Tour of Oman: Kristoff wins stage 3 to Naseem Park
Boasson Hagen retains race lead
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.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha | 4:03:22 |
2 | Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
3 | Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
4 | Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
5 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team | |
6 | Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
7 | Berden De Vries (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
8 | Robin Stenuit (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
9 | Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
10 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | |
11 | Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
12 | Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
13 | Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
14 | Grzegorz Stepniak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
15 | Boris Vallee (Bel) Fortuneo - Vital Concept | |
16 | Sébastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
17 | Andre Looij (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
18 | Amaury Capiot (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
19 | Adam Phelan (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling | |
20 | Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step | |
21 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
22 | Carlos Alzate (Col) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
23 | Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre - Merida | |
24 | Marko Kump (Slo) Lampre - Merida | |
25 | Bartlomiej Matysiak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
26 | Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 | |
27 | Rudiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 | |
28 | Rui Costa (Por) Lampre - Merida | |
29 | Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Stölting Service Group | |
30 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step | |
31 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
32 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step | |
33 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
34 | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
35 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
36 | Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha | |
37 | Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
38 | Brendan Canty (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling | |
39 | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Argon 18 | |
40 | Stijn Steels (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
41 | Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Fortuneo - Vital Concept | |
42 | Tim Kerkhof (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
43 | Laurens De Plus (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step | |
44 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
45 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 | |
46 | Dominik Nerz (Ger) Bora-Argon 18 | |
47 | Mario Costa (Por) Lampre - Merida | |
48 | Dias Omirzakaov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
49 | Artym Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
50 | Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data | |
51 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
52 | Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Fortuneo - Vital Concept | |
53 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
54 | Federico Zurlo (Ita) Lampre - Merida | |
55 | Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha | |
56 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
57 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data | |
58 | Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
59 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
60 | Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
61 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
62 | Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team | |
63 | Marco Marcato (Ita) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
64 | Michael Reihs (Den) Stölting Service Group | |
65 | Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre - Merida | |
66 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
67 | Samuel Spokes (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling | |
68 | Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Stölting Service Group | |
69 | Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data | |
70 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
71 | Christian Mager (Ger) Stölting Service Group | |
72 | Floris De Tier (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
73 | Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
74 | Tim Declercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
75 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team | |
76 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx - Quick-Step | |
77 | Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice | |
78 | Joseph Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
79 | Romain Lemarchand (Fra) Stölting Service Group | |
80 | Steven Tronet (Fra) Fortuneo - Vital Concept | |
81 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data | |
82 | Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Stölting Service Group | |
83 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
84 | Wesley Kreder (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton | |
85 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin | |
86 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
87 | Vegard Breen (Nor) Fortuneo - Vital Concept | |
88 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
89 | Twan Castelijns (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
90 | Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team Katusha | |
91 |