MUSCAT: Amaury Capiot of Arkea-B&B Hotels team recorded an emotional victory as he clinched the fourth stage of Tour of Oman on Tuesday. The Belgian sprinter clocked a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes and 35 seconds to win the stage, that started in Fanja instead of Al Rustaq Fort due to the current weather conditions in the Sultanate of Oman and the stage finished at Yitti Hills.
The Dutch rider IDE SCHELLING from Astana Kazakhstan team finished adrift of the stage winner while Italian rider Davide De Pretto of team Jayco Alula completed the race in third place.
Capiot came in third place of Muscat classic race on Friday but he managed to produce an excellent performance to be crowned as stage 4 winner of the 13th edition of the Tour of Oman.
“I am really happy with this victory following the hard stage. The team made a great effort to end as champion. This is indeed my first triumph after six races this season and this achievement means a lot for me as it is first podium for me in this year,” Capiot said.
“I took part in three European races beside tour of Oman. I am looking for more accomplishments in the forthcoming participations. Today’s stage was shorter than I expected. It was hard in the last 25 km and as a team we implemented a good strategy to stay together until last 2 to 3 km which was for me to stay in good position for better sprint,” he ended.
The battle for the general classification remains extremely 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 Al Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) which will take place on Wednesday.
“I may go back with the jersey as one more stage is remaining in the tour. We will go for the climbs today to Green Mountain with my team-mate Adam Yates and will look for a spectacular end,” rider Finn Fisher-Black said.
The peloton rolls from Fanja early morning on Tuesday for a distance of 104 km ending in Yitti Hills with a punchy route that inspires attackers. Blake Quick (Team Jayco Alla), Rasmus Bogh Wallin (Uno-X Mobility) and Matteo Malucelli (JCL Team Ukyo) were the first riders to set off. Many riders worked hard to join them unsuccessfully.
Soudal Quick-Step control the attackers
On the day after Paul Magnier and Luke Lamperti took the race over in Al Bustan, Soudal Quick-Step set the pace. The attackers’ lead is controlled at around 2 minutes. Burgos-BH up the ante on the first ascent of the day, the mighty climb of Al Jabal Road (Bausher-Al Amerat), with 3.3 km at 9.8 per cent. The gap was down to 5 as Wallin goes first over the top. Lots of riders were dropped from the bunch including the green jersey owner Magnier and the golden jersey Oscar Pelegri (Burgos-BH). The Spanish rider Oscar managed to earn the golden jersey for the fourth successive time.
The gap stabilised until Soudal Quick-Step and UAE Team Emirates accelerated towards the final ascents of the day. The attackers were caught at the bottom of the penultimate climb of the day, in Al Jissah, summited with 10.8 km to go. Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates) went first to take 3 bonus seconds and the overall lead. The pace remained hard until the finish, where a very reduced bunch sprints to the line. Ide Schelling (Astana Qazaqstan) almost took it but Amaury Capiot (Arkéa-B&B Hôtels) pipes him. Davide De Pretto (Jayco AlUla) rounds out the stage podium.
Eng Khamis bin Mohammed al Shammakhi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology for Transport, handed over the awards to the top winners in Yitti Hills in presence of Saif bin Sebaa al Rushaidi, Chairman of Oman Cycling Association, and officials.
The concluding stage of the tour is set to take place on Wednesday for a distance of 138.7 km that will be held from Imty (Izki) to Al Jabal Al Akhdhar.
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