00:00Welcome to the 6th edition of the Alula Tour.
00:16This race always attracts some of the world's top sprinters and 2026 is no exception.
00:23I'm really happy to be back here. I had some really good memories here.
00:27Is Jonathan Milan going to take it?
00:31I don't know if you remember, but before that race, you were on the track and you turned around to me and said,
00:38I'm going to be one of the top sprinters in the world. That's my plan.
00:42Jonathan Milan firing to try and win his first ever stage at the Tour de France.
00:47It was always my goal to become one of the best ones. Now we are, I think, on the way.
00:57Among the GC contenders are Alan Hatherley, who finished sixth last year, and 21-year-old hotshot Jan Christen.
01:05Last year you had two podiums on some of the stages. Coming back for more of the same?
01:11It's a nice race. I think it suits me well. We've come with a really strong team. I think we have a good shot for GC, 100%.
01:17And, yeah, I think our biggest competitors probably would be Jan Christen. I think he's the big standout.
01:25I'm super excited to start the season again.
01:29What do you know about this race?
01:31Well, it's a lot of wind and two hard stages, and the last stage can be quite excited.
01:37Well, it's some good competitors here, but we focus on ourselves. We have a super strong team here.
01:44And we try to play the cards right.
01:56The Alula Tour 2026 kicks off with a flat stage of 158 kilometres. It starts and ends at the Alula Camel Cup track, which hosted the final stage last year.
02:07There'll be a couple of intermediate active sprints during the day, counting towards the orange jersey for the most active rider, plus a bonus sprint with just under 9k to go.
02:16Three, two and one seconds available for the top three.
02:20A sprinter will no doubt be pulling on the first leader's jersey this afternoon, and Jonathan Milan is the man to beat.
02:27The four-man breakaway was in the process of shattering as the live pictures began.
02:40Two of the Oman national team members, Syed al-Rabi and Mohammed al-Wahibi, had already been caught, leaving just two men at the front.
02:48Ali al-Sheikh of the Saudi national team, and Ayman Rosli of the Terengganu cycling team, who made the first two breakaways of last year's race.
02:56Well, the maximum gap had been as much as three and a half minutes, but the peloton were now closing fast.
03:05Al-Sheikh going solo at the front, but that sojourn wouldn't last long.
03:11The peloton all back together again, with 65 kilometres to go.
03:17And there was a bit of tension in the bunch, because there's always the possibility of cross-winds,
03:25and echelons on these exposed desert roads.
03:32Whoa, whoa, crash right-hand side, and a big crash in the peloton.
03:38Fritz Bistebos of Picnic Postenel going to ground here, as Jayko Aluda tried to up the tempo, but there wasn't too much wind at this point.
03:46Things eventually settling down again, with Varo van Gheeloa also licking his wounds after hitting the deck.
03:55There would then be another crash with much bigger GC implications involving one of the race favourites in Jan Christen.
04:01The UAE man caught up here, just at the moment where several of the sprint teams stepped on the gas again.
04:08Oh, and that's a problem there, number 41, Jan Christen, the race favourite for the overall, and Christen is down in this crash.
04:16Lidl Trek, Kofidis and Sudhal Quickstep causing a split in the peloton.
04:23And Christen, Hatherley and the other GC riders were on the wrong side of it.
04:28Well, the race was really on now.
04:3018 riders in this front group, including the sprinters Jonathan Milan, Phil Bauhaus, a former winner of this race,
04:37Fabio Jakobsen, Milan Fretin and Fernando Gaviria.
04:42The peloton slowly eating into the gap, but the chasers couldn't get themselves organised properly,
04:47and it started to go back out again as they approached the Camel Cup track.
04:51The 18 leaders would go over the finish line twice before the final sprint,
04:55and they were now leading by more than 30 seconds.
04:58At this point, it looked as though Milan and co would indeed contest the first stage victory.
