Tour of Oman: Kristoff wins stage 3 to Naseem Park

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) continued his storming start to the season by sprinting to victory on the third stage of the Tour of Oman on Thursday. The Norwegian comfortably outgunned Moreno Hofland (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Roy Jans (Wanty Groupe Gobert) at the end of the 176.5-kilometre stage, which pitched gently downhill all the way from the half-way mark to the finish at Naseem Park.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), who took the race lead on stage 2, finished safely in the pack to ensure there was no change at the head of the overall standings.

For Kristoff, it’s a case of déja vu – albeit a most pleasing one. His 2016 season is taking on a remarkably similar shape to 2015; victories on stages 2, 4, and 5 at the Tour of Qatar, plus the points classification, have again been followed by a win on day three in Oman.

Kristoff was the most prolific winner in the peloton last year, with a monument to his name at the Tour of Flanders, and things are boding very well for the 28-year-old once again.

Stage 3 was one of just a couple of opportunities for the sprinters at the Tour of Oman, and Kristoff and co will now head towards the back of the bunch for Friday’s Green Mountain showdown and Saturday’s triple ascent of the Bousher Al Amerat climb. They will, however, spar once more on Sunday’s final stage on the Matrah Corniche.

How it happened

Another day and another breakaway for Kenny Dehaes of Wanty Groupe Gobert. The Belgian is seemingly a glutton for punishment and once again got himself into a move in the early kilometres, joined by the Roompot Oranje Peloton duo of Ivar Slik and Brian Van Goethem, as well as Jordan Kerby (Drapac), and Kenneth Van Rooy (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise).

As they headed inland, away from the stage start at Al Sawadi beach, they enjoyed a tailwind and opened up a lead of around four minutes in the first half of the race, which was gently uphill for the most part.

Dark storm clouds were gathering overhead and there was a brief shower shortly ahead of the first intermediate sprint, where Dehaes got some more points on the board, though he’ll never be able to seriously challenge those who have placed highly at the stage finishes.

The speed in the bunch increased as they neared the sprint point, and the gap to the leaders dropped off suddenly to around two minutes before stretching back out.

The road began to head back towards the coast and Van Rooy suffered a puncture, sparking change at the front of the race. He and Dehaes were dropped and made their way back to the bunch while the other three ploughed on. The rain was back for the second intermediate sprint and this time the thunder joined in with a heavy downpour, making for treacherously slippery roads.

Van Goethem took the points at the sprint and, as the gap ducked down towards the minute mark and they passed the 20km to go banner, he decided to take off on his own. He was never going to stand much of a chance and he was duly swallowed up with 10km to, whereupon it was time for the sprinters to find their way through the chaos.

The finish was faster and more crowded than the windy drag finishes in Qatar, but Kristoff still managed to come out on top, crossing the line a good bike length ahead of Hofland.

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