Jonathan Milan's time has come. The Friulian rider from Lidl-Trek opens the season today in Saudi Arabia at the AlUla Tour and immediately finds a perfect stage to test himself and understand how his new, much lower cycling position in sprints works, developed after hours of aerodynamic testing in the wind tunnel with Trek engineers. The venue is the Camel Track circuit, a 158-kilometer route with a 2% finale after passing through the desert: Flemish rider Merlier is still sidelined, so Milan will challenge Ackermann, Moschetti, Bauhaus, Gaviria, and Page. 2026 debut for Bettiol and Vansevenant as well. The race will run from today until January 31st, with 5 days promising high-level spectacle.

"It's fantastic to be back, I have good memories of this period – Milan said, recalling the 2023 edition when he won the second stage – It's an excellent opportunity to see if my form is right from the start of the season. But I also remember experiencing more difficult moments, particularly my first stage with crosswinds in 2022. I remember it as one of the worst days of my life, but I was also very proud of managing to finish in the group".

We are in the magnificent setting of AlUla, the city near the Red Sea that was located on the Incense Route and has archaeological artifacts dating back more than two thousand years. This is the first site in Saudi Arabia to receive UNESCO world recognition: it's the sixth edition of the AlUla Tour, which as mentioned, will run from today to Saturday, January 31st and has been promoted by UCI in the Pro Series category. Simon Yates won in 2024, Tom Pidcock last year. At 25, with the green jersey from the 2025 Tour, Milan opens a season in which he will return to race the Giro d'Italia and strongly targets the spring classics: Milan-Sanremo, Gand-Wevelgem (now called In Flanders Fields), and Paris-Roubaix.

Racing in the sun between desert and history: the AlUla oasis, the archaeological site of Hegra with over 110 monumental rock-carved sandstone tombs, the remains of the ancient capital Dadan, the Sharaan nature reserve, and the elephant-shaped rock. In the five race days, opportunities for sprinters come immediately with today's first stage (Camel Cup Track), Wednesday's second stage (AlManshiyah), and Friday's fourth stage (Hegra): always watch out for wind and potential echelons. Regarding the general classification, the key days will be Thursday's third stage (Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah), a 4.9 km climb at 6.1%, and the fifth and final stage on Saturday, Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid (3 km at 12%), where Van Gils, Guerreiro, Simon Yates, and Pidcock have raised their arms since 2022. For the final classification, keep an eye on Sergio Higuita, Eddie Dunbar, Jan Christen, and the Jayco-AlUla pair of Alan Hatherly and Paul Double.

Race director Jean-Marc Marino warns that conditions will be ideal for attacks in the gusts before the finish line: "It's exactly the same route as the last stage of 2025, but we're running it in the opposite direction – Marino explained - Last year, the Uno-X team shook the group and managed to place three riders among the top four in the general classification. And today we expect an average wind speed of 20 km/h, with gusts up to 40 km/h. The final section is a completely exposed circuit, so there will inevitably be crosswinds at times, which means there will be several formations... a great battle to start the season. Last year there were about 35 riders in contention for the victory, and I think this year it will be more or less the same".

Jayco-AlUla, the Australian WorldTour team directed by Brent Copeland and sponsored directly by the UNESCO site of the Arab city, is racing at home. Double won the 2025 Tour of Guangxi, and Hatherly, sixth at the 2025 AlUla Tour, was one of the season's revelations: the South African comes from mountain biking and won bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics. "We come to Arabia directly from our training camp in Spain – explains Copeland – and winning this race is our goal. Now that it's part of the ProSeries category, it's even more attractive for the UCI points it awards, and I expect the competition between teams to be tighter. The AlUla Tour offers Double and Hatherly a perfect opportunity to raise their level, considering they arrived late to WorldTour racing".

Stages:
1st, Tuesday January 27, AlUla Camel Cup Track-AlUla Camel Cup Track, 158 km;
2nd, Wednesday 28, AlManshiyah Train Station-AlManshiyah Train Station, 152 km;
3rd, Thursday 29, Winter Park-Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah, 142.1 km;
4th, Friday 30, Winter Park-Hegra, 173 km;
5th, Saturday 31, AlUla Old Town-Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid, 163.9 km.

Teams:

17 teams of 7, total 119 riders. 7 WorldTour teams: Bahrain Victorious, Lidl-Trek, Jayco-AlUla, UAE Emirates-XRG, Soudal Quick-Step, Picnic-PostNL, XDS Astana. Six Professional teams: Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Pinarello-Q36.5, TotalEnergies, Tudor, Cofidis, Modern Aventure. Plus 4 Continental and National teams: Terengganu, Team Ukyo, Saudi national team, Oman national team.

