Riyadh, Feb 3, 2023, SPA -- Ruben Guerrero, the Portuguese professional road racing cyclist of Movistar Team won the Saudi Tour Championship 2023, which was organized from Jan 30 to Feb 3, 2023 by the Ministry of Sports in cooperation with the Saudi Cycling Federation in AlUla Governorate, as Guerrero completed the five stages of the race, leading the overall individual time classification and overcoming 112 competitors, represented 16 teams from the seven continents of the world.
The Portuguese cyclist won the championship title, despite his individual ranking in the fifth stage of the race, which started from the old town of AlUla, reaching Maraya, with a distance of 143 km, however, he was the fastest rider who covered the total distance of the stages with a distance of 830 km in 20 hours, 20 minutes and 4 seconds.
Davide Formolo, the Italian professional road racing cyclist of the UAE club player, came in second place in the overall individual ranking of the championship, as the difference between him and his Portuguese competitor was 8 seconds, followed by a second, Santiago Guetrago, the Colombian professional road racing cyclist of Team Bahrain Victorious, who won third place.
Dylan Groenewegen, the Dutch professional road racing cyclist of UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla, finished his participation in the championship, winning the red jersey for topping the general points classification, while the Danish cyclist Marcus Sander Hansen of the UNO X team, who represents the most active cyclists, won the blue jersey, as the Colombian Santiago Guetrago of Team Bahrain Victorious wore the white jersey for being the best youth cyclist and the number one young rider in the individual classification.
The UAE team won first place in the overall standings of the teams, as its players covered the total race distance in 47 hours, 51 minutes and 32 seconds.
As for the winners of the fifth and final stage of the 143-kilometre race, which took place from the Old City to Maraya, the Italian professional road racing cyclist Simone Consonni of the Covedis team won first place, after crossing the finish line in 3 hours, 10 minutes and 13 seconds, followed by the Italian cyclist Matteo Malucelli of Pangol team in second place, and the German UAE player Pascal Ackermann came in third place.
The Saudi Tour comes as one of the initiatives of the Quality of Life Program, which is concerned with improving the quality of life of the individual and the family, by preparing the necessary and supportive environments that provide a variety of new options that enhance the participation of citizens, residents and visitors in cultural, entertainment, sports and other activities.
--SPA
23:48 LOCAL TIME 20:48 GMT
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