Saudi Tour: Santiago Buitrago's pro debut win in race's sole summit finish

Bahrain - Victorious have started the new season the same way the finished the last, as they take their first win through a brilliant performance from Santiago Buitrago.

Having beaten Andrea Bagioli in the sprint, Buitrago is now the new race leader, even though Caleb Ewan defended himself quite well. Anthon Charmig finished third in the chasing group, alongside Ewan himself, Rui Costa and Maxim van Gils.

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Caleb Ewan wins the opening stage of Saudi Tour

It was another long day in the desert, Martin Bugge Urianstad (Uno-X Pro Cycling) and Polychronis Tzortzakis (Kuwait Pro Cycling) once again marked the day's breakaway and today they had the company of Jeroen Meijers (Terengganu Polygon). The trio never got to take much of a gap over the peloton as it was once again a very calm and relatively easy chase, and soon enough it became evident that it was all going to come down on the ramp up to the line.

In what was a gruelling anaerobic effort of just under two kilometers the attacks were few but decisive. Buitrago himself was the first rider to make a move, as Daniel Oss pushed to get to the wheel of the Colombian climber. Inside the final kilometer Andrea Bagioli jumped from the peloton and went back the escapee group but was unable to drop the Bahrain - Victorious rider. After a lack of collaboration Buitrago surprised the Italian with an early sprint and was never to be caught again, taking not only the stage win but also the overall lead, Caleb Ewan and Anthon Charmig follow closely behind at 7 and 13 seconds respectively.

Tomorrow provides the sprinters with a new opportunity as they will ride onto AlUla Old Town, where Ewan has the opportunity to take back the lead but will be faced with tough competition such as the likes of Dylan Groenewegen and Fernando Gaviria.

AlUla Tour

@thealulatour

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