In another echelons swept stage, Lotto Soudal keep their early-season form to grab another win and on the way, very possibly the GC of the Saudi Tour.
It was another brutal day in the desert as action kicked off very early. Polychronis Tzortzakis (Kuwait Pro Cycling Team) and Afiq Othman (Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team) set off alone early in the day but their move didn't last long as with around 65 kilometers to go things kicked off with crosswind action, sparked by once again Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team.
With the likes of Bagioli, van Gils and Oss between the leading group of 15 riders, pressure was put on as the gap grew to a maximum of 1:30 minutes over the peloton, led by Bahrain, Uno-X, UAE and Arkéa mainly.
The lead at the bottom of the climb though was still of a minute. Andrea Bagioli attacked early on and took Maxim van Gils with him, but inside the final kilometer of the climb the Italian cracked and left the Lotto Soudal rider in front alone.
Van Gils went on to power to the line winning the stage whilst Bagioli cracked and got caught and passed by the chasing group led by Santiago Buitrago and Rui Costa who came from the peloton and caught up with some riders who had been in front during the echelon action. Luka Mezgec came home second followed by Tim Declercq 40 seconds off, in a group containing the former leader. Buitrago is now 36 seconds behind van Gils in the GC.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
- And the place he calls home is in Slovenia with his parents.RidesHills04-11-2026
- I think Tadej will be working on his new C7 TT position for the Tour de France :-)frieders304-11-2026
- Every great cyclist has at least two Giro/Tour doubles, and in modern cycling or what we call modern cycling, Miguel Indurain is the only guy to do it twice. I think Tadej should go for it and commit if he is putting up good numbers somewhere around January/February.awp04-11-2026
- the 6th TDF is a more record breaking opportunity than a 2nd Giro. Jonas can double up. For Remco its TDF. For Sexias it will be a good opportunity but as usual TDF will be his main goal For del Toro, yes good opportunityabstractengineer04-11-2026
- Well, this is something which isn't all that common
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - He lives in MonacoRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- It's also highly significant for Lorenzo Finn as he won there last year. Also Mateo Ramírez and Henrique Bravo if they goRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- This is a phenomenal course design. I do wish that they'd stretch these tours for the women to at least 2 weeks.RidesHills03-11-2026
- This is an amazing route, honestly. Let's hope that it attracts riders to make it a compelling and competitive race. Side bar amusement: going to Slovenia and passing pretty close to Pogačar's house. I wonder if they were tempting him to get all 3 jerseys at once after winning the Tour and Vuelta. After all, only a very few have ever had all three at the same time (Froome being the last).RidesHills03-11-2026
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🎥 Relive the last kilometer of Stage 4 of the 2022 Saudi Tour and the solo victory of 🇧🇪 @maximvangils - @LottoSoudal 💪 #SaudiTour
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