AlUla Tour – Race Report

AlUla Tour

31st January – Stage 4: Maraya – Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid

The penultimate day of racing at AlUla Tour saw the peloton take on a mostly flat stage before the brutally steep climb in the finale and a last eight kilometre dash along the plateau to the line. Team Picnic PostNL set out with the goal of protecting Frank van den Broek and positioning him for the ascent. Doing just that, it was over to the climbers and puncheurs on the climb where Van den Broek dug deep. Coming over the summit in a chasing move, Van den Broek’s group fought to the line and finished around 24 seconds behind stage winner Pidcock on the day, with Van den Broek and the team holding onto a top ten on GC ahead of Saturday’s final stage.

Speaking after the stage Van den Broek said: “The team brought me into the bottom of the climb in a good position. I tried to pace myself as well as possible from there. I think I did the best I could on the climb and came over the top with a small group. We tried to work together as we saw the group riding in front of us and I knew the white jersey was behind. We were all on the limit though and got caught by them in the last kilometre, so we came to the line in the first big group behind those out front. I think I can be happy with the result on this very steep climb as I’m not a pure climber, and it was a good team performance from the rest of the guys too.”

Results

  • 44.549/H
  • 140.9KM
  • 1254M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1PIDCOCK ThomasQ36.5 Pro Cycling Team3:09:46-
2HATHERLY AlanTeam Jayco AlUla0:12-
3KEPPLINGER RainerBahrain - Victorious,,-
15VAN DEN BROEK FrankTeam Picnic PostNL0:24-
21VAN UDEN CasperTeam Picnic PostNL0:50-
42LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL1:51-
53DEGENKOLB JohnTeam Picnic PostNL4:00-
58MÄRKL NiklasTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
107JAKOBSEN FabioTeam Picnic PostNL9:54-

30th January – Stage 3: Hegra – Tayma Fort

Stage three was marred by a late crash which unfortunately saw Nils Eekhoff abandon the race. Get an update on Nils here.

29th January – Stage 2: AlUla Old Town – Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah

A tough finish climb awaited the peloton at the AlUla Tour on Wednesday, with steep ramps and gradients well into to double digits. Team Picnic PostNL rode strongly as group to support GC finisher Frank van den Broek throughout the day, keeping him safe and in a good position. After the first passage of the finish line the race was neutralised and one lap was removed, meaning that it would be a five kilometre battle to the line once things restarted. The team reeled back in the break, before it became a rider against rider showdown on the brutally steep final climb. Van den Broek battled as hard as he could and gave everything to the line, finishing just outside the top ten on the stage and holding onto a ninth place on GC.

Van den Broek said: “I punctured while the race was neutralised but had no problem getting back to the bunch for the last 5 kilometres of racing. The guys positioned me towards the front of the bunch and then essentially it was an all-out effort to the finish for me. I stuck with the pace until the last kilometre where I couldn’t follow the accelerations at the front so just emptied the tank to the finish.”

 

Results

  • 39.526/H
  • 130.6KM
  • 1869M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Teams classification
  • Youth classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1PIDCOCK ThomasQ36.5 Pro Cycling Team3:18:15-
2KEPPLINGER RainerBahrain - Victorious0:04-
3HATHERLY AlanTeam Jayco AlUla0:07-
13VAN DEN BROEK FrankTeam Picnic PostNL0:39-
53EEKHOFF NilsTeam Picnic PostNL3:15-
68VAN UDEN CasperTeam Picnic PostNL5:09-
69DEGENKOLB JohnTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
84JAKOBSEN FabioTeam Picnic PostNL6:32-
90MÄRKL NiklasTeam Picnic PostNL7:01-
102LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL7:51-

28th January – Stage 1: Al Manshiyah Train Station – Al Manshiyah Train Station

The AlUla Tour got underway on Tuesday with a predominantly flat stage, starting and finishing in Al Manshiyah. Team Picnic PostNL rode strongly as a unit to keep the breakaway in check, with Enzo Leijnse helping to set the pace on the front of the peloton. With the break caught in the last 30 kilometres the team set up GC finisher Frank van den Broek, who was able to take one bonus second at the intermediate sprint. From there, their attention fully switched to positioning fast finisher Fabio Jakobsen for the finale with the team producing an excellent lead-out in the closing ten kilometres, with everyone contributing to it. Casper van Uden, Nils Eekhoff and John Degenkolb all set a strong tempo, keeping the team well positioned at the front as the kilometres ticked down and ensuring they were at the front ahead of tight hairpin, before last man Niklas Märkl took over around the last curve. With Jakobsen in a prime position at around 200 metres to go, in the end it wasn’t his day and he crossed the line in 11th place. With this strong lead-out the team can take confidence and look forward to the next sprint opportunities.

Road captain Degenkolb said: “It was the first race of the season for us all in Saudi Arabia. All-in-all it was a good start, the team worked really good together and we could set up a nice lead-out and prepare the finish with Fabio in a good way. We still have to analyse the stage but I think we can be happy with how we rode as a team and our start here. Tomorrow is a lot harder than today so it will not be a bunch sprint but we also have Frank, who took some bonus seconds today, so we’re in a good position to support him as much as we can as a team to go for it in the stage and then overall GC.”

Results

  • 44.98/H
  • 142.7KM
  • 914M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1MERLIER TimSoudal Quick-Step3:10:21-
2MOLANO Juan SebastiánUAE Team Emirates - XRG,,-
3ZIJLAARD MaikelTudor Pro Cycling Team,,-
11JAKOBSEN FabioTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
30MÄRKL NiklasTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
47VAN DEN BROEK FrankTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
57EEKHOFF NilsTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
71VAN UDEN CasperTeam Picnic PostNL0:21-
89DEGENKOLB JohnTeam Picnic PostNL0:49-
107LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL3:25-