Dylan Groenewegen sprinted to a strong second place despite a slow puncture and echelons on stage three of the AlUla Tour.
The day always looked set for a bunch sprint finish, but crosswinds inside the final 30km wreaked havoc on the peloton and split it to pieces.
Team Jayco AlUla had numbers in the front group as they amassed around Groenewegen ahead of the anticipated fast finish.
As the pack raced into town, the squad positioned themselves well through the technical run-in, guiding their sprinter onto the wheel of stage one winner Tim Merlier.
The duo then went head-to-head out of the final corner, with Groenewegen unable to overhaul his rival with the 31-year-old hampered by a slow puncture in the finale.
Dylan Groenewegen
“I was on the limit but in the roundabout, I could feel that my front wheel was slipping a bit and I saw that the tyre was flat. That’s also a part of cycling. It’s a bit annoying but I think that everything else we did really well and the only problem was with the front tyre. It is what it is but we have one more chance so it keeps the motivation high. We have the GC left and then one more sprint stage. It’s coming closer and next time hopefully we have no bad luck and we can get the win.”
AlUla Tour stage 3 results
1. Tim Merlier 04:13:23
2. Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla) st
