Team Jayco AlUla leader Simon Yates made it a dream ending to the AlUla Tour as he flew to victory on the final stage to seal the overall general classification.
With huge pressure on his shoulders, the steep climb up to the Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid was Yates’ chance to shine and he delivered in style, winning a four-up sprint on the flat final run-in after demolishing the peloton on the climb.
Crossing the line with his arm in the air, it was the perfect ending to what has been a difficult tour for the team in the home of the squad’s second naming rights sponsor, AlUla.
Anticipation built during the flash interview as Yates waited patiently for final confirmation that he was the overall tour winner, with the 31-year-old eventually able to savour the moment as he was confirmed as the victor.
Simon Yates [1st Overall]:
“I tried to shake them on the climb to get the GC but I just didn’t have the legs to do it. Then I tried to do the sprint for the stage and managed to pull it off, so I’m pretty happy.
It was quite a hard run-in, so I had to really pace myself, I tried first on the first steep part, but I couldn’t really shake anybody, so I just had to bide my time until the summit to come back to the guys at the front.
I was a bit nervous, and I wasn’t sure I had overall on not because I thought Finn [Fisher-Black] was second on the stage, somebody was coming quickly on my lefthand side in the sprint and I wasn’t sure. It’s a very important race for us, like I’ve been saying all week, we come here for AlUla now, a big partner of ours so it’s fantastic we can pull this off and I’m super happy to take the win here.”
Tristan Hoffman [Sport Director]:
“We knew Simon was in good shape and we hoped that he could drop everyone on the climb, but that didn’t happen because the other riders are also in good condition and are ready to race, so it was exciting until the last centimetre!
It also depended on where the other guys finished for the overall, but in the end it turned out we did enough to win the GC. After Dylan getting sick and some crashes, we’ve had a great finish and I’m super happy.”
2024 AlUla Tour – General Classification:
1. Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) 18:37:05
2. William Lecerf +0:03
3. Finn Fisher-Black +0:03
2024 AlUla Tour – Stage 5:
1. Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) 3:24:27
2. William Lecerf ST
3. Finn Fisher-Black ST
Photos: Sprint Cycling
