photo credits @ ToO
After a year hampered by injuries, Amaury Capiot (Arkéa-B&B Hôtels) claimed an emotional victory in stage 4 of the Tour of Oman today, after the Belgian sprinter survived a climb-packed stage from Fanja to Yitti Hills, where he narrowly got the better of Ide Schelling (Astana Qazaqstan), who was 3rd last year on the same finish, and Davide De Pretto (Jayco AlUla).
Meanwhile, the battle for the general classification remains disputed, with Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates) making the most of time bonuses through the stage to claim back the red jersey 3’’ ahead of Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step) on the eve of the final stage, set to decide the overall winner on the slopes of Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain).
Race Highlights
The peloton rolled from Fanja, as the course was adapted and shortened (104km) to take into account the exceptional weather conditions in the Sultanate of Oman.
Blake Quick (Team Jayco Alla), Rasmus Bogh Wallin (Uno-X Mobility) and Matteo Malucelli (JCL Team Ukyo) were the first riders to set off, later opening up a modest gap of around a minute after 20km of racing.
Soudal Quick-Step controls the attackers
On the day after Paul Magnier and Lamperti took the race over in Al Bustan, Soudal Quick-Step set the pace, while the escapees lengthened their lead to around 2 minutes.
Burgos-BH upped the ante on the first ascent of the day, the mighty climb of Al Jabal Road (Bousher Al Amerat). Following the climb, Carter Bettles (Roojai Insurance) tried to counter-attack but he couldn’t bridge across the leaders, who were still holding onto a one-minute lead with 40km remaining.
The stage for Capiot, the red for Fisher-Black
Soudal Quick-Step and UAE Team Emirates took to the front towards the final ascents of the day, later reining in the escapees along the base of the penultimate climb of the day with 10.8km to go, with Fisher-Black taking 3 bonus seconds and the overall lead.
The pace remained hard until the finish, culminating in a reduced bunch sprint to the line, with Schelling almost nixing Capiot, while De Pretto rounded out the podium.
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