Bauhaus bags Bahrain-McLaren’s first win at Saudi Tour
Bahaus nets victory for his team after they had been denied in both previous stages.
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Phil Bauhaus sprinted to victory at the Saudi Tour on Thursday, taking the first win for his new-look Bahrain-McLaren team.
The 25-year-old was on the front of the pack for over 500 meters having taken up the lead out, but ended up netting the win himself with a long, powerful acceleration.
Bauhaus had opened the throttle to accelerate his sprinter Mark Cavendish toward the line in downtown Al Bujairi, but on spotting he had the slightest of gaps on the bunch behind him, stamped on the pedals and won by several bikes lengths.
“He [Cavendish] left me the space, I hit it,” said Bahuaus. “It was really awesome”
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (NTT Pro Cycling) took second and Youcef Reguigui (Terengganu) came third. Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic) again missed out having been put into a good position to challenge for the sprint but mis-timing his move.
Despite being aggressive in attempting to defend his GC lead by sprinting to take the intermediate bonus points, Rui Costa (UAE-Team Emirates) lost the leader’s jersey to Bahaus, who had started the day just four seconds back.
Bahrain-McLaren had been active throughout the opening stages of the race but so far come up empty-handed, with Heinrich Haussler outsprinted Tuesday and again denied after his late move Wednesday.
The Bahraini team grabbed the race with both hands Thursday, perfectly controlling the peloton in the final three kilometers through the twisting, tricky streets of Al Bujairi. Haussler took it up first before handing over to Bauhaus, the last man for Cavendish. Bouhanni and his leadout had been waiting in the wheels, looking ready to go. However, Buahaus’s quick thinking when spotting he had distanced both Cavendish and the rival teams meant that his team didn’t miss out on the win three days in a row.
Stage 3 results:
- Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-McLaren): 2:48:27
- Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (NTT Pro Cycling): S.T.
- Youcef Reguigui (Terengganu): S.T.
GC after stage 3
- Heinrich Haussler (Bahrain-McLaren): 11:12:56
- Rui Costa (UAE-Team Emirates): +0:00:03
- Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic): +0:00:08