Results AlUla Tour 2026 | Jonathan Milan takes victory on opening sprint as echelons create chaos

Stage 1 of the AlUla Tour has been won by Jonathan Milan. Lidl-Trek have delivered on the expectations, being part of the front group that stood out during the crosswinds with several riders, and then successfully aiding the Italian into a sprint victory.

The day's breakaway on the opening stage featured Ali Al Shaikahmed, Said Alrahbi, Mohammed Al-Wahibi and Mohammad Nur Aiman Bin Rosli. The group didn't last long in front as the speed in the peloton grew, due to the constant fight for positioning that emerged due to the strong wind present on the road.

The race truly exploded then with 44 kilometers to go as GC favourite Jan Christen crashed, and only a few minutes later there was an acceleration in the peloton which created splits in the peloton. Almost every single favourite to win the stage was in the 18-rider group including Jonathan Milan, Phil Bauhaus, Milan Fretin, Fernando Gaviria, Fabio Jakobsen and more. A gap of around 30 seconds quickly opened, however there was no real push in the group, and the peloton managed to stabilize the gap.

With 15 kilometers to go Christen crashed once again from the peloton, but was miraculously brought back to the peloton just in time - although he had heavy support from the team car, which wouldn't have gone unnoticed. However the gap to the front began to shrink as the front group had such a great density of sprinters and small amount of domestiques - whilst the pan-flat terrain didn't allow for attacks to be successful. The lack of a single climber up front also aided the peloton behind.

Cofidis and Lidl-Trek both had a rider to lead out the sprint but took it very calm into the final meters, which allowed an attack from Picnic PostNL's Timo de Jong in the final kilometer, however it wasn't enough to prevent a sprint which in the end looked like a comfortable victory for Milan - ahead of Milan Fretin and Matteo Moschetti.