Results AlUla Tour 2026 | Matteo Malucelli takes surprise stage 4 win as Jonathan Milan fails sprint hattrick

Stage 4 of the AlUla Tour was the final opportunity for the sprinters and it was fully used by the fast men. Jonathan Milan didn't manage to take another victory but instead it was XDS Astana Team's Matteo Malucelli who sprinted to victory.

The 173-kilometer long stage began straight away with strong winds and early in the day there was a large breakaway going up the road including no less than 16 riders including Paul Double, Dires de Bondt, Julius Johansen and a few riders that also threatened Yannis Voisard's lead in the race; whilst behind the race also exploded with Sergio Higuita losing ground to the peloton and a few sprinters including Fabio Jakobsen were also dropped.

However the group was big and behind there were not only GC but stage ambitions, a lot of teams worked hard to bring back the breakaway and the wind direction changes - which often lead to block headwinds - cancelled out the attack with 56 kilometers to go. The peloton remained rather calm until late in the day; Zeb Kyffin of Terengganu Cycling Team attacked and got a small gap, however with the headwind that followed it wasn't long-lived, and all teams left their leadout for as late as possible - with 2 kilometers, race footage of Jan Christen and a teammate laughing in the back of the peloton was particularly notable.

Only with 1 kilometer to go was there a sudden acceleration in the straight-line desert sprint. There was no particular leadout in the front but instead Pascal Ackermann who sprinted very early. Jonathan Milan came through but was on the saddle mid-sprint, apparently burnt out from the sharp effort in the final kilometer. Matteo Malucelli grabbed his wheel perfectly and then sprinted to victory in the final meters of the stage.