Extended Highlights - Stage 5 - The AlUla Tour 2024 - video Dailymotion

The AlUla Tour

Discover the Stage 5 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 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:06 Look at Tim Melia.

00:07 What a burst of pace.

00:09 Melia is looking for stage win number two,

00:12 tracked by Brian Cocker.

00:14 Is it going to be a victory for Corfidis?

00:17 It's a photo finish.

00:19 Tim Melia takes the victory ahead of Brian Cocker,

00:22 who's celebrated.

00:23 But it's the Belgian rider who takes back-to-back wins.

00:28 Yesterday, Tim Melia showed that he is the top sprinter

00:31 at this Alula Tour, taking his second win of the week

00:34 by a whisker from Brian Cocker.

00:37 But today, it's finally time to settle the GC question

00:40 as we head to the sky views of Harat Awairid.

00:43 Given that his team, Jacob Alula,

00:45 are sponsored by this region and they're yet to win this year,

00:48 Simon Yates is no doubt under the biggest pressure

00:51 to perform.

00:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:55 It's been a tricky couple of days

00:56 just to get here on a crosswind, a lot of stress in the peloton.

00:59 Quite a dangerous sprint yesterday as well,

01:01 so managed to come through unscathed.

01:03 I'm expecting quite an aggressive start.

01:05 I think a lot of guys got nothing to lose.

01:09 And yeah, we'll try and do the stage, try and get the stage,

01:12 but we never know.

01:15 Davide Formolo is also a man to watch.

01:17 Last year's runner-up is hoping to make a winning

01:19 start to life with Movistar.

01:24 We will see if the first race for me

01:26 and for a lot of guys up here.

01:28 I mean, I was training quite good at home

01:30 and I still have good numbers.

01:32 So I will do, I'm sure, my best.

01:34 And we will see if the top will be fourth, second, third,

01:36 or tenth.

01:37 I don't know.

01:39 But we could also be in for a surprise

01:41 with young Gunn Finn Fischer-Black well placed

01:43 to strike.

01:44 Neo pro William Serre is also hoping

01:47 to upset a few of the more fancy contenders.

01:53 It's hard, but it's just steep there.

01:55 Like, we did it a couple of times just before the race,

01:58 and it's just like, we figured it

02:00 was easier to walk up it at our pace going up in recon.

02:03 So it's that steep.

02:04 We've got the smallest gears on, and hopefully we

02:07 can get up there without any troubles.

02:09 It's only my first race, and to be directly

02:15 in the mix for the GC, it's quite special.

02:18 And also, we have some big names here,

02:20 so it will be nice to race along them and try to beat them.

02:26 There are just over 150 kilometers

02:28 to cover in this fifth and final stage,

02:31 from the Alula Old Town to the sky views of Harata Wairid.

02:34 The climb itself is around six kilometers,

02:37 with the last 2 and 1/2 K at a punishing average gradient

02:40 of 12.8%.

02:43 There is also a bonus sprint at the top,

02:45 with crucial seconds available.

02:47 The stage doesn't have a summit finish, though.

02:50 After the climb, there is a flat section

02:51 of around eight kilometers to the finish line,

02:54 where we will celebrate the winner of this fourth edition.

02:57 Warm and breezy conditions greeted the riders

03:06 as they got underway in the Alula Old Town, which

03:08 boasts a rich cultural heritage dating back to the 12th century.

03:13 And as predicted by Yates, there was a fast start,

03:16 with the day's early breakaway being swallowed up just

03:19 as the live pictures began.

03:20 It was perhaps no surprise to see Polychronous Tautzakis going

03:27 on the attack shortly thereafter, as he has done time and time

03:30 again this week.

03:32 The Greek was looking to protect the virtual lead

03:34 of his teammate, Tegspire, but Tsaikhan

03:36 in the most active rider competition, the Mongolian,

03:39 took three points earlier in the day.

03:41 But JCL Team Ukiyo weren't happy with that,

03:48 and went straight to the front of the peloton

03:49 to reel Tautzakis back in.

03:51 Their man, Atsushi Oka, needed three points

03:57 to hold on to the orange jersey.

03:59 And what do you know, he got them.

04:00 Smart tactics from the Continental team

04:03 to secure victory in that classification.

04:05 The next man to try his luck was Ike Bonilo

04:14 from Uskotel Oskadi, who was joined and then swiftly

04:17 abandoned by Sebastian Colze-Changizi.

04:21 The young Spaniard enjoying a brief stint out front,

04:24 but he was caught with under 30k to go.

04:26 The GC team starting to get themselves

04:33 ready for the final climb.

04:35 But first, there was an unfortunate moment

04:37 for one of Formolo's Movistar teammates.

04:39 Game over for Lorenzo Melesi, as the rest of the peloton

04:46 approached the fearsome hike to Harat Awired.

04:51 The lead group thinning out as the road began to rise,

04:53 with Yates positioning himself right at the front.

04:56 Yates is riding steadily.

05:03 It's almost like he just wants to wait until he gives it

05:09 everything and says goodbye.

05:14 And suddenly, the pace goes up.

05:16 And Yates starts to open up some gaps between him

05:19 and the majority of the riders.

