The Queen stage of the AlUla Tour did not disappoint once again. After setting the fastest time up Harrat Uwayrid, the stage and GC were decided in a sprint between Simon Yates, Finn Fisher-Black and William Junior Lecerf, with Yates winning his first race since the final stage of the Tour Down Under in January 2023.
Harrat Uwayrid is one of the steeper climbs (3km, 11.43%) on the pro racing calendar. With a mighty 16.5% average gradient in the penultimate kilometre, it is a gruelling test for any cyclist. As this was the only major climb in the race, and there were not devastating crosswinds every day, it meant that overall would be decided in the final stage of the AlUla Tour.
The main favourite of the race was Simon Yates who is riding for Team Jayco AlUla. As this is one of the most important races of the year for the team, as one of its title sponsors is this race organiser, Yates was one to watch on the steep gradients.
As usual in the desert races, if there are no crosswinds, riders will arrive relatively fresh at the base of the climb. Norwegian climber Anders Halland Johannessen spent 1,968 kilojoules in 3:04h before the steep part of Harrat Uwayrid, which is 10.34 kj/kg/h – a very low-intensity stage.
When the steepest gradient arrived, Jayco AlUla set a hard tempo and later Yates dropped most of the riders. Soon after, lightweight climber William Junior Lecerf was not afraid to attack on steep gradients where drafting is marginal.
With efforts from Simon Yates in group 2 the Belgian was caught near the top of the climb by Finn Fisher-Black who bridged to him and then counter-attacked, dropping Yates. Fisher-Black’s teammates Rafal Majka and Yates later joined the duo on the flat plateau after the climb.
21-year-old Lecerf and 22-year-old Fisher-Black set the fastest climbing time, doing Harrat Uwayrid in 10:38 min. It is a new record, beating the previous record set by Ruben Guerreiro and Santiago Buitrago in the 2023 edition by 3 seconds. Lecerf averaged 6.67 ᵉW/Kg for 10:38 min. He pushed a little more ᵉW/Kg than Fisher-Black as he spent more time in the wind. Yates and Majka lost 2 seconds on the climb, while Davide Formolo and Anders Halland Johannessen were dropped right before the crest and lost 14 seconds.
It was clear that one of three of Fisher-Black, Lecerf and Yates would win the stage, gaining precious bonus seconds to win the GC. Rafal Majka had already lost more than a minute in the previous stage and was out of contention for overall victory. The leading four worked well and were not caught by chasers.
In a long sprint, Yates won the stage and GC, making the team's investors happy. Both youngsters Lecerf and Fisher-Black finished on the podium and proved that they have a lot of potential as climbers, being under 23 years old and dropping Simon Yates on such a climb is a good sign.
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