Après une étape de bordures qui s'est conclue par un sprint jeudi, le peloton de l'AlUla Tour faisait face à un final beaucoup plus compliqué puisqu'une montée avec des passages à 22% a été placée dans le final de la quatrième étape ce vendredi. Face à de tels pourcentages ce sont les grimpeurs/puncheurs qui ont brillé et notamment le leader de la course, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5). Le Britannique s'est envolé dans la montée finale et s'est imposé en solitaire.
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SportTranscription
00:00Have I can win a stage here, I will be really happy.
00:12Tim Merlier, there was never any doubt.
00:15It's always difficult to win one race, so we will see.
00:20Who is going to take this stage?
00:21Gronerwegen is trying to get on the wheel.
00:24It's Merlier and Gronerwegen.
00:26And it's two sprints out of two for Tim Merlier.
00:30Do you look in the shape of your life so early in the season?
00:34I don't think so.
00:35We will see later.
00:42Tim Merlier doubled up in yesterday's third stage,
00:45taking an impressive sprint victory ahead of Dylan Gronerwegen.
00:49But today is all about the GC battle,
00:51as the peloton head to the sky views of Harata Wairid
00:54on the queen stage of this Alula Tour 2025.
01:00This morning, the riders gathered
01:02at the architectural marvel that is Mariah,
01:04the world's largest mirrored building,
01:07a glittering jewel here in the heart of the desert.
01:12Today, the race leader Tom Pidcock
01:14will be defending his eight-second overall lead.
01:19It's definitely a tough climb.
01:21And definitely one where you can't go too early.
01:25Like you say, the flat part after you definitely
01:27need something left for there.
01:29So it's going to be interesting.
01:30But I guess I know I'm in good shape.
01:33I've looked after myself.
01:35So all to play for, I guess, the main thing
01:37is defending this jersey.
01:38But if we go on the offensive, try and win the stage.
01:41And that's probably the best way to try and defend.
01:46But the chasing pack will be waiting to pounce.
01:48The highest placed man for home team Jacob Alula
01:51is mountain bike star Alan Hatherley.
01:55For sure, I'm going to leave it all out there.
01:57And fingers crossed it goes our way today.
01:59And we can move up on GC.
02:00And dream day would be stage win as well.
02:03OK, so we've had the Olympic mountain bike champion
02:06win stage two.
02:07Is it going to be the world mountain bike
02:09champion who wins stage four?
02:10Let's hope so.
02:13Stage four is a shade over 140 kilometers.
02:16And for the most part, it's flat.
02:18The riders will go past Hegra twice
02:20as they head to this race's signature climb.
02:22With maximum gradients of 22%, it
02:25will seriously thin out the field.
02:27There are bonus seconds available at the summit
02:30before an 8 and 1 half kilometer drag
02:31race along the plateau to the finish line.
02:34Fireworks are guaranteed.
02:43There were two non-starters this morning,
02:44including Nils Eikhoff, who had that nasty accident
02:47in yesterday's final colliding with a lamppost.
02:50The Dutchman broke a tooth and fractured his jaw.
02:52And we wish him a speedy recovery.
02:55Well, the peloton keeping a close eye
02:57on the day's eight-man breakaway with Pidcock
02:59up towards the front.
03:01This is only the second time that he
03:02has worn a leader's jersey since back in his under 23 days.
03:06Jacob Alula on the front of the pack.
03:08This was a big day for the home team who
03:10have yet to win at this race.
03:14Well, most of the eight guys at the front
03:15had already been in a breakaway this week.
03:17Alessandro Rumeli and Alexander Vinokourov
03:20from XDS Astana, Yuma Koishi from Team Ukiyo,
03:24Mohamed Abdelhalim from Terengganu Cycling,
03:28Andreas Miltiadis and Kongfob Timachai
03:31from Rujai Insurance, and Henri-Francois Runar-Hakka
03:35and Jens Rijnders of Wagner-Bazin.
03:37Well, Rijnders all but wrapping up the most active rider
03:40competition, the 26-year-old Belgian
03:42with a virtual lead of 13 points after taking
03:45four at the day's first two sprints.
03:481.15 in the gap, 1.15.
03:52Well, the peloton appeared to be relatively satisfied
03:55with this situation, keeping the gap steady at around a minute.
03:58The GC team's taking turns on the front of the peloton.
04:04Whoops, little bit of a split happening in the front group.
04:07Well, after a sudden injection of pace at the front,
04:10a couple of riders were caught out
04:11and dropped from the breakaway.
04:14Vinokourov and Miltiadis were unable to close the gap
04:17on their fellow escapees, and they eventually
04:19rolled back to the peloton.
04:23So five men now leading the way, and Rijnders
04:26was frequently the one driving them along.
04:29The gap still hovering just under a minute.
04:34Well, heading into the last 30 kilometers,
04:36there was a minor issue for one of the race favorites.
04:40Oops, and a problem here.
04:42And this is Hatherley, who has got an issue.
