One day too much at the Al Ua Tour

Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS contested the Al Ula Tour with a young team. Before the last stage, Rainer Kepplinger had secured 2nd place on GC thanks to strong climbing performances. But deep in the finale of the conclusive stage, he missed out on the decisive echelon and, as a consequence, dropped back to 5th on GC.

Throughout its five stages, the Al Ula Tour served up three opportunities for sprinters and two finales spiked with steep climbs. As for Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, Rainer Kepplinger was the protected rider for GC, Andrea Pasqualon was to make sure everyone was in tune with the sports director’s plans, and Alberto Bruttomesso was free to try his hands or rather legs at the sprints. Completing the team’s line-up for the Al Ula Tour were Max van der Meulen, Nicolo Buratti, Zak Erzen and Oliver Stockwell. As for the three stages that were decided in sprints of larger groups, Alberto Bruttomesso rode to two 8th places and a 9th place, facing a stacked field of strong sprinters. Throughout the initial four days, the team was riding very attentively and often was seen setting the pace at the sharp end of the peloton.

At the two mountaintop finishes a clear hierarchy could be seen as Tom Pidcock was the best climber with Rainer Kepplinger following right behind. This resulted in two podium results as Kepplinger finished stage 2 in 2nd and stage 4 in 3rd. Thus, before the final stage, the Austrian was sitting in 2nd on GC as was Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS in the team classification. With Max van der Meulen in 9th, another rider of the team managed to make his way into the top 10 on GC. As the conclusive stage finishing at the Al Ula Camel Cup Track did not look hard enough on paper to shake up things, the situation looked very promising from the team’s perspective.

But as the wind thwarted the plans of Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS for the conclusive stage. Throughout the first two hours of racing, the riders managed to keep themselves at the sharp end of the race or mend any dangerous situations. But in the final hour of racing, everyone except for Alberto Bruttomesso got dropped from the first echelon, conceding 57 seconds to the first group on the road at the finish. As a consequence, Rainer Kepplinger dropped from 2nd to 5th on GC and Max van der Meulen dropped out of the top 10. At least the riders managed to hold on to 2nd place in team classification, but this did little to soothe the disappointment on the final day of the Al Ula Tour.

RESULTS:
5TH AL ULA TOUR
STAGE 2: AL ULA OLD TOWN - BIR JAYDAH MOUNTAIN WIRKAH, 130.6KM
1. Tom Pidcock, GBR, in 3:18.15 hours
2. Rainer Kepplinger, AUT/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, + 0.04
3. Alan Hatherly, RSA, + 0.07

STAGE 4: MARAYA - SKYVIEWS OF HARRAT UWAYRID, 140.9KM
1. Tom Pidcock, GBR, in 3:09.46 hours
2. Alan Hatherly, RSA, + 0.12
3. Rainer Kepplinger, AUT/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, st

TEAM CLASSIFICATION:
1. Uno-X Mobility, NOR, in 52:23.04 hours
2. TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, BHR, + 2.26
3. Equipo Kern Pharma, st

Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency