6th AlUla Tour 2026 (27-31 January)

[Potomac]

The echelons and winds are of course awesome, but so much sand kicking about can't be good for the lungs. The scenery in general makes me think I'm watching a Mad Max movie...

Yes indeed.

But when coverage first started this morning I was surprised how much vegetation was around.

 

[Squire]

The teams in this stage are crazy. They should make Lidl ride at the front to weaken their leadout for Milan.

Yeah, makes no sense at all that Tudor of all teams are the ones doing the pacing. Froidevaux is just a fringe top 5 candidate.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Christen 2 race days in and already looking like a complete loose cannon, I wouldn't rule out him trying to sprint with Milan.

 

[Cycling111]

Jayco is riding his sponsor's race, and they're asleep in the bonus sprint, like on the schelons. I wouldn't be very happy if I were the sponsor.

 

[tobydawq]

Career-ending scenes?

 

[Netserk]

he should retire for his own sake

 

[Tim Cahill]

How are you getting dropped from a group of 100 on a flat Saudi tour stage after doing 0 work!?

 

[Samamba]

They aren't even trying to surprise him

 

[Netserk]

didnt even have to do a long sprint

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Milan looking very, very good!

The way he bops up and down when at full speed never fails to put a smile on my face.

 

[SafeBet]

Was that Daniel Skerl in second place?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

They aren't even trying to surprise him

Yeah, it was like, oh ***, Milan is in the front with a teammate leading him out, might as well not even bother.

 

[Rob5091]

Nice work out for the Trek train, but in a different class to the rest.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Skerl will be even better when he gets a more sensible haircut, you can't be sprinting with an afro!!!

 

[yaco]

Jayco is riding his sponsor's race, and they're asleep in the bonus sprint, like on the schelons. I wouldn't be very happy if I were the sponsor.

Traditionally, Jayco show little interest in bonus sprints, preferring to rely on taking time in GC stages.

 

[tobydawq]

Traditionally, Jayco show little interest in bonus sprints, preferring to rely on taking time in GC stages.

I suppose you have statistical evidence to back up such an outlandish claim?

 

[Cycling111]

Traditionally, Jayco show little interest in bonus sprints, preferring to rely on taking time in GC stages.

Pidcock won easily last year, but there aren't a lot of climbs, so it could be a close race.
In any case, since it's the sponsor's race, they should be competitive every day.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Wonder how long Milan will grow his beard, with any luck he'll end up looking like a garden gnome. (I love garden gnomes!)

 

[yaco]

I suppose you have statistical evidence to back up such an outlandish claim?

Why is it an outlandish claim? I watch races and they rarely gain bonus seconds when riding for GC. There are a treasure trove of statistics that would support this assertion. Anyway, I doubt Jayco can win GC at this race with Double losing minutes in the crosswinds.

 

[Cycling111]

Wonder how long Milan will grow his beard, with any luck he'll end up looking like a garden gnome. (I love garden gnomes!)

Too tall to be a gnome.

 

[yaco]

Pidcock won easily last year, but there aren't a lot of climbs, so it could be a close race.
In any case, since it's the sponsor's race, they should be competitive every day.

Its hard to be competitive when your two climbers Hatherly and Double struggle in the cross winds. And Jayco has a strong enough team for these conditions with the likes of Gamper, mezgec, De Bondt and DePooter, however, they can only do so much.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

What an awful performance by jayco . What's the point of bringing big experienced guys like de bodnt and megzec if he does not do his job and protect his leader on the predictable crosswinds that everyone saw coming.

If I am Doubles agent I am getting on the phone immediately to visma as the Yates replacement. He needs to go to a proper team. Visma should pay the money for an exciting climber

Massive blow to my cq team as well.

 

[tobydawq]

Why is it an outlandish claim? I watch races and they rarely gain bonus seconds when riding for GC. There are a treasure trove of statistics that would support this assertion. Anyway, I doubt Jayco can win GC at this race with Double losing minutes in the crosswinds.

Because you have to compare it to all other teams and how they ride.

I find it extremely unlikely that Jayco for some reason should have a fundamentally different understanding of how bonus seconds work than all other teams.

 

[Cycling111]

Its hard to be competitive when your two climbers Hatherly and Double struggle in the cross winds. And Jayco has a strong enough team for these conditions with the likes of Gamper, mezgec, De Bondt and DePooter, however, they can only do so much.

They were in the peloton during the bonus sprint. The team didn't even try to prevent Christen from getting the bonus.
Tudor tried it but failed. I think that since they're riding at home, they should at least try. I was surprised by the indifference.

 

[Squire]

Because you have to compare it to all other teams and how they ride.

I find it extremely unlikely that Jayco for some reason should have a fundamentally different understanding of how bonus seconds work than all other teams.

I also doubt that this is a choice or preference. But their GC men have notoriously always been horrible sprinters in most cases. So it's often not possible to grab bonus seconds for them. Except for Schmid, who has been going for a lot of bonus sprints all his career while riding for GC, including with Jayco.