UAE favorite Christen gets beaten: surprise victory for Voisard in tough AlUla stage

Jonathan Milan had started the race in perfect fashion, going two-from-two. Both the opening stage and stage two were shaped by echelon action, but the outcome was the same on each day: the powerful Italian sprinter from Lidl-Trek finished it off. The expectation was that Thursday would be different.

Stage three (142 kilometres) was the first real day for the riders with overall ambitions, with the finish atop Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah. At just under five kilometres at an average of 5.8%, it looked like a finale made for punchy climbers.

The route also featured earlier climbing, and three riders used that as an invitation to go from the gun: a trio consisting of two Malaysians and one local rider opened an early break. The peloton allowed them several minutes, with the sprint teams and GC outfits content to keep the move on a manageable leash.

There was no repeat of the echelon chaos on Thursday, with only a light breeze across the desert. UAE Team Emirates-XRG controlled much of the day, as the team had circled this stage for Christen. The Swiss rider had already taken a 20-second time penalty earlier in this AlUla Tour after returning to the peloton irregularly following two crashes.

The last escapees were caught with 25 kilometres to go, and the fight for position began in earnest ahead of the finale. That nervousness led to a heavy crash on the descent, with Davide Stella (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Laurenz Rex (Soudal Quick-Step) and Fabien Grellier (TotalEnergies) among those involved.

But the race quickly moved on. Jayco AlUla lifted the pace in their home race, and the increased tempo shed the sprinters. Race leader Jonathan Milan was distanced too, and it was then Christen who launched a move. Paul Double tried to bridge across, but the headwind made it extremely difficult to close the gap.

Double couldn’t make it, but Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step) did manage to get across. The Italian sat in Christen’s wheel, well sheltered from the wind, while the chase behind stalled. Inside the final kilometre, Christen proved too strong for Garofoli—but he also pushed himself over the limit. He was caught again, first by Afonso Eulálio, and then the finish fight opened up. Voisard judged it best: in the final sprint he was the strongest, taking a surprise stage win on Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah.