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Extended Highlights - Stage 5 - The AlUla Tour 2024
The AlUla Tour
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2/3/2024
Discover the Stage 5 highlights
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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]
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8:50
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