photo credits @ Tour of Oman
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) continued his winning ways, after claiming the 6th and final stage of the Tour of Oman today, in a sprint finale that held off challenges from the Giant-Alpecin duo of Zico Waeytens and Søren Kragh Andersen.
Meanwhile, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) finished safely in the peloton to seal the overall race victory, with his closest rival, Romain Bardet (FDJ) claiming second place, while his Astana teammate, Dane Jakob Fuglesang, rounded out the final podium in third spot.
Race Highlights
No sooner did today’s stage in The Wave, Muscat get underway, a small breakaway group of 3 riders attempted to make their way clear. However, their move was short-lived, as they were quickly reclaimed by the peloton.
From there, another group containing Sébastien Minard (Ag2r), Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-Argon 18), Gianni Meersman (Etixx-QuickStep), Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Topsport Vlaanderen), Daniel Eaton (UnitedHealthcare), Jaroslaw Marycz (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) and Jesper Asselman (Roompot-Oranje Peloton) made a subsequent attempted to ride clear, this time the group making it stick.
After an hour of being out front, the breakaway group had established an advantage over the peloton of just over two minutes.
However, the extremely high pace of the peloton (46kmh/28.5mph), eventually caught the escapees during the final 20 kilometers – just as the race reached the third and final lap of the finishing circuit in Matrah Corniche.
Heading into the final kilometers, Katusha was busy moving Kristoff into position, while Giant-Alpecin was working equally hard trying to position both its sprinters, Waeytens and Andersen.
However, the Dutch rider once gain proved unstoppable, as he easily out-powered his rivals with a final surge for the line.
Tour of Oman 2016, stage 6
1. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha 2. Zico Waeytens (Bel) Giant-Alpecin 3. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Giant-Alpecin 4. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 5. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 6. Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty-Groupe-Gobert 7. Amaury Capiot (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 8. Marko Kump (Slo) Lampre-Merida 9. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 10. Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare all same time
Final general classification
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana 2. Romain Bardet (Fra) FDJ at 15 secs 3. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana at 24 secs 4. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin at 40 secs 5. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida at 54 secs 6. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data at 1-06 7. Brendan Canty (Aus) Drapac Pro Cycling at 1-31 8. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale at 1-38 9. Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data at 1-56 10. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx-QuickStep at 1-59
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