January 28, 2026
Anytime you are racing in the desert, there is always a chance of crosswinds and yesterday's opening stage was a prime example of that. A sprinter won the day but we didn't get to see a full bunch sprint. That could change today because we have an almost identical stage, starting and finishing at the Al Manshiyah Train Station. At 152KM, the stage is almost entirely flat with just 680 vertical meters of elevation gain. The first intermediate sprint comes after 58.5KM on the way to the ancient city of Hegra where we'll see tombs carved into the giant sandstone edifice. The riders will make their way back to Al Manshiyah Train Station by way of Elephant Rock and Shaden Resort. The second intermediate sprint is on the first passage of the finish line with 21KM to go. A 10.5KM circuit will bring the race back two more times, one for a bonus sprint with 10.5KM remaining and then the finish for an anticipated bunch sprint.
Race Summary
Five riders were up the road from the beginning of the day with a lead of 4 minutes including Federico Iacomoni of Team UKYO, Zhe Yie Kee and Muhammad Nur Aiman Bin Rosli of Terengganu Cycling, and Said Alrahbi and Mohammed Al-Wahibi of the Omani National Team but one again, the wind was blowing. With 79KM to go, the break had been caught and swept away and groups were splitting under the pressure of Lidl-Trek, XDS-Astana, and Bahrain Victorious. The front group was reasonably large and contained all of the main sprinters and GC favorites with a second peloton was riding about 20 seconds behind.
With 60KM to go, the second group got within just 8 seconds but Bahrain Victorious put the front group in the gutter again and accelerated. Sand was being pushed across the road and riders were getting jettisoned from the front group. The front group went from around 50 riders to less than half of that at 54KM remaining. Many of the favorites were in the back but the front group kept hammering through the sand haze. At times, the wind was so strong that the bikes were physically being pushed to the side of the road. Even with the increased size of the second peloton, the gap had grown out to 40 seconds with 47KM to go.
As quickly as it grew, the gap came right back down as the riders turned into a headwind and the advantage went back to the chase group. The peloton was nearly all together at 40KM to go and everyone took a breath and a moment to grab fresh bottles for the finale. The smaller teams took the opportunity to attack and with 37KM to go, Stephan De Bod of Modern Adventure and Mathias Bregnhøj of Terengganu went up the road. Tudor Pro Cycling started riding with the entire Lidl-Trek squad sitting behind. Unfortunately for De Bod and Bregnhøj, they didn't make it to the first active sprint before being swallowed up by the bunch.
The active sprint was uncontested and the peloton rolled through the line to set out on the first of two local laps. When the bunch came around for the bonus sprint with 10.5KM to go, Mark Donovan of Pinarello Q36.5 went for the seconds but UAE-XRG were quicker and Jan Christen took the 3 seconds to chip away at the 20 second penalty he received yesterday. Christen's teammate, Kevin Vermaerke, took second with Bjorn Koerdt of Picnic-PostNL in third for 1 second.
Tudor Pro Cycling continued to lead the peloton until 6.5KM to go when other teams brought their lead outs forward, spreading all across the road. Moments later, Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious punctured which all but assured he would miss out on the sprint. Tudor Pro Cycling were still present on the front with 2.5KM to go as were Picnic-PostNL but Lidl-Trek were coming with their full train. Lidl-Trek hit the front with 1KM to go and three men in front of Jonathan Milan. Simone Consonni wound up the speed and dropped Milan off with under 200M to go. As good as Milan looked yesterday, today was more impressive. He stomped on the pedals and crossed the line comfortably for his second win. Daniel Skerl saved the day for Bahrain Victorious taking second with Pascal Ackermann in third for Jayco AlUla.