04:45Well, it's good to have it now rather than later.
04:48Hatherley was soon back on his way again,
04:51getting a tow back to the peloton from the imposing frame
04:54of Max Walscheid.
04:57The sky views of Harata-Wyrid then looming into view,
05:00and as the road began to rise, riders began to go backwards.
05:09The breakaway is caught.
05:10The five escapees were brought back
05:12with 10.8 kilometers remaining, and now it
05:14was over to the GC riders.
05:16And it wasn't long before the race leader himself
05:19moved to the front of the bunch.
05:20Pidcock now takes control.
05:23Pidcock setting a punishing tempo
05:25as they embarked on the steepest part of this brutal climb,
05:28and he soon shredded the front group.
05:31Riders strewn all over the road as the gradients really
05:34began to bite.
05:35Soon, there were only three men hanging onto Pidcock's wheel.
05:38Rainer Keplinger, second this morning,
05:40Alan Hatherley, third this morning,
05:42and Eddie Dunbar, also in the purple of Jaco Alula.
05:47However, they had no response when
05:49Pidcock went supersonic 700 meters from the summit.
05:54Now Dunbar is struggling.
05:57Pidcock turns the heat up a little bit more.
06:00He's got a little bit of a problem.
06:02Pidcock turns the heat up a little bit more.
06:04Now he starts to accelerate a little bit harder,
06:08and Keplinger has no answer.
06:10Hatherley doesn't have one either.
06:12Pidcock has used this immense power to go clear on the climb.
06:18The British rider surging away from his rivals
06:21and quickly opening up a 20-second gap.
06:23It would take some effort to bring him back.
06:27Keplinger, Hatherley, and Dunbar were soon
06:29joined by a fourth chaser, Johannes Kulset of Unix Mobility.
06:35With Pidcock getting to the summit with 25 seconds in hand
06:38and pocketing another three bonus seconds,
06:41he would now switch to time trial mode
06:43for the flat run into the line.
06:47Well, the four chasers weren't really working together,
06:49splitting into two groups, Dunbar and Keplinger
06:52leading Kulset and Hatherley.
06:55They did eventually get themselves organised,
06:56chasing as a foursome.
06:58And slowly but surely, they began to eat into Pidcock's advantage.
07:01But could they catch him in time?
07:04500 metres to go for Pidcock in the green jersey.
07:09He's at 50 kilometres an hour.
07:11He can see now the finish.
07:13Look at that shot.
07:14That is absolutely beautiful.
07:17Dunbar leading the chasers here in the Alula Tour.
07:20But it looks like it might just be a little bit too late.
07:24Hatherley on the wheel, Kulset there, and Keplinger,
07:27the best riders behind.
07:31300 metres to go for Tom Pidcock.
07:36Well, what an escapade it has been.
07:40Tom Pidcock, tremendous win, stage four of the Alula Tour,
07:46and takes the green jersey into the final day.
07:49A big sprint now.
07:50Hatherley is going to take second place.
07:53Hatherley takes second to take the second-place bonus.
07:56Behind him is Keplinger, then Kulset, then Dunbar.
07:59And here come the chasers.
08:04The chasing group led in a celebration of Q36.5 on the line.
08:12If Pidcock's first win on stage two was impressive,
08:15then this was a masterclass.
08:17The 25-year-old simply in a league of his own here in the Saudi desert,
08:21as he left everybody else in his dust,
08:23showing some of the form that has previously brought him wins
08:26at Strade Bianche and Amstel Gold.
08:28Pidcock just has to finish the job tomorrow.
08:31Yeah, really happy.
08:32Extended the lead and, yeah,
08:35gives us a bit more of a buffer going into tomorrow.
08:37That type of climb, that kind of effort, is an effort that you like?
08:42Yeah, I think I've been doing a lot of training
08:44that's really helped in those sort of efforts.
08:46I think this week I've set my new five, ten-minute best ever powers,
08:51so I'm definitely in good shape.
08:54Pidcock taking the seventh win of his road cycling career
08:57by 12 seconds from Hafele, Keplinger and Kulcic.
09:00The next group was led in by Thomas Pesenti at 24 seconds.
09:05Pidcock now has a comfortable lead of 29 seconds
09:08before tomorrow's final sprint,
09:10although just three seconds separate Keplinger and Hafele.
09:14UNO-X duo Devarsanis and Kulcic round out the top five.
09:18The red jersey continues to go back and forth
09:21between Pidcock and Melir.
09:22The British rider leads once again,
09:24but the Belgian will likely recover it in tomorrow's sprints.
09:29After his fine effort on the final climb,
09:31Kulcic takes the white jersey from his team-mate Odne Hulter,
09:34UNO-X showcasing their young talent here in Saudi.
09:38And barring any incidents tomorrow,
09:39Jens Rijnders will be heading home with the orange jersey
09:42as the race's most active rider.
09:46Four down, one to go.
09:47Join us again on Saturday for the final sprint shootout
09:50and thanks for watching.