Report: SaudiTour Stage 3

Phil Bauhaus wins stage 3 and now leads overall, Charles Page (Ribble Weldtite) is best young rider on the stage in 11th

Report: SaudiTour Stage 3

Phil Bauhaus wins stage 3 and now leads overall, Charles Page (Ribble Weldtite) is best young rider on the stage in 11th

Getty Images

Second on yesterday’s stage, Phil Bauhaus got his revenge in Al Bujairi conquering an impressive bunch sprint. The German made the best of the final uphill straight suited to his power and a perfect lead out by his Bahrain-McLaren team mates Heinrich Haussler and Mark Cavendish. The 25-year-old eventually beat Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (NTT Pro Cycling Team) and Youcef Reguigui (TSG) to the line.

Despite being extremely active all along the day’s stage, previous race leader Rui Costa loses his green jersey to Bauhaus who now has a 3” lead with two stages to go.

Stage 3 of the Saudi Tour was to be a rather short one starting from the King Saud University and heading south-west before returning to Al Bujairi after 119kms of racing. Short but extremely entertaining! The 116 remaining riders took off just before 1 o’clock for an intense battle. Indeed despite several breakaway attempts, it took over 20 kilometres for a breakaway to build a big enough gap over the peloton. At km 22, Suter (Wallonie-Bruxelles), Ellsay (Rally Cycling), Batmunkh (TSG), Holler and Kangangi (Bike AID) powered away. Their lead reached 1’45 at km 30 and then 2’ at the first intermediate active sprint won by Suter ahead of Batmunkh and Holler.

… continued after advert

But on the long uphill portion heading to the second intermediate sprint, team UAE Emirates took command of the pack and chased hard, launching overall leader Rui Costa who took off on a counter-attack. The Green jersey made it first to the sprint with a 5” advantage over the first chasing group. The Portuguese was eventually caught at km 85 by the peloton that had bunched up together again.

The third active sprint was then claimed by Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) ahead of Madrazo (Burgos-BH) and Hailemicheal (Nippo Delko Provence) with the last two insisting and managing to pull away from the peloton. With 25kms to go the Spaniard and the Ethiopian could enjoy a slim 20” advantage. They were to be caught at km 100.

Again, as the road started rising, Rui Costa powered away on his own. He went on to claim the bonus sprint and the all-important 3” going with it. After having a 20” lead with 7kms to go, the overall leader was caught by the hungry bunch before the final 5-km mark. The peloton remained together all the way to the final straight, the same one as yesterday’s stage 2. Beautifully led out by his prestigious team mates Heinrich Haussler and Mark Cavendish, Phil Bauhaus managed the perfect sprint, beating Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (NTT Pro Cycling Team) and Youcef Reguigui.

A winner last year of the Copa Bernocchi but also of stages on the Abu Dhabi Tour and Criterium du Dauphiné in previous seasons, Bauhaus wins his first race of 2020. Thanks to the bonus seconds of his stage win, the German takes command of the general classification and will be wearing the green jersey on tomorrow’s fourth stage. He also leads the points classification while Kron (Riwal Readynez Cycling Team) remains best young rider and Fuentes (Burgos-BH) the most active rider of the event.

Photo: James Huntly Photography

Another great result for Charles Page

With 11th place and in the mix for the sprint, Charles Page is showing his new team what he can do and in return they are thrilled with how Charles has gelled with the team. “He is going to be a real asset in pretty much every race we do and we are going to work hard as a team to prepare the best readout we can for him for future races” said a team spokseman.

Charles meanwhile, explained how the race went. “The race was basically an out and back loop, repeating a ten minute climb twice before some 500 meter 12% ramps in the final 12km. The second time up the climb after 75km, the pace really went up and started to stretch the race which eventually led to splits forming. The race eventually came back together with a more select group with 25km to go.”

“All the teams then formed at the front to control the race heading into the 12% Active Sprint point. I managed to position myself well and despite suffering with the help of Zeb and Lamps, I managed to make it over the top with the front group, leading into the technical finish, which was the same as yesterday. I got a bit swamped in the wash in the final 3km but managed to get myself into the top 20 for when the sprint opened up. I then just emptied myself to the line. I am delighted to improve on yesterdays result and hope the final two stages present themselves with some more opportunity’s.”

Photo: James Huntly Photography

… continued after advert

Stage 3
1 Phil Bauhaus Bahrain – McLaren 02:48:27
2 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg NTT Pro Cycling Team
3 Youcef Reguigui Terengganu Inc. TSG
4 Carlos Barbero NTT Pro Cycling Team
5 Nacer Bouhanni Team Arkéa – Samsic
6 August Jensen Riwal Readynez Cycling
7 Matteo Malucelli Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
8 Timothy Dupont Circus – Wanty Gobert
9 Geoffrey Soupe Total Direct Energie
10 Lucas Carstensen Bike Aid

11 Charles Page Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
13 Mark Cavendish Bahrain – McLaren
23 Rui Costa UAE Team Emirates
29 Connor Swift Team Arkéa – Samsic @ 06
30 Niki Terpstra Total Direct Energie @ 06
36 James Shaw Riwal Readynez Cycling @ 09
37 Zeb Kyffin Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 12
50 Steve Lampier Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 20
59 Fred Wright Bahrain – McLaren @ 01:18
69 Matthew Gibson Burgos – BH @ 02:53
87 Daniel McLay Team Arkéa – Samsic @ 03:32
95 Oliver Moors Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 07:36
112 Jack Rees Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 10:24
114 Jacob Tipper Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
115 Richard Jones Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling

Best Young Rider – Stage
1. Charles Page
6. Connor Swift
7. James Shaw
8. Zeb Kyffin

Overall
1 Phil Bauhaus Bahrain – McLaren 11:12:56
2 Rui Costa UAE Team Emirates @ 03
3 Nacer Bouhanni Team Arkéa – Samsic @ 08

23 Connor Swift Team Arkéa – Samsic @ 34
25 Mark Cavendish Bahrain – McLaren @ 41
28 James Shaw Riwal Readynez Cycling Team @ 47
42 Fred Wright Bahrain – McLaren @ 02:38
45 Steve Lampier Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 03:10
59 Daniel McLay Team Arkéa – Samsic @ 05:45
69 Charles Page Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 08:11
74 Zeb Kyffin Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 08:34
81 Matthew Gibson Burgos – BH @ 10:15
96 Richard Jones Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 13:56
109 Jack Rees Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 19:17
110 Jacob Tipper Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 19:18
114 Oliver Moors Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 27:00

Overall Young Rider
1. Kron
3. Connor Swift
4. James Shaw

Full Results Are Here