI YAMAMOTO	JCL TEAM UKYO	1' 33''
100	JAN MAAS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
101	CARLOS CANAL BLANCO	MOVISTAR TEAM	1' 53''
102	PHURIDET INTHAPIW	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
103	THANACHAT YATAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
104	ANTON KUZMIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
105	ALHUR ALKULAIF	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
106	WAN ABDUL RAHMAN HAMDAN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
107	HASSAN ALJUMAH	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	2' 57''
108	ENZO LEIJNSE	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
109	ABDULAZIZ AZZAM ALABDULMUNIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
110	ZULADRI AMIN ZULKURNAIN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
111	TIM NABERMAN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	3' 34''
112	ALI AL SHAIKHAHMED	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
113	POLYCHRONIS TZORTZAKIS	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
114	BERT VAN LERBERGHE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
115	MARTIN SVRČEK	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
116	ALI ALSULAYMI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	4' 26''
117	LUDOVIC ROBEET	COFIDIS	s.t.
118	PEERAPONG LADNGERN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	5' 47''
119	AHMED MADAN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	6' 38''
120	UNAI ZUBELDIA ELDUAIEN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	6' 42''
121	XABIER BERASATEGI GARMENDIA	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
122	HASSAN AL IBRAHIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	10' 07''
123	AHMED AL OMRANI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
124	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	10' 12''

 

GC after stage 1:

• GC leader: Casper Van Uden (Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL)
• Points classification leader: Casper Van Uden (Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL)
• Best young rider: Casper Van Uden (Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL)
• Teams classification leader: Q36.5 Pro cycling Team

