00:00 [Music]
00:03 You're wearing number 51.
00:06 You have a smile on your face because you know about number 51.
00:11 Yeah, yeah.
00:13 I have 51 wins in professional.
00:17 And I try to, today, to take the 52.
00:24 [Engine noise]
00:27 A massive acceleration on the right hand side from one of the border hands for Aradis trying to get across to Pierre Latour.
00:34 But has Latour timed this to absolute perfection?
00:38 So many times we've seen Latour almost take victories.
00:42 We know he's descending. He just is having a terrible time.
00:46 But Latour on a punchy finish like this could be absolutely perfect.
00:51 [Engine noise]
00:53 Soren Valenskog is there with his Xuno X team.
00:56 They're trying to line this one up but Latour has still got a little bit of an advantage for Total Energie.
01:02 It looks like the style of Nico Dens.
01:05 Have Xuno X got enough? 500 meters to go.
01:08 It's still Pierre Latour of Total Energie.
01:12 He is still there. He is still holding on.
01:15 They're desperately trying to close the gap now.
01:17 Xuno X are trying to fire with Valenskog.
01:20 Is Pierre Latour going to get it on the line?
01:23 It's a furious sprint.
01:25 Latour is caught. Here goes Soren Valenskog.
01:28 Soren Valenskog all the way to the line.
01:31 He was the favorite.
01:32 Valenskog takes it for Xuno X Mobility.
01:36 Congratulations Soren.
01:38 Another victory here in Saudi Arabia.
01:41 Last year was your first one. You do it again. It's become a habit.
01:44 Yeah, I seem to perform well when I'm far from home.
01:48 So it was good today.
01:51 It was tailwind in the sprint, so that suits me better because I'm a tall guy.
01:56 It was really nice to get a good start to the season.
02:01 You're always curious how it will go in the start.
02:05 It seems like the winter has been OK at least.
02:09 Talk to us about that finish. Not an easy finish,
02:12 especially because you're not the lightest of the riders.
02:15 No, probably not.
02:18 It was a little bit easier than the one we had last year that was really steep.
02:23 This one was even better for me.
02:26 We wanted to stay in the front, but not too far up in the peloton in the last 4K.
02:34 We did perfect, and then we just tried to gather on the top
02:38 and just tried to keep the momentum in the last 500 meters
02:43 because it goes a little bit uphill, so you don't want to lose the power.
02:47 We just timed it perfectly.
02:50 Today was also a question of patience.
02:52 You had to be patient when you were dropped in the crosswinds.
02:56 You had to be patient at the finish as well when Pierre Latour took off.
03:01 I tried to just keep cool because I know in the crosswinds
03:06 you don't want to go too deep, so it sticks in your legs until the finish.
03:13 I knew that we had headwind for a long time after,
03:17 and we did almost the same course last year,
03:21 so then I knew I could take it a little bit easier.
03:24 And when Pierre Latour took off, no pressure?
03:27 Of course, you get a little bit...
03:32 You think that maybe it will not go your way, but you just have to keep believing.
03:39 I knew that I had some guys with me that could take the front on the end,
03:44 so I just told them to take it a little bit easier when they first came to the front
03:49 so we could keep the speed.
03:51 Of course, you look up in the front and you hope that you're going to catch him,
03:56 and hopefully we will, and we did, so that was good for me.
04:01 And possibly more opportunities on this Alou Latour for you?
04:05 Yeah, it's a lot of spin stages, so it's a little bit tiring for the head
04:13 to turn on mentally every time on every stage.
04:17 Luckily, there's the last stage where I can take it a little bit easier
04:21 than the last time, but two more chances for me,
04:25 and then we go for the Alnors on the last stage.
04:30 Thank you very much.
04:31 Thank you.
04:32 Thanks, guys.
04:33 Thanks.
04:35 [Music]
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