05:03And Jan Christen has hit the deck again. Christen is down for the second time.
05:15Incredibly more problems for Jan Christen, who was decidedly having one of those days.
05:20The young Swiss set for another frantic chase.
05:23Up at the front, meanwhile, it was still full gas, with the leaders holding on to their slender advantage.
05:30Heading into the final lap, there was a bonus sprint, with Mark Donovan pocketing the maximum three seconds.
05:37His teammate Matteo Moschetti, who won at the Camel Cup track on the final day last year,
05:42was another contender here for the stage win.
05:45One lap to go.
05:49Well, Christen fighting to save his race with his UAE teammates,
05:53and they eventually latched back onto the back of the peloton.
05:56This one was going down to the wire.
05:59The sprint group now just 10 seconds ahead, as a few riders tried to fire across,
06:03but would they catch them in time?
06:05One kilometre of racing.
06:08They're just going to make it by the looks of things.
06:11Moving up. Milan is ready. Gaviria's right on his wheel.
06:15Gaviria's locked in.
06:17Gaviria's locked in.
06:20Jakobsen gets ready.
06:25Fretin is set for the sprint.
06:29Big move on the right-hand side for Makutis.
06:32Moving up. Here comes Moschetti.
06:34He wants to win on this Alula Camel track again.
06:37Big attack on the right-hand side as De Jong goes for it
06:41from the team of Picnic Post NL.
06:43Big acceleration by the Picnic Post NL rider,
06:47who has stolen a march on the rest of this peloton front group of riders,
06:51and he goes clear.
06:55This is a big move here.
06:57Kofidis get ready.
06:59Can he hold on all the way to the line?
07:01Jonathan Milan gets set.
07:03It's going to be a sprint from this group of 18 riders.
07:06Milan gets set to go.
07:09And here goes the acceleration.
07:11Jonathan Milan right on the wheel.
07:13Fretin is trying to go as well.
07:15Milan.
07:16Jonathan Milan against Fretin.
07:18But it's going to be the first win of the season for Jonathan Milan.
07:23He wins for Lidltrek.
07:27As we saw at the start of the program,
07:35Jonathan Milan took one of his first road wins here at the Iluda Tour in 2023
07:40before becoming one of the top sprinters in the world.
07:43Last year he claimed nine victories,
07:45including two at the Tour de France,
07:47where he also won the green jersey.
07:49And the 25-year-old Italian is off to the perfect start in 2026.
07:57It was a bit tricky.
07:59You know, when we are not that many in the green, in the front,
08:02you can expect always everything.
08:05Maybe a little group of three or four riders,
08:07they attack and then you're not able to catch them anymore.
08:10I guess it was really good to hold everyone together, let's say.
08:15And, yeah, they deliver me just in the perfect position.
08:19Jonathan Milan.
08:21Milan taking it ahead of Fretin and Moschetti,
08:24with Laurence Rex and Lorenzo Mazin completing the top five
08:27as the league group just about held on.
08:29De Jong, who tried his luck from distance, ended up ninth.
08:33Milan is the first man into the leader's green jersey,
08:37then with a four-second lead over Fretin.
08:39Despite all of his troubles,
08:41Christen only dropped 21 seconds,
08:43the same as Hathalie, Dunbar, Higuita and the other GC favourites.
08:47Milan is also the early points leader,
08:50although Moschetti will wear the red jersey on his behalf
08:52in Wednesday's second stage.
08:54Donovan takes the orange jersey as the most active rider,
08:58having picked up four points on this first stage.
09:01He leads Alwahaibi and Alex Kirsch.
09:05And Fretin will be in white tomorrow
09:07as the leader of the youth classification.
09:09He leads Hugo Page by six seconds.
09:13There's another sprint stage to come on Wednesday.
09:15Milan will be looking to double up
09:17and the GC riders will once again be looking to avoid trouble.
09:20Join us for that tomorrow and thanks for watching.
