January 30, 2026
At 184KM, today's stage from Winter Park to Hegra is the longest of the week. Shortly after KM0, the road starts to rise and the riders will climb a 2.6KM, 4.2% climb with the prize of bonus seconds at the top. The route is set up to get crosswinds at least twice during the day. After the bonus sprint, the riders head in an Easterly direction until 118KM to go when they reach Hasat al Dab and turn North. 20KM later in Aradah, the course swings directly West for over 50KM before making one last change to the South towards Hegra and Shalal Sijlyat Rocks. This is set up as a sprint but is primed for echelons if the wind starts blowing.
Race Summary
The race got underway and it was lightning quick due to the 35-40KM/HR winds. The race blew apart on numerous occasions and for a long time, a group of 16 was up the road with many of the GC riders stuck behind. When live coverage began, there was only 38KM left and for the most part, the race was back together. Tudor Pro Cycling were riding on the front and it seemed like everyone was happy to just get to the finish and set up for a bunch sprint.
With 19KM to go, Pinarello Q36.5 decided to give it one more go to put the race into echelons. Modern Adventure have been exceptionally well drilled this week and they took over as the course turned to the South but the wind was in their face and order was restored. Zeb Kyffin of Terengganu Cycling went on the attack with 14KM to go with an eye on picking up the Active Sprint points up the road. There was no reaction and Kyffin was able to pick up the points without competition. Kyffin continued on but in the headwind, he didn't stand a chance and was caught with 7.5KM to go.
Sprint teams left it late to come to the front. It wasn't until 2.5KM to go when a team other than Tudor Pro Cycling were at the front. Jayco AlUla were the first, followed by Modern Adventure then everyone else. Bahrain Victorious brought the entire team to the front at 1KM to go but it was a mad dash into the final sweeping left turn with 700M to go and their train got washed away. When the sprint opened up, it was Pascal Ackermann of Jayco AlUla and Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious who went but it was too early and Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek was able to come around. It was hard to see what happened, but Milan sat down for a seated sprint after hitting the front which allowed Matteo Malucelli of XDS-Astana to get a run out of the slipstream. Milan tried to respond by getting back out of the saddle but it was too late. Malucelli had a winning gap and raised his arm as he crossed the line victory. Milan held on for second with Frits Biesterbos of Picnic-PostNL in for third place.
All of the GC contenders finished together so we'll have one final show down tomorrow to crown the overall winner.