Extended Highlights - Stage 1 - The AlUla Tour 2025 - video Dailymotion

The AlUla Tour

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Transcript

00:00Welcome to the fifth edition of the Al-Ula Tour.

00:13It's the start of the 2025 cycling season and what better way to kick things off than

00:18by battling for victory in some of the most breathtaking scenery Saudi Arabia has to offer.

00:28118 riders from 17 teams will take the start line this Tuesday and there's something for

00:33everybody over the next five days.

00:36Sprints, punchy climbs and the ever-present threat of echelons.

00:43One of the standout names here is Tom Pidcock.

00:45The British star is set to make his debut for Q36.5 after leaving the Ineos Grenadiers

00:51over the winter.

00:52Yeah, I felt a big weight off my shoulders, a big sense of relief, a big sense of freedom.

01:00So it was really, really refreshing and motivating, refreshing to come somewhere new, I've never

01:06raced here before.

01:07Yeah, a nice new experience.

01:09Stage wins or GC this week?

01:12Yeah, both.

01:13They will come together, I think.

01:15The Al-Ula Tour always attracts a stellar sprint field and the man to beat is no doubt

01:20Tim Melia.

01:21He won two stages and the points jersey last year.

01:25If I can win a stage here, I will be really happy.

01:28Of course, you won two or three, but it's always difficult to win one race, so we will

01:35see if I can go home with the first victory of the season.

01:40Probably Melia's biggest rival this week will be Dylan Kroonewagen, who was diminished by

01:45illness last year.

01:46And this is an important race for his team, Jacob Al-Ula, in the home of their title sponsor.

01:56Yeah, I feel a lot better than last year.

01:58Also last year, I did my start and then we got second on this stage, but I felt also

02:03a little bit sick and after it was only worse and worse.

02:06So yeah, I'm happy that I'm here again and looking forward to make it a good week.

02:14Another man to watch is Arvid de Klein of Tudor Pro Cycling.

02:18The Swiss team have big ambitions this year and they've already tasted victory over in

02:22Spain with Marc Hirschi.

02:24Yeah, it's more motivation, I would say.

02:29If I see Marc winning, it's nice to see and it's good for the team and I would like to

02:35do the same today.

02:37Well, the man who stunned the field to win this stage last year, Kasper van Ouden, will

02:42be helping Fabio Jakobsen this time around as part of the Picnic Postonelle sprint train.

02:47Yeah, I think it's good memories.

02:51So it's nice to be back here and we'll see if Fabio can do it today.

02:56We kick off the Al-Ula Tour 2025 with a flat stage of 142.7 kilometres, starting and finishing

03:03at the Al-Manshaya train station.

03:05There will be two sprints in the most active rider competition, no doubt for riders in

03:10the breakaway, and then a bonus sprint with just over 10k to go as the riders cross the

03:14finish line for the second time.

03:16The fast men will then gear up for their first proper shootout to give us the first leader

03:21of this fifth edition.

03:27The temperature hovering at just under 20 degrees today, nice sunny weather to get this

03:31race underway with no real wind to speak of.

03:38Six riders got into the day's breakaway, and unsurprisingly several of them were representing

03:43the third division continental teams we've got used to seeing at this race.

03:47Masaaki Yamamoto from JCL Team Ukiyo of Japan, Mohamed Rosli of the Terengganu Cycling Team

03:54there from Malaysia, and Kong Phob Thaimachai from the Thai outfit Rujai Insurance.

04:01They were joined by two riders from the Saudi national team, Abdulaziz al-Abdulmunim and

04:05Wawel al-Kolaif.

04:06And also a familiar name, Alexander Vinokourov, son of the former Olympic champion, he's taking

04:13part in this race alongside his twin brother Nicholas on his father's team, XDS Astana.

04:19The peloton keeping them on a tight leash with the gap under two minutes.

04:27Well here are the riders who have won this race, the last three of them victorious on

04:30the Queen stage to the sky views of Harata Wairid.

04:34The defending champion Simon Yates isn't here, but his Jayco Alula team are still hoping

04:38for plenty of success with Runewegen, as well as their GC hopeful Eddie Dunbar, who won

04:43two stages of last year's Vuelta a España.

04:53Over 60% of this peloton have never ridden the Alula Tour before, and four of them are

04:58part of the Saudi national team, here to learn from some of the best in the business.

05:06It will be fascinating to see how another debutant, Pidcock, goes in his bid for stage

05:11and overall success.

05:18The breakaway were soon making their way past the remarkable Mariah, as the two Saudi riders

05:23were dropped.

05:31Four men now at the front then, but the peloton were fast closing, with Jayco Alula, Soudal

05:35Quickstep and Tudor sharing the pacing duties for Runewegen, Melir and Declin.

05:46And one of the stage favourites then had a minor issue with around 40km to go.

05:54Melir quickly back underway on a new bike, and he was soon back in the bunch.

06:04The pace really starting to increase as they enter the finishing circuit in Alula.

06:09Yamamoto leading the way over the finish line for the first time, giving the sprinters and

06:13their trains a first look at what awaited them in the final.

06:25The breakaway all swallowed up then with under 20km to go, and on the run in it was all about

06:30fighting for position and protecting the fast men, but that made for a nervy peloton, and

06:34in the last 5km several contenders went to ground.

06:52Declin denied the opportunity to sprint then, as was Alexander Kristoff, while the UAE XRG

06:58leader Rafael Mica also came down hard, hopefully no major damage done.

07:05With the rest of the field preparing for the bunch sprint, with Melir, Runewegen and Juan

07:09Sebastián Milano all in the mix.

07:38Tim Melir picking up where he left off with another dominant sprint victory.

07:46The Belgian success here in Saudi last year set the tone for a fantastic 2024 with a total

07:51of 16 wins, only Tadej Pogacar took more.

07:57Melir will have opportunities to add to his tally during the week.

08:19Melir winning ahead of Milano with Declin's leadout man Michael Zillard in third, Matteo

08:24Moschetti and Runewegen round out the top five, Fabio Jakobsen down in 11th.

08:30Melir shrugs on the green leader's jersey with a 4-second gap over Milano, but things

08:35are bound to change tomorrow on the road to Bir Jaida mountain weka.

08:40The European champion also holds the red points jersey he's hoping to conquer for the second

08:45straight year.

08:46Milano, who will wear it on his behalf tomorrow, is three points back.

08:52Frank van den Broek, who helped Romain Bardet to take yellow at last year's Tour de France,

08:56is on top in the youth classification.

08:58He took one second at the late bonus sprint.

09:02And Mohamed Rosly is our most active rider, just ahead of Yamamoto.

09:07Join us again on Wednesday as the punchers and climbers take centre stage and thanks

09:12very much for watching.

Extended Highlights - Stage 1 - The AlUla Tour 2025

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