Discover the Stage 5 highlights
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More information:
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#TheAlUlaTour
More exclusive contents on Tour de France Club : https://www.letour.fr/fr/club
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:06 Look at Tim Melia.
00:07 What a burst of pace.
00:09 Melia is looking for stage win number two,
00:12 tracked by Brian Cocker.
00:14 Is it going to be a victory for Corfidis?
00:17 It's a photo finish.
00:19 Tim Melia takes the victory ahead of Brian Cocker,
00:22 who's celebrated.
00:23 But it's the Belgian rider who takes back-to-back wins.
00:28 Yesterday, Tim Melia showed that he is the top sprinter
00:31 at this Alula Tour, taking his second win of the week
00:34 by a whisker from Brian Cocker.
00:37 But today, it's finally time to settle the GC question
00:40 as we head to the sky views of Harat Awairid.
00:43 Given that his team, Jacob Alula,
00:45 are sponsored by this region and they're yet to win this year,
00:48 Simon Yates is no doubt under the biggest pressure
00:51 to perform.
00:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:55 It's been a tricky couple of days
00:56 just to get here on a crosswind, a lot of stress in the peloton.
00:59 Quite a dangerous sprint yesterday as well,
01:01 so managed to come through unscathed.
01:03 I'm expecting quite an aggressive start.
01:05 I think a lot of guys got nothing to lose.
01:09 And yeah, we'll try and do the stage, try and get the stage,
01:12 but we never know.
01:15 Davide Formolo is also a man to watch.
01:17 Last year's runner-up is hoping to make a winning
01:19 start to life with Movistar.
01:24 We will see if the first race for me
01:26 and for a lot of guys up here.
01:28 I mean, I was training quite good at home
01:30 and I still have good numbers.
01:32 So I will do, I'm sure, my best.
01:34 And we will see if the top will be fourth, second, third,
01:36 or tenth.
01:37 I don't know.
01:39 But we could also be in for a surprise
01:41 with young Gunn Finn Fischer-Black well placed
01:43 to strike.
01:44 Neo pro William Serre is also hoping
01:47 to upset a few of the more fancy contenders.
01:53 It's hard, but it's just steep there.
01:55 Like, we did it a couple of times just before the race,
01:58 and it's just like, we figured it
02:00 was easier to walk up it at our pace going up in recon.
02:03 So it's that steep.
02:04 We've got the smallest gears on, and hopefully we
02:07 can get up there without any troubles.
02:09 It's only my first race, and to be directly
02:15 in the mix for the GC, it's quite special.
02:18 And also, we have some big names here,
02:20 so it will be nice to race along them and try to beat them.
02:26 There are just over 150 kilometers
02:28 to cover in this fifth and final stage,
02:31 from the Alula Old Town to the sky views of Harata Wairid.
02:34 The climb itself is around six kilometers,
02:37 with the last 2 and 1/2 K at a punishing average gradient
02:40 of 12.8%.
02:43 There is also a bonus sprint at the top,
02:45 with crucial seconds available.
02:47 The stage doesn't have a summit finish, though.
02:50 After the climb, there is a flat section
02:51 of around eight kilometers to the finish line,
02:54 where we will celebrate the winner of this fourth edition.
02:57 Warm and breezy conditions greeted the riders
03:06 as they got underway in the Alula Old Town, which
03:08 boasts a rich cultural heritage dating back to the 12th century.
03:13 And as predicted by Yates, there was a fast start,
03:16 with the day's early breakaway being swallowed up just
03:19 as the live pictures began.
03:20 It was perhaps no surprise to see Polychronous Tautzakis going
03:27 on the attack shortly thereafter, as he has done time and time
03:30 again this week.
03:32 The Greek was looking to protect the virtual lead
03:34 of his teammate, Tegspire, but Tsaikhan
03:36 in the most active rider competition, the Mongolian,
03:39 took three points earlier in the day.
03:41 But JCL Team Ukiyo weren't happy with that,
03:48 and went straight to the front of the peloton
03:49 to reel Tautzakis back in.
03:51 Their man, Atsushi Oka, needed three points
03:57 to hold on to the orange jersey.
03:59 And what do you know, he got them.
04:00 Smart tactics from the Continental team
04:03 to secure victory in that classification.
04:05 The next man to try his luck was Ike Bonilo
04:14 from Uskotel Oskadi, who was joined and then swiftly
04:17 abandoned by Sebastian Colze-Changizi.
04:21 The young Spaniard enjoying a brief stint out front,
04:24 but he was caught with under 30k to go.
04:26 The GC team starting to get themselves
04:33 ready for the final climb.
04:35 But first, there was an unfortunate moment
04:37 for one of Formolo's Movistar teammates.
04:39 Game over for Lorenzo Melesi, as the rest of the peloton
04:46 approached the fearsome hike to Harat Awired.
04:51 The lead group thinning out as the road began to rise,
04:53 with Yates positioning himself right at the front.
04:56 Yates is riding steadily.
05:03 It's almost like he just wants to wait until he gives it
05:09 everything and says goodbye.
05:14 And suddenly, the pace goes up.