05:23 But Formolo is equal to the acceleration.

05:26 The peloton was quickly whittled down to an elite group

05:31 containing Yates, Formolo, Le Serre, and Fischer-Black.

05:35 And 21-year-old Le Serre decided to take matters

05:37 into his own hands.

05:41 William Le Serre with a big acceleration.

05:45 Look at him go.

05:46 He's just riding Formolo.

05:48 And Yates off the wheel.

05:49 An impressive attack from this youngster.

05:51 A stinging attack from Le Serre, the winner of last year's

05:58 Il Piccolo Lombardia.

06:00 The Belgian opening up a small gap,

06:02 but he couldn't quite shake the others.

06:04 And Fischer-Black made his move just before the summit.

06:07 And now we get another attack.

06:09 And it comes from Finn Fischer-Black, who decides,

06:12 right now, I need to go.

06:13 I need the bonus seconds.

06:15 They're grinding their way up to the wheel of Le Serre.

06:19 Can he respond?

06:20 Fischer-Black is looking to try and put Simon Yates

06:23 into some difficulty.

06:25 He's seventh overall at 26 seconds.

06:27 The New Zealander now cracks Sobrero.

06:29 And Formolo cracks as well now.

06:36 The Movistar rider cannot go with these accelerations.

06:40 This jumping around is putting everybody

06:42 into all sorts of difficulty.

06:44 Three bonus seconds for Fischer-Black,

06:51 two for Le Serre as they came over the summit,

06:53 closely followed by Yates and Mica.

06:55 That quartet now switching to team time trial mode

06:58 as they hammered towards the finish line.

07:05 Sobrero was leading a chase group

07:07 containing Formolo, Johannesson, Le Tour, and Brambilla.

07:10 But they would come up just short.

07:11 Yates, Fischer-Black, and Le Serre

07:17 would go head to head for overall victory,

07:20 with Mica leading them out.

07:21 Look at that.

07:26 Raphael Mica, Simon Yates, Finn Fischer-Black,

07:30 William Le Serre, 370 meters to go to decide this Alula Tour.

07:37 And now through the heat haze come the leading riders

07:40 as Johannesson tries to catch them.

07:42 Yates hits the front at 200 meters to go.

07:45 Simon Yates all out as he powers his way

07:47 to try and win this stage and the Alula Tour overall.

07:51 Fischer-Black is challenging, but in the center.

07:54 Simon Yates wins stage five of the Alula Tour.

07:58 And judging by the bonus seconds,

08:00 he will be the winner overall.

08:01 Well, Simon Yates was put under some serious pressure

08:08 by the youngsters Le Serre and Fischer-Black in the final.

08:11 But the 31-year-old showed all his experience

08:13 to win the stage and the Alula Tour.

08:16 His background in track cycling certainly

08:18 helped in that final sprint.

08:20 Yates moving on to 34 career wins

08:23 and securing the GC honors for Jaco Alula

08:25 in the home of their title sponsor.

08:27 Yeah, I was a bit nervous.

08:28 I was not sure because I thought

08:30 Finn was second on the stage.

08:31 I was not sure.

08:31 Somebody was coming really quickly

08:33 on my left-hand side in the sprint.

08:35 And, yeah, I wasn't sure.

08:38 So, yeah, if that's the case, yeah, job well done.

08:42 Very important race for us.

08:45 Like I've been saying all week, we

08:46 come here for Alula and our big partner of ours as well.

08:49 So, yeah, fantastic we can pull it off.

08:52 Yates holding on for the stage, but what a race.

08:55 Yates holding on for the stage, but what an effort

08:57 it was from William Le Serre to come second

08:59 in his first professional race.

09:01 He's clearly a rider to watch.

09:03 Fischer-Black third, followed by Micah and Pierre Latorre.

09:08 Yates taking his first victory in over a year

09:10 since stage five of the Tour Down Under 2023.

09:14 Le Serre and Fischer-Black round out the podium

09:16 ahead of a trio of Italians, Sobrero, Brambilla, and Formolo.

09:19 Tim Moliere was able to sit back and relax today,

09:25 having already got the job done in the points classification.

09:28 The Belgian goes home with two stage wins and the red jersey.

09:31 Kasper van Ouden and Soren Verenschold

09:33 finish second and third.

09:35 There was an almighty rumble for the orange jersey today,

09:40 and Atsushi Oka came out on top after fine work from his team.

09:44 But Saikan and Tsotsakis were lively all week,

09:47 but had to settle for second and third.

09:49 Le Serre didn't win the race, but he

09:53 leaves with a decent consolation prize, the white jersey,

09:56 as the race's best young rider.

09:59 The Belgian definitely making a name for himself

10:01 here in Saudi Arabia.

10:02 And Bora Hansgrohe topped the team's classification this week

10:08 by 25 seconds from UAE Team Emirates.

10:11 It's been another memorable edition of the Alula Tour,

10:18 with crosswind chaos, spectacular sprints,

10:20 and a final barnstorming battle for GC glory.

10:24 Thanks for joining us throughout this week,

10:26 and we'll see you again in 2025.

10:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Extended Highlights - Stage 5 - The AlUla Tour 2024

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