Discover the Stage 3 highlights
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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
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:05 Have Uno-X got enough?
00:06 500 meters to go.
00:08 Is Pierre Latour going to get it on the line?
00:11 It's a furious sprint.
00:13 Latour is caught.
00:14 Here goes Soren Varenskog.
00:16 Soren Varenskog all the way to the line.
00:18 He was the favorite.
00:20 Varenskog takes it for Uno-X Mobility.
00:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:24 [CHEERING]
00:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:31 There was double delight for Soren Varenskog yesterday
00:34 as he stormed to the stage win and snatched the overall lead
00:37 of the Alula Tour.
00:39 The Norwegian will be looking to keep hold of the green jersey
00:41 today on another sprint day to the Alula Camel Cup Track,
00:45 a rather unusual finish.
00:46 But they will at least be staying on tarmac
00:48 instead of trying to plow through the sand.
00:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:56 We didn't get so much time to celebrate because we
00:59 tried to focus on today.
01:01 But of course, it was a good vibe in the team.
01:05 And it was really good to just--
01:08 just a big relief.
01:09 We can just relax a little bit more,
01:11 even though we have to try again today.
01:13 So I think it's good for the morale in the team.
01:15 And yeah, it's nice.
01:17 Things haven't gone to Linn Hrunevegen's way so far.
01:22 But despite some struggles with illness yesterday,
01:25 he is still hopeful of getting a win for Jaco Alula.
01:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:31 Yeah, I threw up a few times.
01:33 So I don't know.
01:34 Maybe I ate something wrong or--
01:35 I don't know.
01:36 But yeah, I had a really good night, 11 hours sleep.
01:40 So yeah, I feel a bit better today, a bit empty.
01:43 But yeah, we give it all.
01:45 And then we'll see the result in the end.
01:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:50 We already had a surprise on day one
01:52 with Kasper van Ouden taking victory.
01:54 And as Arvid de Klein points out,
01:56 the weather gods could get involved in today's action.
01:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:02 I think we will see echelons today.
02:05 I'm pretty sure.
02:06 Yeah, so it will be a hard race today, hectic.
02:09 And yeah, we will see how many guys
02:12 will make it to the final.
02:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:18 170.5 kilometers on the menu in this third stage,
02:21 heading from the Alula International Airport
02:24 to the Camel Cup track.
02:25 The finishing circuit is 7 kilometers long.
02:28 And there'll be a bonus sprint as they cross the line
02:30 for the first time.
02:32 With much cooler conditions and more wind forecast,
02:34 there's also a good chance of echelons in the final.
02:37 And like de Klein said, it'll be interesting to see just how
02:40 many fast men end up contesting the sprint.
02:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:45 Go!
02:45 [APPLAUSE]
02:49 There was crosswind chaos from the off today.
02:51 And Rafael Mica was one of the chief victims,
02:54 the pole finding himself a long way back in a small chase
02:57 group.
02:59 A bit further up the road was a second peloton
03:02 containing the Norwegian champion, Frederik De
03:04 Varchnes, and the race's most active rider, Atsushi Oka,
03:08 in the orange jersey.
03:09 Brian Cocker, one of the day's sprint contenders,
03:12 was also in there with a teammate.
03:14 And so too was Michael Szilard, Arvid de Klein's lead out man.
03:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:21 The pace was so high, in fact, that the breakaway
03:23 was caught by the main peloton with 76 kilometers still
03:26 to ride.
03:27 Luis Angel Mate, Polychronos Tzortzakis, and Yuma Koishi
03:31 were probably expecting to have a bit longer out at the front.
03:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:36 But several teams were clearly keen to put the hammer down,
03:39 including Movistar, Bahrain Victorious,
03:41 and Soudal Quickstep, the speed oscillating between 60 and 70
03:46 kilometers an hour.
03:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:50 However, with the wind dropping after a change in direction
03:53 and not too many major players caught behind,
03:55 the peloton decided to call a truce.
03:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:00 That brief lull encouraged Tzortzakis
04:02 to go back on the attack.
04:03 And after a few minutes, he was joined again by Mate.
04:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:09 It didn't take too long for the second peloton to catch up,
04:12 so the race settled back down into a familiar pattern.
