Milan starts too early and is beaten by Malucelli in AlUla Tour

After a tough hilly stage, where Yannis Voisard (Tudor) managed to take the overall lead, Friday was once again for the fast men. Just 900 metres of climbing over 180 kilometres meant all eyes were back on Milan, who had already won the first two stages. The wind, however, always had the potential to play its part.

But others had different plans. After a fight for the break, no fewer than 16 riders got up the road, including Dries De Bondt and Paul Double (both Jayco AlUla), Martin Svrcek (Soudal Quick-Step), Julius Johansen (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) and Picnic PostNL’s Timo de Jong, who had already shown himself in the opening days.

The best-placed rider in the move was Mathis Le Berre (TotalEnergies), at 49 seconds, and he even grabbed a time bonus to briefly move into the virtual leader’s jersey. The peloton, though, kept the pressure on in the wind and at high speed, and the escape was reeled in with 56 kilometres to go.

The furious tempo also meant the riders were well ahead of schedule into Shalal Jijyat Rocks. After three hours, they had already covered 155 kilometres—an average of almost 52 km/h. It would go down as the fastest stage in AlUla Tour history, with the average speed pushing beyond 50 km/h for the first time.

The finale could start early. And after the wind had been decisive in stage 1, there was once again echelon danger . Pinarello–Q36.5 (driven by Sjoerd Bax) and Modern Adventure Pro Cycling tried to split things on the side, but it soon became clear it wouldn’t be straightforward. When the race changed direction, the wind was no longer favourable and the bunch settled again.

That was the cue for Zeb Kyffin (Terengganu) to attack. He took around half a minute, but with the final 10 kilometres approaching, the sprint teams brought him back. All signs pointed to another Milan show.

Jayco AlUla wanted to challenge with Pascal Ackermann, while Fabio Jakobsen was hoping to sprint properly for the first time this week. Ackermann went too early—and Milan, too, hit the wind too soon. That opened the door for Malucelli, who timed it well and took a fine win, with Biesterbos sprinting to third behind the two Italians.

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