January 31, 2026
As a point to point race, today could be significantly shorter. From the start in AlUla Old Town to the finish at Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid it is only 25KM but the riders will have to complete a large lap through the desert before reaching the conclusion of the AlUla Tour. All of the roads along the 164KM will be very familiar by now. Out of AlUla, the course heads South then West to Fudhala before coming back East to Abu Zara'Ib and the International Airport. The riders will then head back to the North, passed AlUla Old Town and swing off the main road toward Winter Park. The road starts to rise out of Winter Park as the final climb of Harrat Uwayrid begins. It is a short but fierce climb at just 2.9KM but averages over 12%. There are sustained sections of 15-18% which make it nearly impossible to pace yourself. There is a Bonus Sprint at the top but the finish doesn't come until another 8.5KM down the road. This extra distance has usually resulted in a small GC group coming to the finish together with the exception of last year when Tom Pidcock was able to hold off a chase group and a solo win. With how the race played out on Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah, a reduced sprint feels more likely than a rider escaping and going alone.
Race Summary
The opening hour was rapid as a break got established. A group of seven got away including Milan Fretin of Cofidis, Dries De Bondt of Jayco AlUla, Federico Iacomoni of UKYO, Lars Vanden Heede of Soudal Quickstep, Juan Pedro Lozano of Terengganu Cycling, Javier Ibáñez of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, and Rayan Boulahoite of TotalEnergies. With 62KM to go, they were nearly 3 minutes ahead of the peloton who were being led by Bahrain Victorious and Tudor Pro Cycling. Before live cameras were rolling, third overall Sergio Higuita of XDS-Astana crashed with his teammate Yevgeniy Fedorov. They both got back into the bunch, just a little scuffed up.
There was a bit of cross wind on course but Bahrain Victorious gave the peloton plenty of space in the echelon by opening up across most of the road. With 46KM to go, the bunch was still together and holding the break steady at 3 minutes. With 33KM to go, Bahrain Victorious got some help from UAE-XRG to start pulling the break back. The added resources were effective for the chase. When the break reached Winter Park with 16KM to go, the gap was down to 1 minute 50 seconds. Boulahoite and Fretin dropped from the break about 1KM before the climb started. In the peloton, trains formed to get GC riders into the bottom of the climb in good position. Picnic-PostNL had Bjorn Koerdt in tow, Tudor Pro Cycling had their leader Yannis Voisard and UAE-XRG were keeping Jan Christen safe at the front.
Just inside 11KM to go, the gradient ramped up to 8% but it was only going to get harder from here. When the road hit 13%, the break exploded. De Bondt was weaving across the road just to be able to keep going. Iacomoni and Lozano were the first of the break to reach the 20% hairpins but the peloton were coming, just 40 seconds behind. Race leader Voisard was distanced as Jayco AlUla were setting the pace with Paul Double. It was a real standoff in the GC group with around 10 riders still in contact with 600M to climb to the Bonus Sprint. Afonso Eulálio of Bahrain Victorious was not present at the front, removing another name from possible victory. Iacomoni and Lozano were caught shortly after but there were still no attacks.
Jan Christen of UAE-XRG couldn't wait any longer and put in a move 300M from the top. Higuita counter attacked and he drew out Mauri Vansevenant of Soudal Quickstep and Byron Munton of Modern Adventure. Vansevenant edged Higuita in the Bonus Sprint to take 3 seconds, Higuita took 2 seconds with Munton snagging the final available second. Over the top, the three riders had about 15 seconds on Christen and Jan Castellon of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. Christan and Castellon caught the leaders with 7KM to go. Christen refused to take a pull because he had teammate Igor Arrieta chasing at 10 seconds along with Liam O'Brien of Lidl-Trek. The group stopped working but Higuita kept pressing because he was the virtual leader on the road.
Christen hit the group with 5.5KM to go and got a strong gap. The Higuita group was languishing behind and more attacks came. Munton got away and put his head down to try and catch Christen before the finish. With 2KM to go, Munton was 10 seconds behind Christen which proved to be a bridge too far. Christen powered through the finish line to preserve as much of a gap as he could. Munton held 10 seconds as he crossed the line for second place and we waited for the Higuita group to come in. Arrieta led in the Higuita group and won the sprint for third place, 32 seconds after Christen crossed the line which was enough for Christen to overhaul Higuita in the overall.
Christen took top honors overall by 15 seconds to Higuita and 21 seconds to Arrieta. Stephan De Bod of Modern Adventure finished in the Higuita group which moved him up to fourth overall, making an incredible beginning for the upstart team.