2017 Tour of Oman

[Cav']

Ben Hermans (BMC) won the battle up Green Mountain on stage 5 of the Tour of Oman, finishing ahead of Fabio Aru (Astana) and Rui Costa (UAE Abu Dhabi) to all but seal the overall victory in the race.

 

The Belgian, who had taken the red leader's jersey with his punchy victory on stage 2, ground his way up the 5.7km, 10 per cent climb to finish ahead of the more distinguished climbers at the summit.

 

 

Aru finished three seconds back, and Costa 11 seconds, with most of the rest of the riders over half a minute down. Romain Bardet, who was second on Green Mountain last year, finished 44 seconds down in what was the first big test of his campaign.

 

Hermans' victory puts him in a comfortable position going into Sunday’s final stage, which is expected to end in a mass sprint.

 

The 30-year-old has a 22-second buffer on GC over Costa, with Aru third at 35 seconds. It would be the first overall stage race win of his nine-year career.

 

How it unfolded

 

A fast start and heavy winds saw echelons forming and the peloton splitting almost from the get-go.

 

After 22 kilometres everything came back together but only temporarily, as a five-man group was able to establish itself and get away. Mark Christian (Aqua Blue Sport), Daniel Diaz (Delko Marseille Provence KTM), Olivier Pardini (WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect), Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) and Preben Van Hecke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) made the break and built up a large gap.

 

There were crashes along the way. Christian hit the deck but was able to make it back to the lead group, and there was a large crash in the peloton itself when a stream overflowed across the road. There were apparently no injuries but it slowed things down enough to send the gap up to eight and a half minutes.

 

That was the highest the gap went, as the Green Mountain finale loomed, and the favourites weren’t about to let their chance slip away. The gap kept on decreasing, and heavy crosswinds entered the picture.

 

With 10km to go, and the 5.7km, 10 per cent climb up the 1235m Green Mountain coming ever closer, the gap was down to 2:50. BMC and Astana were amongst those putting pressure on from behind.

 

Things fell apart as the climb began, and the field was only a minute behind the three remaining in the lead group. No sooner had they been caught than the attacks started, with Lachlan Morton (Dimension Data) the first to get away, but unsuccessfully. Riders were scattered along the road as the high pace took its toll.

 

Race leader Hermans and Dimension Data’s Merhawi Kudus took off for glory, but the Eritrean couldn’t match the legs of his companion. The Belgian ground his way over the finish line with a notable gap ahead of Aru, with Costa coming in third.

[Cav']

1 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 4:08:46

2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:03

3 Rui Costa (Por) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:00:11

4 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:27

5 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data

6 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:34

7 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:38

8 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:41

9 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:44

10 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

11 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport 0:01:03

12 David De La Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors

[Cav']

GC

 

General Classification after stage 5

# Rider Name (Country) Team Result

1 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 17:59:17

2 Rui Costa (Por) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:00:22

3 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:35

4 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:58

5 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:12

6 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:17

7 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:19

8 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:21

9 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:33

10 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data

[Eugene Oppelt]

What a surprise to see Hermans do so well

That's great ????????

[Cav']

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) collected his third stage win of the 2017 Tour of Oman, winning the sprint on the Muttrah Corniche on the final day. Ben Hermans (BMC) finished safely in the peloton to seal the overall title.

 

Kristoff outsprinted Eduard Grosu (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Sacha Modolo (UAE Abu Dhabi) at the end of the short final stage, which culminated with laps of a flat finishing circuit. The Norwegian opened and ended the stage race with sprint wins, with one in the middle (stage 4) as well, taking his tally for the season to four.

 

 

"Today was one of the windiest days in a long time in Oman and we knew it would be hard to control the race. We were lucky however as also the BMC Team tried to control the race for the GC leader Hermans," said Kristoff.

 

"With 150 meters to go I was second and there was a really strong headwind. The last 150 meters felt like 300 meters but in the end I managed to win and I am really happy to win my third stage."

 

Hermans took the race lead on the second stage, winning the uphill finish just ahead of Rui Costa (UAE Abu Dhabi), and took a stranglehold on the title by winning Saturday's Queen Stage Saturday, finishing first atop the Green Mountain to give himself an unsurmountable 22-second buffer over Costa.

 

Despite being caught up in an early crash, Hermans, who lost the 2015 Arctic Race of Norway on the final day due to a mechanical, finished safely in the bunch to seal the red jersey, with Costa finishing second overall and Fabio Aru (Astana) completing the podium.

 

"I'm really happy that I could take two stage and the GC. It's more than I could have dreamed of," said Hermans. "It was the perfect week for me, perfect start to the season. I always like to start the season in good shape and then normally it continues for the rest of the year."

 

How it unfolded

 

A very early three-man break got away: Iljo Keisse (Quick-Step Floors), Aime De Gendt (Sport Vlaanderen) and Benjamin Geraud (Delko Marseille Provence). The wind ruled the day, but the trio was able to get a gap of nearly three minutes. That was as high as it got, with both BMC and Aqua Blue working to pull them back.

 

There was a scare for BMC at the foot of the first climb, the Al Hamriyah, as Hermans hit the deck. He was not injured and was quickly back in the thick of things.

 

On the climb, Geraud dropped out of the lead group, and joined up with Mark Christian (Aqua Blue) and Preben Van Hecke (Sport Vlaanderen), who had jumped from the peloton. Christian gave up his attempt and fell back into the field.

 

Keisse and De Gendt held on to a 1:20 lead as they started the first lap of the closing circuit course with some 25 km to go. The gap had dropped to only 45 seconds with 10km left, and Katusha leading the chase. Soon Keisse was alone in front, hanging on to a narrow lead.

 

The Belgian was caught within the last 5km, and immediately Romain Bardet (AG2R) attacked, with Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) also giving it a try.

 

It still came down to the expected mass sprint, though, and once again, Alexander Kristoff claimed the spoils.

[Cav']

Rider Name (Country) Team Result

1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 2:57:03

2 Eduard Grosu (Rom) Nippo - Vini Fantini

3 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi

4 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise

5 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Wilier Triestina

6 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb

7 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

8 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Aqua Blue Sport

9 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data

10 Roy Jans (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect

[Cav']

Final General Classification

# Rider Name (Country) Team Result

1 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 20:56:20

2 Rui Costa (Por) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:00:22

3 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:35

4 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:58

5 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:12

6 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:17

7 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:19

8 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:21

9 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:33

10 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data

[Eugene Oppelt]

Kudus in white

 

“This is my first white jersey as a professional. For a professional under 25, it is quite hard. I have under 23 jerseys, but no under 25 white jerseys. Last year, I lost it by 18 seconds. It is really something for me so I am really happy.”

 

It astonishes some followers that Kudus is still only 23 years old. He has already raced all three grand tours, including the Vuelta a España twice.

 

 

Read more at http://www.velonews.com/2017/02/news/eritreas-merhawi-kudus-rises-toward-top_430983#zbxEDH9Fq3J8YGIQ.99