Rory Nolan
4.6K posts
@RXNolan
Head of Medicine for @UnoXteam. Dad, rower and MCFC season ticket holder.
Sakarias Koller Løland makes it official with his first pro win: UNO-X MOBILITY IS A UCI WORLD TOUR MEMBER IN THE 2026-2028 PERIOD! #VenetoClassic
We got the first true crosswind stage of the year, the day that played a huge role in terms of impact for AlUla Tour GC, as it allowed two Uno-X riders to stand on the podium at the end of the race. Many different types of analyses have been made about what an echelon is, what can lead to an actual split forming, but perhaps fewer about what is needed to maintain the difference resulting from the split. In this case, we need to go back 31 kilometers to the finish, and here I immediately draw attention to how the teams are positioned, and I must specifically mention Gino van Oudenhove and Max Emil Korner, who were in the Norwegian team car. Not only did they foresee that there would be an echelon section within the next 1-1.5 kilometers, but due to the right turn, everyone from the team in front was already trying to occupy the right side of the road to ensure that Uno-X would be in the best position when the action started. Immediately after the turn, the split came, with four of them moving ahead to create chaos, while two others managed to catch up to the front of the peloton after a kilometer-long chase from the very end of the first split. The split formed, the status quo was established, we saw who was in front and who was behind, and at that moment a gigantic psychological game began, which equally affected both parties, the pursuer and the pursued - and this seemed particularly hellish, especially on the desertish, open roads. On one side, in the role of the pursueds, was Uno-X, who had their own goal: somehow gaining a 40-second lead and bringing Dversnest/possibly Kulset to the podium. Their difficulty was that they could see very clearly that the distance was growing very slowly; they had to build that gap almost centimeter by centimeter, which, with the bonus and everything else, could have been enough for success. On the other side were the pursuers, with Bahrain being the most determined among them - in their case, they wanted to defend Kepplinger's second place as much as possible, and the pursuers had the advantage that Stefan de Bod's heroic example could be hovering in their minds and eyes, as he managed to catch up to the leading group alone over 4 kilometers of chase and leg burns. But this is where the difference between the two groups came in: Aleksander Kristoff. The Norwegian veteran sprinter was the deciding factor between the two groups. It was very clear that Kristoff truly united the 6 Uno-X riders in the front group, the alternating leadership worked excellently, and even TotalEnergies helped out once or twice for Jegat, while on the other side, although Bahrain maintained a solid pace under Pasqualon's leadership, this pace couldn't be as impactful as the Norwegians' efforts. Faith and unity crushed Kepplinger's chances for a podium finish in the end, to use a fitting image: Uno-X made a bet on the right camel today. The end: Moschetti's victory was unexpected; I won't be popular for saying that I hate that camera shot from which the sprint was originally filmed... but after such an injury, I can only say positive things about the team and Moschetti. #AlUlaTour