1	CASPER VAN UDEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	3hr 18min 45sec
2	DYLAN GROENEWEGEN	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	@ 4sec
3	TIM MERLIER	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 06''
4	MATTEO SOBRERO	BORA - HANSGROHE	0' 07''
5	FRED WRIGHT	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	0' 08''
6	FREDRIK DVERSNES	UNO-X MOBILITY	0' 09''
7	SØREN WÆRENSKJOLD	UNO-X MOBILITY	0' 10''
8	DUSAN RAJOVIC	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
9	ARVID DE KLEIJN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
10	MATTEO MALUCELLI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
11	JUAN SEBASTIAN MOLANO	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
12	GLEB SYRITSA	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
13	DAVIDE CIMOLAI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
14	MATTEO MOSCHETTI	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
15	JONAS KOCH	BORA - HANSGROHE	s.t.
16	JASON TESSON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
17	RUI OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
18	GOTZON MARTIN SANZ	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
19	GIANLUCA BRAMBILLA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
20	HENOK MULUEBERHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
21	ANDREA PASQUALON	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
22	MERHAWI KUDUS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
23	ANDONI LOPEZ DE ABETXUKO	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
24	BRYAN COQUARD	COFIDIS	s.t.
25	DAVIDE FORMOLO	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
26	GIOVANNI CARBONI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
27	ATSUSHI OKA	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
28	AIMAN CAHYADI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
29	FABIO CHRISTEN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
30	DRIES VAN GESTEL	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
31	LORENZO MILESI	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
32	ANDERS HALLAND JOHANNESSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
33	RICK PLUIMERS	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
34	NICOLAS VINOKUROV	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
35	THOMAS PESENTI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
36	JULIEN SIMON	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
37	JOHAN JACOBS	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
38	JONATHAN LASTRA MARTINEZ	COFIDIS	s.t.
39	RAFAL MAJKA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
40	EMILIEN JEANNIERE	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
41	AIME DE GENDT	COFIDIS	s.t.
42	EDOARDO ZAMBANINI	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
43	NATHAN EARLE	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
44	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
45	IVO MANUEL ALVES OLIVEIRA	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
46	ARTTASORN PANSAARD	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
47	JASHA SÜTTERLIN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
48	FINN LACHLAN FOX FISHER	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
49	NUR AMIRULL FAKHRUDDIN MAZUKI	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
50	VEGARD STAKE LAENGEN	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
51	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
52	CESARE BENEDETTI	BORA - HANSGROHE	s.t.
53	WILLIAM JUNIOR LECERF	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
54	SIMON YATES	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
55	LUCAS WALDE HAMILTON	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
56	IVAN ROMEO ABAD	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
57	ENEKOITZ AZPARREN IRURZUN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
58	BREINER HENRIK PEDERSEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
59	NORSGAARD MATHIAS JØRGENSEN	MOVISTAR TEAM	s.t.
60	DANIIL MARUKHIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
61	ROLAND THALMANN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
62	PIERRE LATOUR	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
63	XABIER AZPARREN IRURZUN	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
64	MICHAEL VINK	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
65	NICO DENZ	BORA - HANSGROHE	s.t.
66	BEN HERMANS	COFIDIS	s.t.
67	TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
68	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN	BORA - HANSGROHE	s.t.
69	FABIEN DOUBEY	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
70	NIKLAS MÄRKL	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
71	IKER BONILLO MARTIN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
72	SIMON PELLAUD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
73	ELMAR REINDERS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
74	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
75	PAUL OURSELIN	TOTALENERGIES	s.t.
76	FILIPPO CONCA	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
77	ERIK NORDSAETER RESELL	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
78	NILS EEKHOFF	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
79	LUC WIRTGEN	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
80	SEBASTIAN KOLZE CHANGIZI	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
81	JOHN DEGENKOLB	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
82	WARRE VANGHELUWE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
83	YUMA KOISHI	JCL TEAM UKYO	s.t.
84	IGOR CHZHAN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
85	ALESSANDRO ROMELE	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
86	ERLEND BLIKRA	UNO-X MOBILITY	s.t.
87	MAIKEL ZIJLAARD	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
88	XAVIER FINLAY PICKERING	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
89	NICOLAS DEBEAUMARCHE	COFIDIS	s.t.
90	CARTER BETTLES	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
91	LUKA MEZGEC	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
92	LOUIS BENDIXEN	UNO-X MOBILITY	0' 27''
93	BRAM WELTEN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	0' 29''
94	NOLANN MAHOUDO	COFIDIS	0' 31''
95	JORDI WARLOP	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 36''
96	AYCO BASTIAENS	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	0' 55''
97	ANDREAS MILTIADIS	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	1' 16''
98	IRWANDIE LAKASEK	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
99	MASAKI YAMAMOTO	JCL TEAM UKYO	1' 43''
100	JAN MAAS	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	s.t.
101	CARLOS CANAL BLANCO	MOVISTAR TEAM	2' 03''
102	PHURIDET INTHAPIW	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
103	THANACHAT YATAN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
104	ANTON KUZMIN	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
105	ALHUR ALKULAIF	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
106	WAN ABDUL RAHMAN HAMDAN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
107	HASSAN ALJUMAH	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	3' 07''
108	ENZO LEIJNSE	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	s.t.
109	ABDULAZIZ AZZAM ALABDULMUNIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
110	ZULADRI AMIN ZULKURNAIN	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM	s.t.
111	TIM NABERMAN	DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL	3' 44''
112	ALI AL SHAIKHAHMED	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
113	POLYCHRONIS TZORTZAKIS	ROOJAI INSURANCE	s.t.
114	BERT VAN LERBERGHE	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
115	MARTIN SVRČEK	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
116	ALI ALSULAYMI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	4' 36''
117	LUDOVIC ROBEET	COFIDIS	s.t.
118	PEERAPONG LADNGERN	ROOJAI INSURANCE	5' 57''
119	AHMED MADAN	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	6' 48''
120	UNAI ZUBELDIA ELDUAIEN	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	6' 52''
121	XABIER BERASATEGI GARMENDIA	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	s.t.
122	HASSAN AL IBRAHIM	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	10' 17''
123	AHMED AL OMRANI	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
124	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI	TEAM JAYCO ALULA	10' 22''

 

Stage 1 map & profile:

Stage 1 map

Stage 1 profile

Start list with back numbers, January 29, 2023:

