After encouraging start, setback for Jakobsen as Milan powers to second victory in AlUla Tour

Racing in Saudi Arabia often means a sprinters’ party, but the opening stage was much more than that. The wind shaped the race, creating a strong front group. Despite a late move from Timo de Jong, Milan still took the expected win on day one — an encouraging start for Jakobsen in the front echelon, even if he couldn’t sprint for the victory.

Stage two also brought crosswind danger — just not right from the start. That allowed an early breakaway, featuring riders from Malaysia and Oman, to pick up a sizeable advantage. Once the wind got up again, the bunch split in two at around 70 kilometres from the finish, with Milan in the front group. Picnic PostNL were once again well represented in the decisive move.

Things came back together, though it took a good 30–40 kilometres before the race fully regrouped. Once again it was relentless racing in the desert, with a very high pace for long stretches — and the peloton clearly on alert after the earlier split. With around 40 kilometres to go, Mathias Bregnhøj and Stefan de Bod tried to force a move, but their attempt was reeled in with 23 kilometres remaining.

From there, a complete bunch headed into the finale, with the question being whether any late attacker would still try their luck. The answer was no. There was, however, an intermediate sprint a little over 10 kilometres from the finish, won by Jan Christen — and the three bonus seconds helped him claw back some time after the penalty he picked up on stage one.

That set the stage for a bunch sprint, but Phil Bauhaus saw his chances disappear after a puncture with six kilometres to go. Not long after, Jakobsen suddenly sat up and grabbed at his hamstring — it looked like cramp — and the Dutch sprinter was therefore out of the sprint as well.

So who did sprint? Milan was delivered perfectly by Lidl–Trek, with a full train at the front in the final kilometres. The Italian finished it off with apparent ease for a second stage win in a row. Daniel Škerl finished second and Pascal Ackermann took third.