Tour of Oman: Sebastián Molano sprints to stage 1 victory, giving UAE Emirates-XRG their seventh win of the season

Colombia's Sebastián Molano sprinted to victory on the opening stage of the Tour of Oman, giving UAE Team Emirates-XRG their seventh win of the season on the first weekend of February.

In a wide, spread out sprint finish, Molano emerged fastest, beating Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) to the line, whilst Gerben Thijssen swept up third, after Alpecin-Premier Tech delivered arguably the best lead-out but not the best finish.

UAE Team Emirates come to this race as defending champions with Adam Yates targetting a third consecutive overall victory, and are already off to a winning start, adding to their 2026 tally once again.

"I’m very happy. The team did an amazing job . In the last 15km they really kept me in a good position and sheltered from the wind. After all the hard work to repay them with a victory feels amazing. Rui Oliveira did amazing work for me in the closing kilometres," Molano said.

"It’s important for me to take this win, it means a lot. Last August I had to end my season early because of a knee issues, so after five months without races and two without any bike at all it makes this victory all the sweeter."

A three-rider breakaway had been up the road most of the day, but with Alpecin and UAE controlling the gap at under three minutes, they were brought back in the final 25km, opening the door to the expected sprint.

Set on wide, straight roads, the sprint went off without incident – aside from a brief moment where two animals ran across the road.

Molano will now don the race leader's jersey, but may only hold onto it for one day, as stage 2 takes the Tour of Oman into the hills for a punchier race on Sunday.

How it unfolded

Starting at the Ministry of Tourism and going straight into the steep, 3km climb of Jabal Road, it didn't take long for a breakaway to get away on stage 1 of the Tour of Oman. Within 6km, two riders had got away – José Luis Faura (Burgos Burpellet BH) and Patryk Goszczurny (Visma-Lease a Bike) – and were building a gap. They were soon joined by Alex Díaz (Caja Rural-Segoros RGA) and with the climbing done, this trio built a lead of two and a half minutes.

With no other obstacles or challenges on the largely flat opening day, the middle of the 170km stage was mostly uneventful, with the leaders holding their lead as the peloton kept them within catching distance but not too close for a good 100km. UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Alpecin-Premier Tech were mainly doing the work to control the gap and set the pace in the bunch.

With 50km to go, the break's lead was still two minutes, but was starting to come down rapidly as the race entered its pan-flat finale. With 40km to go, the gap had been halved to under a minute.

Entering the final 25km, the leaders started attacking each other, but it was clear that their time was short with the peloton getting organised behind. Goszczurny was the first to drop away, and the remaining two were caught shortly after, bringing everything back together with 20km to go.

It was a tense but straightforward run towards the finish, set on wide, straight roads that allowed each sprint team to line up in formation, though there was a brief sketchy moment when two animals ran across the road in front of the bunch.

In the sprint, Alpecin-Premier Tech led the way into the final kilometre, and had arguably the most organised lead-out, with two riders delivering Thijssen to the sprint, but when the sprinters opened up, the well-positioned Molano had the better turn of speed and powered to victory on the line. Surfing from Gaviria was rewarded with second, whilst Thijssen settled for third.

Molano and Gaviria are first on second on GC, but Goszczurny is third, owing to bonus seconds picked up during his day out front. With the hills coming on Sunday, all is expected to change again on stage 2.

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