Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) soloed to the stage victory on the final day of the AlUla Tour, taking the overall win in the process.
The Swiss racer jumped away from an elite group of attackers late on the 164km stage, eventually crossing the line 11 seconds ahead of Byron Munton (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling). Christen's teammate, Igor Arrieta, led a group of five riders home to take third place, 32 seconds down.
The result means that Christen takes the overall race victory, with former race leader Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling) dropping on the tough late climb of Harrat Uwayrid (2.9km at 12%).
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Christen had emerged as part of a lead group on that climb, which peaked 9km from the finish line. On the way up, the breakaway of Dries De Bondt (Jayco-AlUla), Lars Vanden Heede (Soudal-QuickStep), Milan Fretin (Cofidis), Rayan Boulahoite (TotalEnergies), Javier Ibáñez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Federico Iacomoni (Team Ukyo), and Juan Pedro Lozano (Terengganu) had fractured, having earlier enjoyed a three-minute lead.
Iacomoni and Lozano were the last survivors from the move, but they wouldn't make it to the top in the lead. Behind, Christen was joined by Arrieta as well as Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-QuickStep) and Sergio Higuita (XDS-Astana) in the chase behind.
Voisard dropped on the harsh inclines, while the remains of the breakaway were caught and passed near the top. At the front, a new, elite group of around 10 riders formed as Voisard battled on almost a minute down.
Christen gave it a nudge over the top, drawing out a counter-attack from Higuita and Vansevenant before things briefly came back together at the front. With just under 6km to go, Christen pushed on again, this time going solo.
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On the slightly downhill run to the finish, Munton was the man to give chase, but the South African couldn't bring Christen back. Instead, the 21-year-old held onto his advantage, racing on to the line and celebrating the sixth (stage) and seventh (overall) victories of his career.
The final GC sees him beat Higuita by 15 seconds, while Arrieta fills out the final podium in third at 21 seconds.
Sergio Higuita, Mauri Vansevenant, and Byron Munton give chase in the final kilometres of the race (Image credit: Getty Images)
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
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