Alexander Kristoff wins Tour of Oman stage three

Muscat: When it comes to bunched sprints since the beginning of the cycling season, it’s hard to find better rider than Alexander Kristoff. After two hard days of hilly racing on the Tour of Oman, the Norwegian made the best of a perfectly flat course to conquer his fourth success this year, beating Moreno Hofland and Roy Jans to the line by Naseem Park. The Katusha rider who already captured 3 stage wins in Qatar can enjoy a 50% winning rate after his first 8 days of racing. Solidly positioned in the pack, his compatriot Edvald Boasson Hagen keeps the overall leader’s Red Jersey.
After two fairly demanding and hilly stages, the pack of the Tour of Oman had to deal with a far flatter stage on day three of the event. While injured Johan Van Summeren (ALM) was forced to quit the race, 139 riders took off under a bright sunshine from the splendid Sawadi Beach at 11:20 AM for a 176.5-km ride to Naseem Garden.
After only 1 km of racing three men managed to break free from the pack: Dehaes (WGG), in the breakaway for the third consecutive day, Slik (ROP) and Kerby (DPC). The front trio was rapidly caught by two other men: Van Goethem (ROP) and Van Rooy (TSV). The gap rapidly grew and reached 4’15’’ at km 25. From then on, teams Dimension Data, of new overall leader Edvald Boasson Hagen, and Katusha, started chasing down the front men.
At the first intermediate sprint (km 81) claimed by Dehaes in front of Van Rooy and Slik, the gap had dropped to 2’ as thunder storms hit the race. With Van Rooy refusing to cooperate in the breakaway group, three of the five front men powered away at km 125: Slik, Van Goethem and Kerby. While the two dropped riders were caught at km 130, the pack remained 1’50 adrift.
At the second bonus sprint (km 149), won by Van Goethem ahead of Kerby and Slik, the leaders could still enjoy a 1’38 advantage. Under the pressure of the bunch, Brian Van Goethem decided to try his luck on his own and took off with just Under 20 kms to go. While his former companions were caught, the Dutchman survived until km 169 before his heroics came to an end.
The pack then remained bunched all the way to the final straight by Naseem Park. Well led out by his Katusha team mates, Alexander Kristoff flew to the line, claiming the win ahead of Moreno Hofland (TLJ) and Roy Jans (WGG). The Norwegian captured his first stage of this edition and his third in Oman after triumphing these last two years. With just eight race days in his legs, Kristoff has won four times since the beginning of the season. His three wins in Qatar and this fourth one here give him a 50% success rate.
Well protected by his Dimension Data team mates and comfortably positioned in the pack, Edvald Boasson Hagen who finished at a fine 10th spot today, keeps his overall leader’s Red Jersey. The Norwegian still has a 4’’ lead over Vincenzo Nibali (AST) and 6’’ over Greg Van Avermaet (BMC). He also remains in the lead of the points classification while Patrick Konrad (BOA) keeps the White Jersey for the best young rider. Thanks to the points he again conquered while in the breakaway, Kenny Dehaes captures the Most Aggressive rider’s jersey.