photo credits @ Tour of Oman
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) claimed his third stage victory in this year’s Tour of Oman today, after winning the sprint finale ahead of Eduard Grosu (Nippo – Vini Fantini) and Sacha Modolo (Team UAE Abu Dhabi) along the Muttrah Corniche.
Meanwhile, Ben Hermans (BMC) finished safely in the peloton to seal the overall title.
Race Highlights
Iljo Keisse (Quick-Step Floors), Aimé De Gendt (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Benjamin Geraud (Delko Marseille Provence KTM), marked the day’s first breakaway group, subsequently building up an advantage of around three minutes over the peloton.
Back in the peloton, disaster almost struck for race leader Ben Hermans when he crashed just before the first climb. Fortunately, the Belgian rider was able to remount and rejoin the main field in defense of his leader’s jersey.
Back up front, Giraud was dropped by his breakaway companions during the climb, and later joined by Mark Christian (Aqua Blue) and Preben Van Hecke (Sport Vlaanderens), who had jumped from the peloton. However, Christian later gave up the chase and fell back into the main group.
Meanwhile, Keisse and De Gendt were holding on to a 1:20 lead, as they started the first lap of the finishing circuit course with 25 kilometers to go.
At that point, the duo’s gap had dropped to just 45 seconds with 10 kilometers remaining, while Team Katusha continued leading the chase in earnest.
Shortly thereafter, Keisse found himself alone, clinging to the narrowest of leads, only to be reeled in by the chase during the last 5 kilometers.
From there, Romain Bardet (AG2R) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) stage an attack to no avail, while the race once again came down to a sprint finale with Kristoff claiming the stage honors.
Top 20 Finishers
1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 2:57:03 2 Eduard Grosu (Rom) Nippo – Vini Fantini 3 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 4 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 5 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Wilier Triestina 6 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb 7 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 8 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Aqua Blue Sport 9 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data 10 Roy Jans (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect 11 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 12 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 13 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 14 Frantisek Sisr (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 15 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 16 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team 17 Patryk Stosz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 18 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 19 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 20 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data
Final General Classification
1 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 20:56:20 2 Rui Costa (Por) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:00:22 3 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:35 4 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:58 5 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:12 6 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:17 7 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:19 8 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:21 9 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:33 10 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:38 11 David De La Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:40 12 Janier Acevedo (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:01:48 13 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:02 14 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 15 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport 0:02:18 16 Delio Fernandez (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:02:21 17 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:02:27 18 Lachlan Norris (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:02:34 19 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:02:58 20 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:10
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