I PARTENTI

Bahrain - Victorious
1. BAUHAUS Phil
2. BORGO Alessandro
3. DUNWOODY Seth
4. EULALIO Afonso
5. GRADEK Kamil
6. KEPPLINGER Rainer
7. SKERL Daniel

Lidl - Trek
11. MILAN Jonathan
12. CONSONNI Simone
13. EGHOLM Kristian
14. O'BRIEN Liam
15. SODERQVIST Jakob
16. THEUNS Edward
17. VERGAERDE Otto

Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
21. DUNBAR Eddie
22. BAX Sjoerd
23. DONOVAN Mark
24. FRISON Frederik
25. LIEPINS Emils
26. MOSCHETTI Matteo
27. VADER Milan

Team Jayco AlUla
31. HATHERLY Alan
32. ACKERMANN Pascal
33. DE BONDT Dries
34. DE POOTER Dries
35. DOUBLE Paul
36. GAMPER Patrick
37. MEZGEC Luka

UAE Team Emirates - XRG
41. CHRISTEN Jan
42. ARRIETA Igor
43. DIJKMAN Daan
44. JOHANSEN Julius
45. NOVAK Domen
46. STELLA Davide
47. VERMAERKE Kevin

Soudal Quick-Step
51. VANSEVENANT Mauri
52. GAROFOLI Gianmarco
53. REX Laurenz
54. SVRCEK Martin
55. VANDEN HEEDE Lars
56. VANGHELUWE Warre
57. VAN LERBERGHE Bert

Team Picnic PostNL
61. JAKOBSEN Fabio
62. BIESTERBOS Frits
63. CORKERY Dillon
64. DE JONG Timo
65. KOERDT Bjorn
66. NABERMAN Tim
67. VAN DEN BERG Julius

XDS Astana Team
71. HIGUITA Sergio
72. BETTIOL Alberto
73. FEDOROV Yevgeniy
74. KUZMIN Anton
75. MALUCELLI Matteo
76. MULUBRHAN Henok
77. VINOKUROV Nicolas

Tudor Pro Cycling Team
81. VOISARD Yannis
82. FROIDEVAUX Robin
83. GUILLEMETTE Mathias
84. KESSLER Bruno
85. KOLZE CHANGIZI Sebastian
86. MIKUTIS Aivaras
87. THALMANN Roland

Cofidis
91. FRETIN Milan
92. JOALLAND Yael
93. KIRSCH Alex
94. MEEHAN Jamie
95. PAGE Hugo
96. ZAMPERINI Edoardo

TotalEnergies
101. DELBOVE Joris
102. BOULAHOITE Rayan
103. BURGAUDEAU Mathieu
104. GRELLIER Fabien
105. LE BERRE Mathis
106. MANZIN Lorrenzo
107. TESSON Jason

Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
111. GAVIRIA Fernando
112. ARRIOLABENGOA Julen
113. BERWICK Sebastian
114. CASTELLON Jan
115. IBANEZ Javier
116. SORARRAIN Gorka
117. VILLAR Iker

Modern Adventure Pro Cycling
121. DE BOD Stefan
122. CARPENTER Robin
123. CHRISTIAN Sean
124. KESSLER Cole
125. MUNTON Byron
126. PICKRELL Riley
127. STEWART Mark

Team UKYO
131. ZERAY Nahom
132. D'AMATO Andrea
133. DATI Tommaso
134. GARIBBO Nicolo
135. IACOMONI Federico
136. TERADA Yoshiki
137. YAMAMOTO Tetsuo

Terengganu Cycling Team
141. BREGNHOJ Mathias
142. BROWNING Fergus
143. HAMDAN Wan Abdul Rahman
144. KEE Zhe Yie
145. KYFFIN Zeb
146. LOZANO Juan Pedro
147. ROSLI Muhammad Nur Aiman Bin

Saudi Arabia
152. AL NAGHAF Mousa
153. AL FAYROZ Jihad
154. ALHAIDAN Abdullah
155. HAZAZI Nader
156. MALIBARI Ghassan

Oman
161. ALRAHBI Said
162. AL HABSI Asad
163. AL HABSI Hazaa
164. AL RIYAMI Mazin
165. ALYAQOOBI Abdulrahman
166. AL-WAHIBI Mohammed