05:16 And Yates starts to open up some gaps between him
05:19 and the majority of the riders.
05:23 But Formolo is equal to the acceleration.
05:26 The peloton was quickly whittled down to an elite group
05:31 containing Yates, Formolo, Le Serre, and Fischer-Black.
05:35 And 21-year-old Le Serre decided to take matters
05:37 into his own hands.
05:41 William Le Serre with a big acceleration.
05:45 Look at him go.
05:46 He's just riding Formolo.
05:48 And Yates off the wheel.
05:49 An impressive attack from this youngster.
05:51 A stinging attack from Le Serre, the winner of last year's
05:58 Il Piccolo Lombardia.
06:00 The Belgian opening up a small gap,
06:02 but he couldn't quite shake the others.
06:04 And Fischer-Black made his move just before the summit.
06:07 And now we get another attack.
06:09 And it comes from Finn Fischer-Black, who decides,
06:12 right now, I need to go.
06:13 I need the bonus seconds.
06:15 They're grinding their way up to the wheel of Le Serre.
06:19 Can he respond?
06:20 Fischer-Black is looking to try and put Simon Yates
06:23 into some difficulty.
06:25 He's seventh overall at 26 seconds.
06:27 The New Zealander now cracks Sobrero.
06:29 And Formolo cracks as well now.
06:36 The Movistar rider cannot go with these accelerations.
06:40 This jumping around is putting everybody
06:42 into all sorts of difficulty.
06:44 Three bonus seconds for Fischer-Black,
06:51 two for Le Serre as they came over the summit,
06:53 closely followed by Yates and Mica.
06:55 That quartet now switching to team time trial mode
06:58 as they hammered towards the finish line.
07:05 Sobrero was leading a chase group
07:07 containing Formolo, Johannesson, Le Tour, and Brambilla.
07:10 But they would come up just short.
07:11 Yates, Fischer-Black, and Le Serre
07:17 would go head to head for overall victory,
07:20 with Mica leading them out.
07:21 Look at that.
07:26 Raphael Mica, Simon Yates, Finn Fischer-Black,
07:30 William Le Serre, 370 meters to go to decide this Alula Tour.
07:37 And now through the heat haze come the leading riders
07:40 as Johannesson tries to catch them.
07:42 Yates hits the front at 200 meters to go.
07:45 Simon Yates all out as he powers his way
07:47 to try and win this stage and the Alula Tour overall.
07:51 Fischer-Black is challenging, but in the center.
07:54 Simon Yates wins stage five of the Alula Tour.
07:58 And judging by the bonus seconds,
08:00 he will be the winner overall.
08:01 Well, Simon Yates was put under some serious pressure
08:08 by the youngsters Le Serre and Fischer-Black in the final.
08:11 But the 31-year-old showed all his experience
08:13 to win the stage and the Alula Tour.
08:16 His background in track cycling certainly
08:18 helped in that final sprint.
08:20 Yates moving on to 34 career wins
08:23 and securing the GC honors for Jaco Alula
08:25 in the home of their title sponsor.
08:27 Yeah, I was a bit nervous.
08:28 I was not sure because I thought
08:30 Finn was second on the stage.
08:31 I was not sure.
08:31 Somebody was coming really quickly
08:33 on my left-hand side in the sprint.
08:35 And, yeah, I wasn't sure.
08:38 So, yeah, if that's the case, yeah, job well done.
08:42 Very important race for us.
08:45 Like I've been saying all week, we
08:46 come here for Alula and our big partner of ours as well.
08:49 So, yeah, fantastic we can pull it off.
08:52 Yates holding on for the stage, but what a race.
08:55 Yates holding on for the stage, but what an effort
08:57 it was from William Le Serre to come second
08:59 in his first professional race.
09:01 He's clearly a rider to watch.
09:03 Fischer-Black third, followed by Micah and Pierre Latorre.
09:08 Yates taking his first victory in over a year
09:10 since stage five of the Tour Down Under 2023.
09:14 Le Serre and Fischer-Black round out the podium
09:16 ahead of a trio of Italians, Sobrero, Brambilla, and Formolo.
09:19 Tim Moliere was able to sit back and relax today,
09:25 having already got the job done in the points classification.
09:28 The Belgian goes home with two stage wins and the red jersey.
09:31 Kasper van Ouden and Soren Verenschold
09:33 finish second and third.
09:35 There was an almighty rumble for the orange jersey today,
09:40 and Atsushi Oka came out on top after fine work from his team.
09:44 But Saikan and Tsotsakis were lively all week,
09:47 but had to settle for second and third.
09:49 Le Serre didn't win the race, but he
09:53 leaves with a decent consolation prize, the white jersey,
09:56 as the race's best young rider.
09:59 The Belgian definitely making a name for himself
10:01 here in Saudi Arabia.
10:02 And Bora Hansgrohe topped the team's classification this week
10:08 by 25 seconds from UAE Team Emirates.
10:11 It's been another memorable edition of the Alula Tour,
10:18 with crosswind chaos, spectacular sprints,
10:20 and a final barnstorming battle for GC glory.
10:24 Thanks for joining us throughout this week,
10:26 and we'll see you again in 2025.
10:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]