Cort wins fourth stage, Van Avermaet leads overall

Muscat: Danish sprinter Magnus Cort won stage four of the Tour of Oman on Friday as Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet retained the overall lead. Astana’s Cort, 25, edged ahead of Italians Giovanni Visconti and Alberto Bettiol in the final sprint. The 117.5 kilometre (73 mile) stage from the northeastern coastal village of Yiti to the capital Muscat lasted just under three hours.

Belgian Van Avermaet, who won Thursday’s third stage, leads by nine seconds from Cort’s Kazakh team-mate Alexey Lutsenko.

Stage five on Saturday involves a rugged 152km (95 mile) route, involving a final dramatic climb to the top of Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain).

“It means a lot. I’ve been second twice in Dubai and then second in the general there also,” Cort told reporters after the stage. “It’s very nice to finally take the win and not get another top three. There is a big difference. I knew coming in here that I would pull a result off when they were working for me. The question was just what and the win was what I went for and I got it,’’ Cort added.

Alexander Kristoff won this stage last year, but he’d only managed it thanks to a dogged chase off the final climb. Friday’s 117.5km stage 4 was always going to be a tricky one for the sprinters with five classified climbs, including the three ascents of the Al Jabal Street climb. Pure sprinters such as Mark Cavendish and Nacer Bouhanni took to the gruppetto early on Al Jabal, saving their legs for another day, and though Giacomo Nizzolo and Kristoff took a little longer to shake off, some solid work from Astana and others helped to dispatch them.

Stage four results

1. Magnus Cort (Astana) 2hrs, 57min, 36sec, 2. Giovanni Visconti (ITA/Bahrain-Meridia) same time, 3. Alberto Bettiol (ITA/BMC) s.t., 4. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) s.t., 5. Rui Costa (POR/Emirates) s.t., 6. Nathan Haas (AUS/Katusha) s.t., 7. Mark Christian (GBR/Aqua Blue) s.t., 8. Merhawi Ghebremedhin (ERI/Dimension Data) s.t., 9. Odd Eiking (NOR/Wanty) s.t., 10. Jesus Herrada (ESP/Cofidis) s.t.

Overall standings

1. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 15hr 54min 20sec, 2. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ/Astana) at 9sec, 3. Nathan Haas (AUS/Katusha) 13, 4. Gorka Insausti (ESP/Bahrain-Merida) 16, 5. Miguel Moreno (COL/Astana) 24, 6. Dries Devenyns (BEL/Quick-Step) 25, 7. Odd Eiking (NOR/Wanty) at s.t., 8. Jesus Lopez (ESP/Cofidis) at s.t., 9. Daniel Garcia (ESP/Cofidis) at s.t., 10. Merhawi Ghebremedhin (ERI/Dimension Data) at 33sec.