Dylan Groenewegen eases to victory on stage 1 of Saudi Tour

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Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) sprinted to a comprehensive victory in the opening stage of the Saudi Tour, sealing his 64th career victory in Khaybar.

The Dutchman beat Dušan Rajović (Bahrain Victorious) and Max Walscheid (Cofidis) to the line at the end of the 180km stage, coming out on top from a small lead group after a late crash split the peloton.

Groenewegen came off the back of a two-man Jayco lead-out after Zdenek Stybar and Luka Mezgec pulled him to the front in the final kilometre, usurping DSM’s place at the front, before easing to a clear win, his eighth for the Australian team.

He was never in trouble in the final sprint to the line, which saw new Bahrain signing, the Serbian champion Rajović, emerge as his closest contender after overhauling Walscheid late on. Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X) and Max Kanter (Movistar) rounded out the top five.

"It was really hectic. We did a lot of work. DSM worked and the breakaway was really strong,” Groenewegen said after the stage. "We were motivated to show ourselves and we were really strong. We waited for a good moment and then we went.

"We did a lot of video work from last year, what we did good and what went wrong. We also have some new strong guys in the team. [Stybar] is really good from QuickStep, and I know if I stay on Luka’s wheel it’s the best one."

Groenewegen didn’t have it all his own way during the stage, having suffered two punctures, including one at just 40km from the line.

"The peloton split and then I had a flat," he said. "I said immediately that the whole team had to wait. The team performance was really strong today and we’re really happy that we could take the first win of the season."

"The wind wasn’t a big factor, but the road surface definitely was,"his teammate Mezgec added. "There were a lot of punctures and at one point around 30km of bad roads. At one point it felt like the Arenberg. I’m glad we mostly stayed upright."

His Jayco-AlUla team had, along with DSM, worked on the front of the peloton for most of the day, holding the six-man break to a five-minute lead on the mostly flat opening stage.

The break survived until the 70km to go mark, by which point only Peio Goikoetxea (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Marcus Hansen (Uno-X) remained, with the Norwegian ending up the last man standing with 13km to go.

While there were numerous punctures along the way, the peloton was all back together on the run-in to the finish. However, a major crash at 1.4km to go saw the peloton split at around 20 riders back, with several Bingoal WB riders among those going down.

The major sprint contenders were safe up front, however, and ready to contest the final. DSM had taken up the mantle inside the final 3km, but their lead-out train disintegrated as Jayco moved up. The German team wouldn’t manage to add to their weekend success, with their best placing ending up with 11th via Casper van Uden.

At the front, meanwhile, it was Groenewegen who shot to the win with no real close competition, the 29-year-old kicking off his 2023 campaign in style to add to his two 2022 stage wins.

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