Lutsenko strikes again on Tour of Oman stage 3

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Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) won his second consecutive stage at the Tour of Oman and took the overall race lead in Qurayyat on stage 3 after attacks and echelons made for a tough day in the saddle.

Lutsenko gave the Astana team its fifth victory in just four days after success at the Vuelta Murcia, the Tour de la Provence and Miguel Angel Lopez’s overall victory at the Colombia 2.1 stage race.

Lutsenko won the Tour of Oman in 2018 and seems on form achieve that again. On Sunday, he attacked on the last climb and held off the chasers. On Monday he attacked in the final part of the 2.8km climb to the finish, opening a gap and winning a second ahead of Jesus Herrada (Cofidis). Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) was third, also at one second, with Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) fourth on the same time.

Stage 1 winner Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) was distanced with two kilometres to go and so Lutsenko pulled on the race leader’s red jersey. He now holds an 18-second advantage over Herrada, with Van Avermaet third at 20 seconds.

The Tour of Oman is expected to be decided on Green Mountain on Wednesday.

How it happened

The 192km stage rolled out from Shati al Qurum near Muscat with a breeze blowing in from the sea, a clear sign that echelons could be a problem on the exposed roads of the long loop near Qurayyat to the south.

Preben Van Hecke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) was the first to attack in defence of the gold-coloured combativity jersey. He was quickly joined by Kevin Reza (Vital Concept), Julien Duval (AG2R La Mondiale), Niccolo Bonifazio (Direct Energie), Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling), Maurits Lammertink and Arjen Livyns (Roompot-Charles), Piet Allegaert (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Lukas Spengler (Wallonie-Bruxelles) and Daniel Viejo (Euskadi Murias).

They had opened a lead of 2:45 by the start of the first climb, and with UAE Team Emirates not enthusiastic about leading the chase, the gap opened up six minutes after 50km of racing. Van Hecke swept up the intermediate sprints as CCC Team helped with the chase, but the peloton was waiting for the final loop on the Qurayyat circuit.

As the road passed near the coast, the wind was strong enough to spark echelons and attacks. Some 20 riders got away initially, including Kristoff, but he was then spat out of the move and opted to wait for the peloton in the hope the wind and strength of the attack would fade.

In the move were Lutsenko, Van Avermaet, Costa, Andre Greipel (Arkea-Samsic) and others. The first time up the 2.8km climb to Qurayyat reduced the group to six riders and they gradually closed in on Bonifazio and Van Hecke, the only riders remaining from the early break.

The terrain and fading wind further inland helped the peloton as several overall contenders and their teams lead the chase. Their hard work meant that the race eventually came back together with 10 kilometres to go, with the early break and the echelons caught by the peloton to form an 80-rider group. Kristoff was there but the focus turned to the uphill finish.

Dimension Data rode to set up Ryan Gibbons after their GC hope Ben O’Connor was forced out of the race due to illness. However, Astana and CCC Team were riding for Lutsenko and Van Avermaet respectively, and the Kazakhstani national champion was again strong and managed to kick away from his rivals in sight of the finish line, knowing that Kristoff had been dropped and the leader’s jersey was up for grabs.

Van Avermaet fought to stay with Herrada, but lacked the power to match or catch Lutsenko before the line.

Tuesday’s 132km fourth stage is a hilly ride between Yiti and the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre near Muscat airport, with three climbs of the Al Jabal Street circuit before a 30km race to the finish.

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