photo credits @ ToO
A couple of days after he opened his tally for 2024, Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates) punched his way to another victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Oman 2024 today. The young New Zealander proved again to be the strongest when the road kicked up along on the final ascent of the day in Qurayyat. Showered by the heavy rain, Fisher-Black got the better of Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates).
A rolling and windy start from As Sifah inspired aggressive riding, with attacks flying from the start as Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe) is the first rider to open a gap after 8 km. The Polish rider showed his power and his experience while the battle went on behind him, with several counter-attacks. From there, the bunch splits with Benedetti getting caught at 17 km. Meanwhile, the peloton got back together 4 km further into the race except for Wan Abdul Rahman Hamdan (Terengganu Cycling Team), who was forced to abandon by a crash.
The break finally sets off
Tegshbayar Batsaikhan (Roojai Insurance) initiated a new attack at km 23, a move that was quickly followed by Oscar Pelegri (Burgos-BH), wearing the golden jersey as leader of the combativity standings, and Nariyuki Masuda (JCL Team Ukyo). Pelegri dominated both the first intermediate sprint (Al Jissah, km 28.4) and the climbs of Al Jissah (km 32.2) and Al Wadi Al Kabir (km 38.8).
As the gap reached 5 minutes after 46 km, several teams moved to the front of the bunch to control the day, with factoring prominently. Back up front, the attackers pushed their lead to a maximum of 5’40’’ halfway through the race (85km to go).
Fisher-Black flies under the rain
Into the final 50 km, heavy rain showered the riders, while the leaders’ advantage dropped down to 1’45’’ with 30 km to go, with the escapees eventually getting reined in with 8km to go.
Arkéa-B&B Hôtels set a strong pace on the ascent (2.6km at 7%)… But nobody could resist Fisher-Black when he attacked inside the last 500 meters to claim victory 2’’ ahead of Lamperti. In the meantime, UAE Team Emirates showed its collective strength with Ulissi finishing third, followed by Adam Yates in sixth.
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