The 6th edition of the AlUla Tour, it sticks with the balance of 3 sprints and 2 GC days, I think it works well for us watching fans. Last year, Tom Pidcock blasted his way to GC success but he’s not back to defend his title, but will Eddie Dunbar manage to keep it within the team?

Binissalem > Andratx 109km Same route as last year when Thalita De Jong took the win from Silvia Persico and Cédrine Kerbaol. It’s a day for the climbers but it does help if you’ve got a punchy finish.

Llucmajor > Llucmajor 134km Day 2 for the women over in Mallorca. After today’s climbing race, this one should be for the sprinters. 

La Nucia > Valencia 206km The 3rd of the races in the Valencia area, this one should be a bunch sprint. Groenewegen won here in 2024, he’d love to immediately get a win for the Unibet Rose Rockets.

Stirling > Stirling 170km The final stage of the TDU and the race heads to the lap circuit in Stirling. This is the first time the race has finished in Stirling since 2020, which is weird as it used to be a staple of the race. Previous winners include Caleb Ewan (twice), Jay McCarthy (remember him?) and JJ Lobato (mythical uphill sprinter!), you need a lot of punch, it suits the climbing sprinters. With lots of crashes and DNFs in stage 4, we could see a different type of race, it all depends on the attitude of the peloton.

Castellón de la Plana > Onda 171km Just the 3rd edition of the race, I like this little block of 3 races down near Valencia, it’s perfect for teams in Spain for team camps. Morgado won last year, jumping away with a group of riders on the last climb and holding off the chasing bunch. Will UAE successfully defend their title this year?

Brighton > Willunga 131km Extreme heat and risk of wildfires means that Willunga Hill has had to be removed from the stage, instead, we’re going to get a sprint stage in Willunga town. It’s the same finished used in the opening stage of the women’s Tour, you might remember Bryan Coquard winning a stage here in 2023. No Willunga Hill is obviously disappointing, but there’s nothing the organisers can do. 

Marratxi > Felanitx 129km The first couple of editions of this race ended in a sprint, that won’t be happening this year as the organisers have decided to end the race on a climb. It’s the first race of the year for all of the riders, making my job of predicting the outcome quite tricky, but I’ll give it a bash.

Estivella > Estivella 164km Come on then, who’s idea was it to put three ascents of Alto del Garbí into a race in January? Hands up, no hiding now. Whoever it was won’t be flavour of the month with most of the peloton, but I’d like to give them a kiss. You could call it the perfect way to blow away the winter cobwebs or possibly an act of sadomasochism, but whether they like it or not, the riders are going to have to deal with. Apart from the extra ascent, the race is pretty similar to last year, when...

Henley Beach > Nairne 141km 2472m of climbing, which is more than the Willunga stage, this isn’t as straightforward as you might think. The good news for the sprinters is that the first half of the day is much harder than the second, it would actually be a much better stage if done in reverse. Most of the sprinters will hope to be fighting for the win, but it all depends on how hard the peloton make the climbs.