	MOVISTAR TEAM
1	DAVIDE FORMOLO
2	CARLOS CANAL BLANCO
3	DAVIDE CIMOLAI
4	JOHAN JACOBS
5	NORSGAARD MATHIAS JØRGENSEN
6	LORENZO MILESI
7	IVAN ROMEO ABAD
	UAE TEAM EMIRATES
11	RAFAL MAJKA
12	IVO MANUEL ALVES OLIVEIRA
13	RUI OLIVEIRA
14	FINN LACHLAN FOX FISHER
15	VEGARD STAKE LAENGEN
16	JUAN SEBASTIAN MOLANO
17	MICHAEL VINK
	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS
21	FRED WRIGHT
22	ANDREA PASQUALON
23	AHMED MADAN
24	XAVIER FINLAY PICKERING
25	DUSAN RAJOVIC
26	JASHA SÜTTERLIN
27	EDOARDO ZAMBANINI
	TEAM JAYCO ALULA
31	SIMON YATES
32	DYLAN GROENEWEGEN
33	ALESSANDRO DE MARCHI
34	LUCAS WALDE HAMILTON
35	LUKA MEZGEC
36	JAN MAAS
37	ELMAR REINDERS
	UNO-X MOBILITY
41	SØREN WÆRENSKJOLD
42	ANDERS HALLAND JOHANNESSEN
43	LOUIS BENDIXEN
44	ERLEND BLIKRA
45	FREDRIK DVERSNES
46	ERIK NORDSAETER RESELL
47	BREINER HENRIK PEDERSEN
	COFIDIS
51	BRYAN COQUARD
52	NICOLAS DEBEAUMARCHE
53	AIME DE GENDT
54	BEN HERMANS
55	JONATHAN LASTRA MARTINEZ
56	NOLANN MAHOUDO
57	LUDOVIC ROBEET
	TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL
61	JOHN DEGENKOLB
62	NILS EEKHOFF
63	ENZO LEIJNSE
64	NIKLAS MÄRKL
65	TIM NABERMAN
66	CASPER VAN UDEN
67	BRAM WELTEN
	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM
71	HENOK MULUEBERHAN
72	GLEB SYRITSA
73	IGOR CHZHAN
74	ANTON KUZMIN
75	DANIIL MARUKHIN
76	NICOLAS VINOKUROV
77	ALESSANDRO ROMELE
	BORA - HANSGROHE
81	MAXIMILIAN SCHACHMANN
82	CESARE BENEDETTI
83	NICO DENZ
84	JONAS KOCH
85	MATTEO SOBRERO
	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP
91	TIM MERLIER
92	AYCO BASTIAENS
93	WILLIAM JUNIOR LECERF
94	BERT VAN LERBERGHE
95	WARRE VANGHELUWE
96	JORDI WARLOP
97	MARTIN SVRČEK
	TOTALENERGIES
101	PIERRE LATOUR
102	FABIEN DOUBEY
103	EMILIEN JEANNIERE
104	PAUL OURSELIN
105	JULIEN SIMON
106	JASON TESSON
107	DRIES VAN GESTEL
	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI
111	ANDONI LOPEZ DE ABETXUKO
112	GOTZON MARTIN SANZ
113	XABIER BERASATEGI GARMENDIA
114	IKER BONILLO MARTIN
115	ENEKOITZ AZPARREN IRURZUN
116	LUIS ANGEL MATE MARDONES
117	UNAI ZUBELDIA ELDUAIEN
	Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM
121	GIANLUCA BRAMBILLA
122	FABIO CHRISTEN
123	TOBIAS LUDVIGSSON
124	MATTEO MOSCHETTI
125	JOSEPH ROSSKOPF
126	XABIER AZPARREN IRURZUN
127	FILIPPO CONCA
	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM
131	ARVID DE KLEIJN
132	SEBASTIAN KOLZE CHANGIZI
133	SIMON PELLAUD
134	RICK PLUIMERS
135	ROLAND THALMANN
136	LUC WIRTGEN
137	MAIKEL ZIJLAARD
	TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM
141	MERHAWI KUDUS
142	WAN ABDUL RAHMAN HAMDAN
143	IRWANDIE LAKASEK
144	NUR AMIRULL FAKHRUDDIN MAZUKI
145	ZULADRI AMIN ZULKURNAIN
146	ANDREAS MILTIADIS
147	AIMAN CAHYADI
	ROOJAI INSURANCE
151	TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN
152	CARTER BETTLES
153	PHURIDET INTHAPIW
154	PEERAPONG LADNGERN
155	ARTTASORN PANSAARD
156	POLYCHRONIS TZORTZAKIS
157	THANACHAT YATAN
	JCL TEAM UKYO
161	NATHAN EARLE
162	YUMA KOISHI
163	MASAKI YAMAMOTO
164	ATSUSHI OKA
165	GIOVANNI CARBONI
166	MATTEO MALUCELLI
167	THOMAS PESENTI
	SAUDI NATIONAL TEAM
171	HASSAN ALJUMAH
172	HASSAN AL IBRAHIM
173	ABDULAZIZ AZZAM ALABDULMUNIM
174	ALI AL SHAIKHAHMED
175	ALI ALSULAYMI
176	AHMED AL OMRANI
177	ALHUR ALKULAIF