Extended Highlights - Stage 1 - The AlUla Tour 2024 - video Dailymotion

The AlUla Tour

Discover the Stage 1 highlights     More information:  https://www.thealulatour.com/en/  https://www.facebook.com/thealulatour/  https://twitter.com/thealulatour  https://www.instagram.com/thesalulatour/    #TheAlUlaTour     More exclusive contents on Tour de France Club : https://www.letour.fr/fr/club    © Amaury Sport Organisation - www.aso.fr

Transcript

00:00 Welcome to the fourth edition of the Alula Tour.

00:09 One of the most spectacular bike races to be held in the Middle East, the event boasts

00:13 a new name for 2024 having previously been known as the Saudi Tour.

00:17 Over the next five days, some of the world's top riders will battle for supremacy in the

00:22 majestic landscapes around Alula.

00:29 Several of the main overall contenders gathered at Mariah on Monday for the pre-race press

00:33 conference.

00:34 One of the big favourites is Simon Yates, who is spearheading the GC challenge for Jaco

00:39 Alula in the home of their title sponsor.

00:42 "It's been great so far, people have been very welcoming, the hospitality has been great

00:48 and the riding has also been fantastic."

00:51 "It's really great weather and also the road is perfect for the ride of the bike especially.

00:59 Start of the season well placed, it's better if we have flat sections, we have some climbs

01:04 then it should be a nice race."

01:05 "I had a good winter and I feel ready, I'm looking forward to start the season here.

01:15 It was a good winter so far, so let's see how the legs spin."

01:25 Today's curtain raiser is all about the sprinters and the man to beat is surely Dylan Hoenewegen.

01:30 He has three stage victories at this race and he's already won in 2024.

01:36 "We're already here since yesterday, so we did a recon, saw the local lap here.

01:44 It's nice, a bit twisty, a bit corners, but big roads.

01:48 Makes it maybe a bit difficult to have good timing, but we know what to do.

01:53 Hopefully we can do everything perfect today."

01:56 "Dylan won already a stage, so we will see.

02:08 For me it's the first road race, try to find again the feeling in the peloton.

02:14 But once I'm in the last kilometre I will have the confidence in the team and I will

02:20 try to win the stage."

02:26 "We go all in for the sprint and I think it's a great opportunity for us to maybe win the

02:34 stage."

02:41 Stage one is a loop of just under 150 kilometres, starting and finishing at the Al Manshia train

02:47 station.

02:48 There were no real difficulties to speak of, although the inclusion of a bonus sprint just

02:52 10.6 kilometres from the line could shake things up in the final.

02:56 Either way, a sprinter should be shrugging on the race's first leaders jersey this afternoon.

03:10 Warm weather greeted the riders as they got underway at around 12.45pm local time.

03:15 Echelons can sometimes play havoc in this part of the world, but there was no wind today.

03:20 It was set to be a straightforward sprint day.

03:27 Five riders quickly shot up the road, building a maximum gap of three minutes.

03:32 Unai Zabeldia in the familiar orange of Usquitel-Escadi.

03:36 Japanese champion Masaaki Yamamoto in red and white for JCL Team Yukio.

03:41 Marta Bettles in the blue of the Rujai Insurance Team.

03:44 And two men in green from the Saudi national team, Hassan Al Ibrahim and Ali Al Shaikh

03:49 Ahmed.

03:51 One of the distinctive jerseys up for grabs this year is the orange jersey for the most

03:55 active rider, with points available at the various intermediate and bonus sprints.

04:00 And it was the man already in orange, Zabeldia, who took the first three-point haul.

04:04 Back in the peloton, the sprint teams had decided not to give the breakaway too much

04:15 freedom and the gap stabilised at around two minutes.

04:20 Four-five soon became four up at the front, with Al Ibrahim suffering.

04:24 The local man, who abandoned on the opening stage of last year's race, was clearly in

04:28 some difficulty.

04:36 A couple of the other riders would soon be waving goodbye to the front of the race as

04:39 well, Al Shaikh Ahmed and Yamamoto also going backwards as Zabeldia and Bettles pushed on.

04:49 Various teams getting themselves organised in the peloton for the best sprinters.

