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#TheAlUlaTour
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SportsTranscript
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.