PREVIEW | AlUla Tour 2024 - Simon Yates the main favourite to win Jayco AlUla's home race

Preview. The AlUla Tour has become Saudi Arabia's premier race and will host an array of World Tour teams in the desert over the season's start. It will take place in the hot weather from the 30th of January to the 3rd of February.

The first day of racing in Saudi Arabia starts and ends at the Al Manshiyah Train Station. Put simply, there is nothing to analyse about this day with the exception that it will be an open and exposed day in the desert. A bunch sprint will decide the first leader of the race, most likely. 

With almost 200 kilometers in distance, stage 2 is the longest of the race. Almost completely flat, but one with two ascents which are of the Sharaan Nature Reserve. The final one coincides with the finish line, it is a 4.2-kilometer climb at 3.2%. In the final kilometer it is almost completely flat, it will provide for an interesting battle between sprinters, climbers and puncheurs present. 

Stage 3 will have it's start and finish in AlUla, the city sponsoring the race and also the World Tour team that puts quite a lot of focus here. The finale will be inside a Camel track and the riders will have an oval circuit to end up the day's racing.

Stage 4 of the race has 145 kilometers on the menu, this takes place between Hegra and Maraya. It is a flat day without difficulties where a bunch sprint is expected. The finale isn't pan-flat however, the final kilometer sees a rise of 35 meters in altitude, so a few fast men will surely suffer and this can influence the results at the line.

The final day of the race is the queen stage. Most of the stage takes place in flat and exposed roads which have influenced the GC in the past and may again. The riders will ride towards a 2.8-kilometer climb at 12.5%, a proper wall. It is a brutal climb under such conditions, gaps will be created with certainty and the GC may be decided there. It's summit lays 8.5 kilometers away from the stage finish however and so a lot can still happen in that period.

*** Simon Yates
** Rafal Majka, Finn Fisher-Black
* Davide Formolo, Iván Romeo, Lucas Hamilton, Max Schachmann, Matteo Sobrero, Pierre Latour

Pick: Simon Yates