Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) powered to victory on stage 3 of the AlUla Tour after echelons split up the racing and turned a flat day into a chaotic final 30km into the AlUla Camel Racing Track.
Brilliant work from Bert Van Lerberghe allowed the Belgian sprinter to pick the wheel of stage 1 winner Casper Van Uden (DSM-Firmenich Post NL) and once he opened up, no one could match his acceleration. Merlier eased over the line and looked back at the field with his finger in the air as he took victory number one on the season.
Arvid de Kleijn took second after Tudor Pro Cycling had solid numbers in the run-in, but they couldn't quite get their lead-out sorted in time. Van Uden held onto third ahead of Luka Mezgec, sprinting for Jayco AlUla after Dylan Groenewegen missed out in the crosswinds.
The pre-stage race leader Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) lost the green jersey after missing a split in the echelons then requiring a bike change at the worst moment as the wind was picking up. Van Uden retook the leader’s jersey with a two-second lead now over Merlier in second overall.
"I like echelons. The start was okay with some bits of headwind but from there on, every opportunity there was echelons and the last one was the right one," said Merlier immediately after the finish.
"It was quite a special finish because with the wind and slightly uphill, everything must be right in the sprint and I'm happy I did the right things today.
"We had some mistakes the last two days, but if you still believe in it then one moment everything will turn out and today was that day."
How it unfolded
After the explosive uphill drag to the line on stage 2, the AlUla Tour returned to an, on paper, calmer stage with a flatter parcours from the AlUla International Airport to the unique finish alongside the AlUla Camel Cup Track.
A group of three found themselves in front as the race headed into another day of scenic racing on the 170.6km route with Polychronis Tzortzakis (Roojai Insurance), Luis Ángel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Yuma Koishi (JCL Team Ukyo) forming the early break of the day.
As ominous first signs of echelons began to emerge in the windy terrain, the three leaders were quickly caught before Tzortzakis and Maté didn't fancy their adventure out in front ending so soon, launching another tandem attack off the front.
They would last until the race changed direction and the wind picked up - prompting the GC teams and sprinters into action to try and survive any echelons forming. Jayco AlUla, Bahrain Victorious, Movistar and UAE Team Emirates were among the teams driving the pace, with GC favourite Simon Yates even taking big turns on the front.
Amid the chaos of the echelons starting to split the peloton, many of the big sprinters would miss out, notably Dylan Groenewegen and race leader Wærenskjold. An untimely mechanic would further compound the Norwegian's issues as both his chances of winning the stage and keeping the leader's green jersey vanished in an instant. He would roll into the finish at 5:04 down on Merlier and Co.
Movistar began to drive the action as the head of the race turned into the Camel Track, launching attacks with the likes of Mathias Norsgaard, but the Dane was unable to pull out any significant advantage with Tudor Pro Cycling working to peg them back.
The Swiss side appeared to have the racing under control in aid of De Kleijn's sprinting ambitions, but the next wave of attacks from Movistar and Soudal-QuickStep saw a duo of the Dutchman's leadout pull off the front and disconnect the train going into the final 2km.
Once the final attacks were reeled in, Soudal-QuickStep found themselves on the front with Jordi Warlop and William Lecerf, but the duo would pull off after signalling each other that Merlier wasn't with them.
This forced Jayco AlUla to start their lead-out early with only three riders remaining and their main sprinter out of it. Van Lerberghe had Merlier locked on his wheel and when the duo moved up, despite Van Uden and his leadout ending up in front of the sprinter, they had timed their actions perfectly with Jayco decelerating and Merlier coiled like a sprint.
Merlier started his sprint at the same time as Van Uden with De Kleijn on his wheel, but the Belgian's power was too much that neither Dutchman could even hold onto his gap as he crossed the line for his first win of the 2024 road season.
Results
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