Favorites stage 5 AlUla Tour 2025 | Something with camels and a racetrack in Saudi Arabia

The final stage of the AlUla Tour will be set at the start and finish of AlUla's Camel Cup Track. With a gentle slope and descent just before the finale, we also finished there last season, and Tim Merlier came out on top. Can he now go for two and three in a row? IDLProCycling.com gives you the details!

Stage 5 AlUla Tour 2025 route.

The riders will experience an actual camel race in the final stage of the AlUla Tour on Saturday, as it starts and finishes on the AlUla camel track—a feast for the sprinters for the third time in this tour.

Last year, the third stage of the Saudi Arabian round also finished here, where Tim Merlier took victory ahead of Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor) and Casper van Uden of dsm-firmenich PostNL. The Belgian from Soudal Quick-Step won the first and third stages in the 2025 edition, so all lights are on green for him again.

The power to work together as a team will be useful on this stage, which involves a tough lap around the camel race track. The last straight line is more than two kilometers long, so timing will also be crucial.

Times
Start: 4:35 AM EST
Finish: 8:32 AM EST

Weather stage 5 AlUla Tour 2025

In 2024, the stage resulted in an echelon spectacle, and that could be the case again as the wind blows firmly from the northeast in AlUla. There are many open sections at a temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius.

Favorites stage 5 AlUla Tour 2025

We have had two sprints in this AlUla Tour, so there is a frame of reference. For stage five, that frame leans mainly toward Tim Merlier, the Belgian who has already hit the mark in stages one and three and won supremely at this finish last year. Supported by his regular lead-out, Bert Van Lerberghe, Merlier is excelling, which has already paid off.

For the Netherlands, Dylan Groenewegen is representing Jayco AlUla. He feels good, but he wasn't in the top position in stage one and had to sprint with a flat tire on day three. Third time's the charm?

Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor) finished second on this finish in 2024, but luck is not yet on his side in Saudi Arabia either. He crashed in the first stage, which left him with some back problems, and on day three, he had a flat tire. Fabio Jakobsen (Picnic PostNL) hasn't started sprinting yet. Still, judging from Casper van Uden's third-place finish last year, his team at least knows how to handle this finish, also without Nils Eekhoff, who unfortunately dropped out after a hard crash on day three.

Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE-Emirates) has already finished second once and third once, leading the list of other contenders. That also includes Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X), Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5), Marc Brustenga (Equipo Kern Pharma), Sacha Weemaes, Pierre Barbier (Wagner Bazin) and Alberto Brutomesso (Bahrain Victorious), among others.

Favorites stage 5 AlUla Tour 2025, according to IDLProCycling.com

Top favorites: Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla)
Outsiders: Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor), Fabio Jakobsen (Picnic PostNL) and Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE-Emirates XRG)
Long shots: Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X), Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5), Marc Brustenga (Equipo Kern Pharma), Sacha Weemaes, Pierre Barbier (Wagner Bazin) and Alberto Brutomesso (Bahrain Victorious)

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