AIUla Tour - 29th of january to 3rd of february

[Devil's Elbow]

When it rains for Wærenskjold, it pours...

 

[Samamba]

Any GC favorites behind?

 

[Berniece]

Groenewegen not in the first peloton

 

[Berniece]

Easy win for Merlier, at a moment I thought SOQ wasn't going to make it after they made a mistake in their leadout, but they pulled it off.

 

[Earns1985]

Echelon day - Soudal day!! Also LeCerf as their GC option in the first group..

 

[DNP-Old]

Syritsa got outsprinted by Lucas Hamilton.

 

[DNP-Old]

Any GC favorites behind?

Majka, Latour, Schachmann, Johannessen, Muluberhan. But were scraping from the bottom of the barrel here.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

It's a small desert race and wins here don't mean much, but it's a good sign. I hope merlier can have a strong season, since he gets left out of the major races despite always delivering for his team and working well as a gregario in the classics. And hopefully Wolfpack are all better than 2023.

 

[Samamba]

Majka, Latour, Schachmann, Johannessen, Muluberhan. But were scraping from the bottom of the barrel here.

I mean isn't almost the whole GC field here '"scraping the bottom of the barrel". I think Latour and Mulu in particular would've been able to finish relatively high here.

 

[DNP-Old]

No pun intended given we're in Saudi-Arabia, but will heads roll if Yates fails to deliver on Harrat Uwayrid? Jayco brought their A game for TDU and Saudi Tour, and have, well, nothing.

 

[yaco]

Yates form has looked better in the Saudi Tour - The main player for TDU was Plapp who crashed out while Ewan got ill before the race and struggled, while Groenewegen was unlucky in stage one at Saudi and then got ill. I am particularly interested in how Ewan performs at Oman - From what I saw in stage one there was not much between Groenewegen and Merlier, and Merlier is riding Oman. How Ewan performs against Merlier will give a good insight into Ewan's performance for 2024.

 

[Wvv]

Merlier is the most underrated A-list sprinter from this decade, I think. He always delivers, but is often left out of the biggest races. If I was a team manager, I'd always want him on my squad.

 

[search]

I mean isn't almost the whole GC field here '"scraping the bottom of the barrel". I think Latour and Mulu in particular would've been able to finish relatively high here.

yeah, I think so too, Henok was up for a top 5 or so.

One rider in bright colors dropped back with a mechanical inside the final 10k. At the time, I thought it was Euskaltel, but may have been AHJ as well (as Uno-X only started to chase late on)

 

[Wvv]

yeah, I think so too, Henok was up for a top 5 or so.

One rider in bright colors dropped back with a mechanical inside the final 10k. At the time, I thought it was Euskaltel, but may have been AHJ as well (as Uno-X only started to chase late on)

It was Xabier Mikel Azparren, from Q36.5.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It was Xabier Mikel Azparren, from Q36.5.

Well he is an ex Euskatel rider. Andoni Abetxuko also punctured in the final, but that was only 4 km from the finish, according to the team.

 

[search]

Well he is an ex Euskatel rider. Andoni Abetxuko also punctured in the final, but that was only 4 km from the finish, according to the team.

must have been him then, yeah. The one I mean also happened on the circuit, at least, and I can't see any Uno-X rider in the peloton at the intermediate sprint.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Obviously merlier was the strongest, but it was the monster pull of bert van leebergh who dragged merlier to the front and put him in a position to win the sprint. Great teamwork

 

[Samamba]

Great teamwork

Van Lerberghe had to do the monsterpull cause the other QSers almost splitted the whole group while Merlier wasn't in their wheel. So good teamwork after no so good teamwork I would call it I think.

 

[repre]

Syritsa got outsprinted by Lucas Hamilton.

as it should be!!!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Who is still in this for GC (currently within half a minute) that could potentially survive the 3km 12% climb on stage 5?
Yates, Kudus, Formolo, Lecerf, Sobrero, Lastra...? I assume it's a bit too steep/long for Wright or Fisher-Black? Are we counting Hamilton and Brambilla?

 

[SafeBet]

Who is still in this for GC (currently within half a minute) that could potentially survive the 3km 12% climb on stage 5?
Yates, Kudus, Formolo, Lecerf, Sobrero, Lastra...? I assume it's a bit too steep/long for Wright or Fisher-Black? Are we counting Hamilton and Brambilla?

FFB was supposed to be co-captain with Majka for this race so the team probably believes he can survive the climb.

 

[Squire]

Who is still in this for GC (currently within half a minute) that could potentially survive the 3km 12% climb on stage 5?
Yates, Kudus, Formolo, Lecerf, Sobrero, Lastra...? I assume it's a bit too steep/long for Wright or Fisher-Black? Are we counting Hamilton and Brambilla?

Seems like Bahrain believes Wright can do it, too. He's been riding like someone going for GC.

 

[repre]

Seems like Bahrain believes Wright can do it, too. He's been riding like someone going for GC.

Yes they said number of times, that he is doing GC here. I guess he can surprise and be in top-5

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Obviously merlier was the strongest, but it was the monster pull of bert van leebergh who dragged merlier to the front and put him in a position to win the sprint. Great teamwork

They were at school together, I understand, so have known each other well, and probably ridden together on and off, for about 18 years.

 

[Berflamand]

They were at school together, I understand, so have known each other well, and probably ridden together on and off, for about 18 years.

It's even more than that. They're actually best friends and Merlier is the godfather of Van Lerberghe's child.