04:16 Tzortzakis and Mate soon had a lead of over two minutes.
04:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:22 There wasn't too much to report over the next 30 kilometers
04:24 or so, although it was interesting to note
04:26 the increased urgency in the peloton every time
04:29 they approached a corner.
04:31 DSM trying to up the temper before this right hander,
04:34 putting around 30 seconds into the two breakaway riders,
04:37 but no splits this time around.
04:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:42 The next key point was another right hander
04:44 with 30K remaining, and the big guns were ready to strike.
04:49 And now they'll start to fire.
04:51 And Jaco Alula with the team, including Simon Yates,
04:55 are starting to put the hurt on already.
04:57 And the echelons are starting.
04:59 And riders are sprinting for all they are worth just
05:02 to try and stay in this Alula Tour.
05:05 This is the action you want at the beginning of the season.
05:08 This is what desert racing is all about.
05:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:13 Those attacks blowing the race to pieces,
05:15 and the main man to be caught out
05:17 was the race leader, Søren Verenschold,
05:19 apparently with a terribly timed mechanical.
05:22 The Norwegian swapped bikes with a teammate,
05:24 but he wasn't happy and eventually
05:26 had to stop for a bike change.
05:28 He wouldn't be getting back to the front,
05:29 and he wouldn't be keeping that green jersey.
05:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:35 The front peloton of around 40 riders
05:37 continuing to charge their way towards the Camel Cup track.
05:41 Verenschold had gone, and so too had Dylan Brunnevagen.
05:44 But there were still plenty of fast men up there,
05:46 including Van Ouden, Decline, Juan Sebastian
05:49 Milano, and Tim Melia.
05:52 A couple of the Tudor riders tried
05:53 to go clear on the final circuit,
05:55 as did Matthias Norsgaard of Movistar.
05:57 But to no avail.
05:58 The surviving sprinters would battle it out for victory.
06:03 Van Ouden opens it up very, very early.
06:06 Going for the sprinters, Luca Mettgets,
06:08 trying to give a victory for Jaco Alula.
06:10 But it's Tim Melia.
06:12 Melia going all the way to the line.
06:14 Melia celebrates, makes it look very, very easy.
06:17 Absolutely smokes it.
06:20 Tim Melia wins for the team of Soudal Quick-Step.
06:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:28 Nice and easy does the trick.
06:29 Former Belgian champion Tim Melia
06:31 taking his first win of the season in some style.
06:34 Melia's been doing quite a bit of cyclocross this winter
06:37 to tune up his form, and it seems to have paid off.
06:39 The 31-year-old looks supreme, as he won comfortably
06:43 ahead of Decline and Van Ouden.
06:45 This is his 35th career victory.
06:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:50 It was quite a special finish, because also with the wind,
06:54 open parts, and slightly uphill.
06:59 So yeah, everything must be right in this sprint.
07:05 And I'm happy I did the right things today.
07:07 I believe it's the birthday of your son,
07:09 so that's also a nice gift for him.
07:12 Yes, yes, I was really motivated today.
07:14 Didn't want to make a mistake today.
07:17 And I'm happy I can give the victory
07:19 for my son's first birthday.
07:21 Melia beating the Dutch pair of Decline and Van Ouden
07:23 with Groenewegen's lead-out man, Luca Mezgetz,
07:25 taking a creditable fourth place.
07:27 Milano rounded out the top five.
07:31 Van Ouden recovers the race lead that he
07:33 held after winning stage one.
07:35 The young Dutchman is two seconds ahead of Melia,
07:37 with Matteo Sobrero up to third after taking another three
07:40 seconds at the late bonus sprint.
07:44 Van Ouden is also on top again in the points classification
07:47 with 30.
07:48 Melia sneaks ahead of Varenskog into second.
07:53 Tortsakis, who has certainly been busy in the past few days,
07:56 goes into the orange jersey as the race's most active rider.
08:01 And Van Ouden is also the best young rider,
08:03 14 seconds clear of his compatriot, Rick Plumas,
08:06 and Fred Wright.
08:10 Friday's fourth stage will be a feast for the eyes
08:12 as the riders head from Hegra to Maraja,
08:14 where the sprinters should have their final opportunity
08:16 of the week.
08:17 Do join us then, and thanks for watching.
08:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]