CYCLING – TEAM Bahrain Victorious claimed another runner-up finish yesterday on stage three of the Al Ula Tour in Saudi Arabia, with Afonso Eulalio taking his place on the podium after a hard-fought summit showdown.
Competing in the event’s shortest stage at 142.1 kilometres, Eulalio was well-placed as the race approached the decisive ascent.
On that final climb, the battle ignited with a sharp acceleration from Jan Christen of UAE Team Emirates, who briefly opened a gap inside the final three kilometres. Christen carried a small advantage into the final kilometre before being brought back by the chasing favourites.
Inside the final 1,000 metres, Eulalio launched his move, bridging across and then distancing Christen, momentarily looking set to claim the stage victory.
Yannis Voisard of Tudor Pro Cycling and Sergio Higuita of XDS Astana then came across together, with Higuita launching a sharp attack that was brought back by Eulalio.
In the final 200m, Voisard proved the strongest, coming past Eulalio close to the line to take the stage win. Eulalio crossed in second place ahead of Higuita in third, with all three riders awarded the same time and gaining six seconds on the rest of the favourites.
With his finish, Eulalio moved into the lead of the young rider classification and firmly into contention in the general classification, sitting within four seconds of the overall race lead after three stages.
“In the final, I’m happy and sad, but victory is a victory, for me and for the team,” said Eulalio, who followed teammate Daniel Skerl, who climbed the podium also as runner-up on stage two. “I think we started this race well, we battled a lot. The team did an incredible job for me, they believed in me.”
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