Dylan Groenewegen powers to victory in stage one of the Saudi Tour

Dutch rider is the fastest to take opening day win for Jayco AIUla

Dylan Groenewegen
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AIUla) powered away from his rivals to take a superb win for Jayco AIUla on the opening day of the Saudi Tour.

As the peloton flew under a kilometre to go, the Dutchman’s teammates kept him safely out the way as several riders were caught up in a crash in the hectic finale. With the finish line in sight, Luca Mezgec then put in a huge effort in order to set Groenewegen up for the win.

Once Groenewegen left his teammates' wheel, there was only going to be one winner and the Dutchman was simply too strong for Dusan Rajovic (Bahrain Victorious) and Max Walscheid of Cofidis who finished second and third respectively.

"It was really hectic. We did a lot of work. DSM worked and the breakaway was really strong,” Groenewegen said after the stage. "We were motivated to show ourselves and we were really strong. We waited for a good moment and then we went.

"We did a lot of video work from last year, what we did good and what went wrong. We also have some new strong guys in the team. [Stybar] is really good from QuickStep, and I know if I stay on Luka’s wheel it’s the best one."

Despite suffering a puncture earlier in the day, Groenewegen was still kept in contention after superb work from his Jayco AIUla teammates.

"The peloton split and then I had a flat," he said. "I said immediately that the whole team had to wait. The team performance was really strong today and we’re really happy that we could take the first win of the season."
 

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