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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Kristoff wins first stage in Suhar

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Muscat: Alexander Kristoff, representing UAE Team Emirates, won the first stage of the Tour of Oman 2019 from Al Sawadi to Suhar Corniche as he broke away from his rivals in a dash. It was a sprint that ensured the victory of Kristoff as he reached the front with 70 metres to go ahead of the Frenchmen Bryan Coquard and Nacer Bouhanni. Kristoff is the third sprinter from his team, UAE Team Emirates, to clinch victory this season after victories for Fernando Gaviria in South America and Jasper Philipsen in Australia. Kristoff was a relieved man post the race. “All the sprinters on the team have been winning so it was about time I was winning a race.’’ Kristoff has been attending every edition since the inception of the Tour in 2010. He has won at least one stage since 2014 and with nine wins has more than any other rider.


Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff raises his arms after winning the first stage of the Tour of Oman from Al Sawadi Beach to Suhar Corniche, in Muscat. — AFP[/caption]

RACE IN SHORT


The pan flat opening stage of the 10th edition of the Tour of Oman started at Al Sawadi Beach in a straight line, parallel with the coast, to Suhar Corniche, and with a breeze blowing off the sea, crosswinds had been expected. That did not deter the early, four man breakaway, who attacked the moment the flag dropped after the 4.5 km neutralised zone, building an early lead. Alexis Guerin (Delco-Marseille Provence), Sergio Rodriguez (Euskadi Murias), Emiel Planckaert (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Michael Schär (CCC) built an advantage in excess of three minutes before they had reached the 20 km mark.


By the time the escapees reached the first intermediate sprint of the day, they led the peloton by more than four minutes, which would be their maximum advantage. There, in Al Hadib it was Guerin who took the honours, the three bonus seconds and the same number of points towards the sprinter’s classification. It was after this sprint that the leaders’ gap began to drop, a minute being lost in just five kilometres. On the front French Pro Conti squad Vital Concept-B&B Hotels were working for sprinter, Bryan Coquard hoping to repeat his opening stage win of last year’s race. — Agencies


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