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AlUla Tour 2024 Unveils Cycling Race Stages

The fourth edition of the race will take place from January 30 to February 3.
The fourth edition of the race will take place from January 30 to February 3.
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AlUla Tour 2024 Unveils Cycling Race Stages

The fourth edition of the race will take place from January 30 to February 3.
The fourth edition of the race will take place from January 30 to February 3.

The organizing committee of AlUla Tour 2024 for cycling unveiled on Monday the five stages of the race, which covers 811.2 kilometers.

The fourth edition of the race, which will take place from January 30 to February 3, provides an opportunity for outstanding cyclists to show their skills and abilities. The route will pass through the historical area of Saudi Arabia’s AlUla, which is rich in picturesque sites, such as AlManshiya Train Station, Sharaan Nature Reserve, and the archaeological site of Hegra, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The five stages of AlUla Tour 2024 are:

Stage 1, on January 30, will start and finish at AlManshiya Train Station, covering a distance of 149.1 kilometers.

Stage 2, on January 31, will go from the Winter Park to Sharaan Nature Reserve, spanning a distance of 199.1 kilometers.

Stage 3, scheduled for February 1, will begin at AlUla International Airport and end at AlUla Camel Cup Track, covering a distance of 170.6 kilometers.

Stage 4, set for February 2, will take the cyclists from Hegra to Maraya, covering a distance of 142.2 kilometers.

Stage 5, on February 3, will start at AlUla Old Town and finish at the Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid, spanning a distance of 150.2 kilometers.

The race will feature 18 world-class teams: nine Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) WorldTeams: Astana Qazaqstan, Bahrain Victorious, BORA-Hansgrohe, Cofidis, Movistar, Team Jayco AlUla, dsm-firmenich PostNL, Soudal Quick-Step, and UAE Team Emirates; five UCI ProTeams: Euskaltel-Euskadi, Q36.5, TotalEnergies, Tudor, and Uno-X Mobility; and four others: Saudi team, JCL Team Ukyo, Roojai Online Insurance, and Terengganu Polygon.

AlUla Tour is organized by the Ministry of Sports and the Royal Commission for AlUla, in coordination with the Saudi Cycling Federation and UCI. It is part of the Quality of Life program and is considered one of the most important international sporting events hosted by the Kingdom.

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Keys Upsets Swiatek, to Face Sabalenka in Saturday’s Final

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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Keys Upsets Swiatek, to Face Sabalenka in Saturday’s Final

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

When Madison Keys finally finished off her 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) upset of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in a high-intensity, high-quality Australian Open semifinal on Thursday night, saving a match point along the way, the 29-year-old American crouched on the court and placed a hand on her white hat.

She had a hard time believing it all. The comeback. What Keys called an “extra dramatic finish.” The victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who'd been on the most dominant run at Melbourne Park in a dozen years. And now the chance to play in her second Grand Slam final, a long wait after being the 2017 US Open runner-up.

“I’m still trying to catch up to everything that’s happening,” said the 19th-seeded Keys, who will face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, for the trophy Saturday. “I felt like I was just fighting to stay in it. ... It was so up and down and so many big points."

Just to be sure, Keys asked whether Swiatek was, indeed, one point from victory. Yes, Madison, she was, while serving at 6-5, 40-30, but missed a backhand into the net, then eventually getting broken by double-faulting, sending the contest to a first-to-10, win-by-two tiebreaker.

“I felt like I blacked out there at some point,” Keys said, “and was out there running around.”

Whatever she was doing, it worked. Keys claimed more games in the semifinal than the 14 total that Swiatek dropped in her five previous matches over the past two weeks.

Sabalenka beat good friend Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 earlier Thursday. Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, can become the first woman since 1999 to complete a threepeat.

"If she plays like this,” the 11th-seeded Badosa said, “I mean, we can already give her the trophy.”

Keys might have something to say about that.

Still, Sabalenka won her first major trophy at Melbourne Park in 2023, and she since has added two more — in Australia a year ago and at the US Open last September.
The last woman to reach three finals in a row at the year’s first Grand Slam tournament was Serena Williams, who won two from 2015-17. Martina Hingis was the most recent woman with a threepeat, doing it from 1997-1999.
“I have goosebumps. I’m so proud of myself,” Sabalenka said.
Swiatek had not lost a single service game since the first round, but was broken three times by Keys in the first set alone and eight times in all.
That included each of Swiatek’s first two times serving, making clear right from the get-go this would not be her usual sort of day. And while Swiatek did eke out the opening set, she was overwhelmed in the second, trailing 5-0 before getting a game.
This was the big-hitting Keys at her very best. She turns 30 next month and, at the suggestion of her coach, former player Bjorn Fratangelo — who also happens to be her husband — decided to try a new racket this season, an effort both to help her with generating easy power but also to relieve some strain on her right shoulder.
It’s certainly paid immediate dividends. Keys is now on an 11-match winning streak, including taking the title at a tuneup event in Adelaide.
She was good enough to get through this one, which was as tight as can be down the stretch.
“At the end, I feel like we were both kind of battling some nerves. ... It just became who can get that final point and who can be a little bit better than the other one,” Keys said. “And I’m happy it was me.”