Tour of Oman: Masnada takes command with stage 4 victory

Fausto Masnada (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) claimed victory and the overall lead on an action-packed stage 4 of the Tour of Oman. 

On a day where the bunch was blown apart by the hills and wind, QuickStep set out aggressively and Masnada took command of the race, winning the stage solo by over a minute to carve out a big advantage in the overall standings. 

His teammate Mauro Schmid, who had laid the foundations with a long-range attack of his own, sprinted to second place from the small chase group to make it a perfect day for the Belgian team. 

Kevin Vaquelin (Arkea-Samsic) claimed the final spot on the podium in a seven-man group that also contained stage 3 winner Anthon Charmig (Uno-X), who was forced to watch the red leader's jersey slip from his shoulders.

There was an early breakaway - Samuele Zoccarato (Bardiani-CSF), Julen Irizar (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Michael Kukrle (Gazprom-RusVelo) - but it didn't last long as the race exploded on the early climbs of Al Jissah and Al Wadi al Kabir. 

Team DSM helped shred the bunch to just 30-odd riders, but QuickStep weren't content with that, firing 12th-placed Schmid up the road in a solo breakaway after just 44km. 

After a period of relentless attacking in the bunch, Schmid found company in the form of the DSM duo of Soren Kragh Andersen and Jonas Hvideberg, plus Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ), Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and Marco Canola (Gazprom-RusVelo).

Together they reached the finishing area and prepared for the loops in the hills around Muscat, with three ascents of Al Jabal Street - 3.2km at 6.8 per cent - on the agenda. 

Zoccarato bridged across on the first climb to take the mountains points but, after a descent and short stint on the flat, Schmid launched again on the second ascent and was solo once more. 

The second climb saw the reduced bunch explode once more, with Masnada and Charmig both part of a 12-man move that contained most of the riders at the top of the overall classification after Saturday's uphill finish. 

Schmid took 10 seconds over the top, while things regrouped behind on the descent. Vaquelin hit out with Kukrle and Kevin Vermaerke (DSM) on the descent and worked his way over to Schmid for the final ascent of Al Jabal Street, which topped out 14km from the finish. 

The reduced bunch exploded again on the final climb and Masnada once again went clear with Charmig, Jan Hirt (Intermarché), and Henri Vandenebeele (DSM). The margins were tight on the plateau over the top, and when things came together, Masnada attacked on the descent with 12km to go. 

He carved out 25 seconds by the time he hit the flat, and he then profited from disorganisation in the chase to stretch that all the way out to 1:07 by the finish line, where he roared in celebration. 

Masnada now leads the race by 55 seconds over Charmig, with Hirt third at 58 seconds and Schmid fourth at 1:08. The race is Masnada's to lose as Monday sees the crucial summit finish on Green Mountain ahead of the flat final stage on Tuesday.