Heartbreak on Green Mountain: Grellier falls 100 metres short

Cycling can be a cruel sport, and it's a wonder how Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie) managed to summon the energy for the final pedal strokes on stage 5 of the Tour of Oman. He had ridden pretty much the whole of Green Mountain alone and looked set for huge underdog triumph, only to be unceremoniously passed by race leader Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) just 100 metres from the summit.

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.