photo credits @ Tour of Oman
Young American talent Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) flew to victory in stage 3 of the Tour of Oman today. The 23-year-old climber made the most of the steepest sections leading to an unprecedented finish in Al Hamra (climb of Jabal Hatt, 4.6km at 8.5%) to get the best of another young rising talents, Belgium’s Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step), and France’s Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroën). Not only does Jorgenson take the stage win, he also claimed the leader’s red jersey as well.
Race Highlights
The start from Al Khobar quickly saw five attackers jump ahead of the bunch: Johan Meens (Bingoal WB), Alejandro Franco (Burgos-BH), Said Al Rahbi (Oman National Team), Stephen Bassett (Human Powered Health) and Mohd Harrif Saleh (Terengganu Polygon).
From there, the quintet opened up a gap of 3’30’’, while Jesus Herrada’s Cofidis took the reins of the bunch to defend the leader’s red jersey.
Cofidis and UAE pull
Al Rahbi and Saleh struggled on an uphill section 45km into the stage, with Saleh later making his way back to the front of the race while Al Rahbi fell back into the bunch.
Saleh went on to claim the intermediate sprint (km 93.1), before dropping back into the bunch.
Meens, Franco and Bassett entered the last 50km with a lead of 3’30’’. A dozen kilometers further into the race, UAE Team Emirates also sent a man to the front of the bunch to participate in the chase.
Jorgenson pounces
The gap later dipped down to 1’40’’ into the last 20km, and then down to just under a minute with 12km to go. The attackers were eventually caught just ahead of the final ascent: 4.6km at 8.5% with sections around 15% in the last 2km.
Already in the top 5 up Qurayyat, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) opened up his sprint during the final 200 meters, leaving his rivals unable to match his acceleration.
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