MUSCAT: Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data) dominated a fast and furious final stage of the 2019 Tour of Oman in a super tight sprint in Muscat on Thursday. The Italian sprinter snatched the win on the Mutrrah Corniche just ahead of the compatriots Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Davide Ballerini (Astana).
Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) made it safely to the line to claim his second overall victory in the race, a feat only achieved by Chris Froome before him. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) had to abandon.
A pack of 118 riders start stage 6 without Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates). The battle for the break is a hard one. Nathan van Hooydonck (CCC Pro Team) gets away at km 3 and counterattacks fly behind him until three riders join him after 17 km of hard racing: Stijn Vandenbergh (AG2r-La Mondiale), Adam De Vos (Rally UHC Cycling) and Alexis Guerin (Delko Marseille Provence). The four attackers cover 43 km in the first hour of racing but Direct Énergie, Bahrain-Merida, Arkéa-Samsic and Vital Concept-B&B Hotels quickly take the reins of the peloton. The gap doesn’t get higher than 3’30” and quickly stabilises around 2’30”.
Kristoff, Pozzovivo go down
Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) abandoned the race after a crash ahead of the climb of Al Hamriyah (83.5 km). Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) also went down, but he was able to get on his bike and got inside the pack with severe abrasions. Alexis Guerin dominated this climb as well as the intermediate sprint (97 km) and the climb of Al Jissah (100.5 km).
The gap gets down under 1 minute as the riders enter the final circuit, a 7.5-km loop to cover three times. The attackers are eventually reeled in with 3 km to go with Direct Energie working at the front of the bunch. The red jersey Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) tries to set the sprint, but Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data) found his opening ahead of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Davide Ballerini (Astana).
TOUR OF OMAN RESULTS
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER SIX STAGES
Total distance covered: 906 km
RANK, RIDER RIDER NO. TEAM TIMES GAP B P
1. ALEXEY LUTSENKO 1 ASTANA PRO TEAM 21H 45’ 51’’ - B : 30’’ -
2. DOMENICO POZZOVIVO 21 BAHRAIN - MERIDA 21H 46’ 35’’ + 00H 00’ 44’’ B : 4’’ -
3. JESUS HERRADA 41 COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS 21H 46’ 38’’ + 00H 00’ 47’’ B : 6’’ -
4. RUI COSTA 33 UAE TEAM EMIRATES 21H 46’ 44’’ + 00H 00’ 53’’ - -
5. ELIE GESBERT 93 TEAM ARKEA - SAMSIC 21H 46’ 54’’ + 00H 01’ 03’’ - -
6. JAN POLANC 37 UAE TEAM EMIRATES 21H 47’ 05’’ + 00H 01’ 14’’ - -
7. ELIOT LIETAER 154 WALLONIE BRUXELLES 21H 47’ 16’’ + 00H 01’ 25’’ - -
8. FABIEN DOUBEY 125 WANTY - GOBERT CYCLING TEAM 21H 47’ 22’’ + 00H 01’ 31’’ - -
9. BRANDON MCNULTY 111 RALLY UHC CYCLING 21H 47’ 34’’ + 00H 01’ 43’’ - -
10. QUENTIN PACHER 66 VITAL CONCEPT - B&B HOTELS 21H 47’ 42’’ + 00H 01’ 51’’ - -
STAGE 6 RESULTS
Total distance covered: 135.5 km
RANK, RIDER RIDER NO. TEAM TIMES GAP B P
1 GIACOMO NIZZOLO 84 TEAM DIMENSION DATA 03H 07’ 12’’ - B : 10’’ -
2 SONNY COLBRELLI 23 BAHRAIN - MERIDA 03H 07’ 12’’ - B : 6’’ -
3 DAVIDE BALLERINI 2 ASTANA PRO TEAM 03H 07’ 12’’ - B : 4’’ -
4 CLEMENT VENTURINI 77 AG2R LA MONDIALE 03H 07’ 12’’ - - -
5 RYAN GIBBONS 82 TEAM DIMENSION DATA 03H 07’ 12’’ - - -
6 BORIS VALLEE 127 WANTY - GOBERT CYCLING TEAM 03H 07’ 12’’ - - -
7 RETO HOLLENSTEIN 57 TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN 03H 07’ 12’’ - - -
8 AMAURY CAPIOT 171 SPORT VLAANDEREN - BALOISE 03H 07’ 12’’ - - -
9 BRYAN COQUARD 61 VITAL CONCEPT - B&B HOTELS 03H 07’ 12’’ - - -
10 SVEN ERIK BYSTRØM 32 UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03H 07’ 12’’ - - -
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