Extended Highlights - Stage 3 - The AlUla Tour 2024 - video Dailymotion

The AlUla Tour

Discover the Stage 3 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]

00:05 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]

Extended Highlights - Stage 3 - The AlUla Tour 2024

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