Another second-place finish for Bahrain Victorious came on Stage 3 of the AlUla Tour, with Afonso Eulálio finishing runner-up after a hard-fought summit showdown.

Stage 3 was the shortest stage of the 2026 AlUla Tour at 142.1 kilometres, starting from Winter Park and finishing uphill at Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah, the first summit finish of the race. The early kilometres were controlled, with a small breakaway given limited freedom before being reeled in as the peloton, driven largely by UAE Team Emirates, increased the pace heading into the final 30 kilometres. Positioning proved crucial ahead of the climb, with Bahrain Victorious doing an excellent job to keep Eulálio well placed as the race approached the decisive ascent.

On the final climb, the race ignited with a sharp acceleration from Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates), who briefly opened a gap inside the final three kilometres. Christen carried a small advantage into the final kilometre before being brought back by the chasing favourites. Inside the final 1,000 metres, Afonso Eulálio launched his move, bridging across and then distancing Christen, momentarily looking set to claim the stage victory. Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Sergio Higuita (XDS Astana) then came across together, with Higuita launching a sharp attack that was brought back by Eulálio. In the final 200 metres, Voisard proved the strongest, coming past Eulálio close to the line to take the stage win. Eulálio crossed in second place ahead of Higuita in third, with all three riders awarded the same time and gaining six seconds on the rest of the favourites.

With his second-place finish, Eulálio moves into the lead of the young rider classification and firmly into contention in the general classification, sitting within four seconds of the overall race lead after three stages. Bahrain Victorious ends the day with another podium result and strong momentum heading into the remaining stages of the AlUla Tour.

Afonso Eulálio had mixed feelings after the stage:
“In the final I’m happy and sad… for me and for the team. I think we started this race well, we battled a lot. The team did an incredible job for me, they believed in me. In the last two days it was super hard with echelons and we rode hard at the front. I have to say thank you to the team for believing in me.”

Asked how he felt about leading the best young rider classification, Afonso added: “I’m a little bit more happy for the white jersey, but we missed the victory and we’ll keep fighting for the GC.”