04:53 Men like Runewegen, Melilla, Declin, Milano and Coca.

05:00 Bettles then had an unfortunate mechanical, leaving Zabeldia solo at the front.

05:05 The 20-year-old Spaniard helping himself to more active rider points and virtually securing

05:09 the orange jersey, which shouldn't take him out of his comfort zone.

05:18 Into the final 20k with the peloton closing on Zabeldia.

05:21 Just another mechanical issue then for one of the GC favourites.

05:39 Zabeldia was caught just after that Yates puncture, as another rider from Ruge Insurance,

05:43 Polychronos Tsotsakis, tried to counter but the former Greek champion was soon brought

05:48 to heel.

05:51 Then another ill-timed mechanical for another team leader, this time Pierre Latorre of Total

05:55 Energies.

05:59 The peloton all grouped and heading for the bonus sprint, with precious seconds going

06:03 to Mateo Subrero, Fred Wright and Frederic de Varchness.

06:09 Only 10k to go now, but there was still more drama to come.

06:13 Oh, crashing the peloton.

06:16 One of the Jake Owalula riders is down, a Japanese champion is down as well.

06:21 And this looks like it's Simon Yates.

06:23 No, it's not.

06:25 Down is Alessandro De Marchi.

06:31 Punctures and that crash making for a scrappy finale, but the big sprinters all survived.

06:36 The riders winding their way around this tricky hairpin bend just before the Flamme Rouge and

06:41 the final shootout.

06:42 Jake Owalula looking around for Dylan Groenewegen.

06:46 Where is he?

06:47 Right now you can't quite see him.

06:49 There he is, Dylan Groenewegen is there.

06:51 Here comes the team of UAE with Sebastian Milano.

06:55 Also up there, a big move left hand side.

06:57 Here goes Milano and UAE team Emirates.

07:00 Kasper van Ouden is in the middle.

07:02 Here comes Milano, but it's Kasper van Ouden.

07:05 Kasper van Ouden.

07:06 Here comes Groenewegen on the inside.

07:09 Groenewegen, did he take it on the line?

07:12 Kasper van Ouden is the stage winner for DSM Firmenhek post-NL.

07:18 It was a fantastic sprint for van Ouden.

07:23 What a way for Kasper van Ouden to celebrate his first professional victory, beating Sprint

07:28 Supremos Groenewegen and Moliere here in Saudi Arabia.

07:32 The 22-year-old Dutchman showed flashes of his potential in 2023, notably with a podium

07:38 at Milano Torino.

07:39 This could be the year he truly comes of age.

07:45 I think last year maybe I wanted to win too much.

07:48 So I made a few mistakes that weren't necessary and I had a few heart crashes, so you start

07:53 to doubt yourself a little bit.

07:55 But over the winter and last season, everyone in the team believed in me a lot and they

07:59 knew what I could do.

08:01 Everyone at HQ, they believed in me.

08:03 The coaches believed in me, the trainers and all the riders.

08:05 So it's super nice for me to win, but it's also super nice for them and I cannot thank

08:11 them enough for believing in me.

08:13 Van Ouden opening his account ahead of Groenewegen and Moliere, with Søren Veren, Skald and

08:17 Dusan Rijevic rounding out the top five.

08:20 In the end, no time lost for Yates or Latour.

08:26 Van Ouden is the first man into the green jersey for DSM Firmenhek post-NL.

08:30 He leads Groenewegen and Moliere, with Sobrero and Wright fourth and fifth, thanks to the

08:34 seconds they nabbed at the bonus sprint.

08:40 Van Ouden is also the early leader of the points classification on 15, although he'll

08:44 be lending that red jersey to his nearest challenger Groenewegen tomorrow.

08:51 Zubel Deer took six points in the most active rider competition, which he leads from his

08:55 breakaway companion, Bettles.

09:00 Van Ouden is building quite a collection of jerseys, he also takes White as the best

09:04 young rider.

09:07 There's another flat stage to come on Wednesday, although it does have a bit of a sting in

09:10 the tail and could suit the punchier sprinters.

09:13 Do join us for that again tomorrow and thanks for watching.

09:16 [Music]

Extended Highlights - Stage 1 - The AlUla Tour 2024

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