Kristoff in his park
February 14 th 2017 - 13:28
The sun came out just in time for the start of stage 1 of the Tour of Oman as the 143 riders gathered by the picturesque Sawadi Beach. On the menu: 176.5 kms of flat roads for a long loop before returning towards the coast and heading to Naseem Park, just west of Muscate. After only three kilometres of this 8th edition, five men managed to break away from the pack: Warbasse (ABS), De Gendt (SVB), Marangoni (NIP), Fonzi (WIL) and Masson (WVA). Not too concerned by this early break, the pack took it easy and the gap grew to 3'30'' at km 20.
At the first intermediate sprint (km 81.5) claimed by De Gendt ahead of Fonzi and Warbasse, the pack had moved closer, still remaining 2'25 adrift. The second bonus sprint (km 49) was again won by De Gendt ahead of Fonzi while the pack was 1'20 behind. Guaranteed to capture the most aggressive rider's jersey at the end of the day, De Gendt decided to stop his effort at km 146. Fonzi also called it quits leaving three men in the lead with a 1'05 advantage and 25kms to go.
As the pack moved closer to the leaders, a crash occurred sending several riders to the ground including promising Frenchman Guillaume Martin (WGG). Thankfully they all managed to move back in the peloton. With 10kms to go, the front three only had a 10'' advantage and were eventually caught minutes later. While all the big sprinting teams moved towards the front of the pack, stage contender Sonny Colbrelli (TBM) suffered a puncture. It took the Italian and his Bahrain-Merida team mates a big effort to move back in the pack for the final bunched sprint.
On the final long straight, drama occurred as Tom Boonen (QST) was sent to the ground, thankfuly not too badly hurt but bidding farewell to a possible win. Like a year ago at Naseem Park, finish of the 3rd day in 2016, there was no stopping Alexander Kristoff. Victorious of a stage at L'Etoile de Bessèges this season, the Norwegian captures a second success this season beating Kristian Sbaragli (DDD) and Colbrelli to the line.
Thanks to his fifth victory in Oman, Kristoff conquers the overall leader's Red Jersey. He leads the GC with a 4'' advantage over Sbaragli and 6'' over Colbrelli, and also claims the points classification leadership. Despite being caught by the pack in the final moments of the day, Aimé De Gendt can be satisfied, not only with the Most Aggressive riders' jersey, but also with the lead of the best young riders' standings.