It was a stage of vastly different parts, with early echelons seeing the race blown apart before a long slog into a block headwind, before the final explosion of the sprint trains towards the finish in Winter Park.
BikeExchange-Jayco were the team that best handled the rough and tumble of the sprint trains in the final kilometres, emerging at the front in the final few hundred metres with Luka Mezgec leading out Groenewegen who accelerated out of his teammate's wheel to hold off the other sprinters and take the win.
"It’s really amazing in my third race," said Groenewegen. "We tried something on the first stage but it didn’t work. Today everyone was really strong and we made a new plan. We did a really good leadout and I only had to sprint for 100 metres.
Groenewegen managed to fight his way into the front split of the race in the early crosswind carnage, but was happy he managed to reform with his teammates.
"It was really crazy, but the team put me in position and Luka (Mezgec) was also there," said Groenewegen. "I’m glad it came back together as it was good to have more guys for the end of the race.
"Thanks to the team, it’s incredible I can’t thank them enough for the win and all the work. It feels like we’re working together for three years well, it’s really nice. I think for the morale it’s good if you can win in the first race. We got a bit angry on the first day."
Groenewegen held off Dan McClay (Arkea-Samsic) and a marauding Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), who came from a long way back to claim a very fast-finishing third place. Overnight leader Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) retained his overall lead, only shaved slightly down ahead of the queen stage tomorrow.
There were some early echelons in the race as the winds whipped up over the desert with gusts over 60 km/hr. That prompted a major split in the peloton with a group of 27 moving away off the front.
The group initially contained Ewan, but he had to stop twice with mechanical problems and lost contact with the head of the race. There was a regrouping of the majority of the peloton and the pace slacked off slightly as the riders turned into a headwind on the way back to AlUla Old Town.
Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Fenix), Anthony Turgis (Total-Energies), Benjamin Declercq (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl) made an attack as the speed lessened, quickly building out a lead of three minutes, before Turgis surged clear and was left by himself, riding into a 45 km/hr headwind with sand being blown across the road.
He extended his lead out to five minutes, before the peloton began to inexorably drag him back. The headwind slowed everyone up, but took its toll most on Turgis who had been stuck out front by himself for the majority of the day’s racing.
The Frenchman was recovered with 14 kilometres left to ride and then the teams began thinking about the best way to take the win.
A number of attacks were launched by the teams without the premier sprinters, hoping to split the race in the elevated winds. Those surges were all neutralised quickly and the leadouts got in order to try and deliver their fast men to the line.
A tight fought battle saw BikeExchange-Jayco surge to the front in the final 500 metres, while Ewan's Lotto Soudal train ran out of room, leaving the Australian to start his sprint from a long way behind. While Ewan made up the disadvantage rapidly, he ran out of road, and Groenewegen posted up for his first win as part of the Australian WorldTour squad since switching from Jumbo-Visma in the offseason.
The Saudi Tour continues with Stage 4, the queen stage of the race, with the climb to the Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid averaging a whopping 12 per cent average incline for 2.9 kilometres. Tune in from 2100 AEDT on SBS On Demand for all the action.
