The AlUla Tour kicks off from Tuesday, January 27th to Saturday, January 31st. This historic event will see the Saudi Arabian stage race make a quantum leap this year, becoming a UCI 2.Pro category race for the first time.

The event is organized by ASO, the same organization that runs the Tour de France and many other major world cycling events, and the route remains the traditional one: three stages for sprinters, one with an explosive finale and one, the final one, featuring a challenging climb.  

We at Fantacycling will be there and will broadcast commentated highlights of each stage on our YouTube channel.  

A race in which there will be no shortage of protagonists, the most anticipated being the top Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan , supported by Simone Consonni and Edward Theuns.  

Competing against him in the stages are two German sprinters: Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious and Pascal Ackerman of Team Jayco AlUla . There will also be two other experienced sprinters: Fabio Jakobsen of Team PicNic and Fernando Gaviria, who this year moved to Caja Rural. Also watch out for Fretin of Cofidis.  

We'll see other riders like Jan Christen and Arrieta of UAE Team Emirate , and Paul Double of Team Jayco AlUla . Astana, on the other hand, will feature Alberto Bettiol and a rider looking for redemption, Sergio Higuita .  

There will also be a selection from Saudi Arabia and one from Oman , by the way, we will also show you highlights of the Tour of Oman on our YouTube channel .

Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency