Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) won the opening stage of the Tour of Oman, taking his first win of 2023 and celebrating becoming a father.
Mark Cavendish was well-placed in the final kilometre after his Astana Qazaqstan positioned up front. However the Soudal-QuickStep team then took over at the front to set-up Merlier and Cavendish was boxed-in. He finished 21st.
David Dekker (Arkea-Samsic) finished second, with Axel Zingle (Cofidis) third.
Merlier is the first leader of the five-day Tour of Oman. He celebrated his win with the 'rock the baby' victory salute.
The 147.4km stage was a long ride back towards Muscat from the inland start at the Al Rustaq fort on valley roads through rocky landscapes and fast modern highways.
The sprint teams were happy to let a breakaway go clear and then controlled them on the ride back to the coast. Said Al Rahbi (Oman), Rodrigo Alvarez (Burgos-BH) and Jeroen Meijers (Terengganu) formed the attack, with Soudal-QuickStep and Astana Qazaqstan leading the chase.
The short Fanja climb mid-stage split the break, with Al Rahbi dropped. Then Meijers distanced Alvarez to take the KOM points and pushed on alone. However he could only hang out in front of the peloton by 30 seconds and was swept up with 17 km to race.
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It was time for the sprint trains to take over and the pace increased dramatically. Lotto-Dstny, UAE Team Emirates and AG2R-Citroën all moved to the front to position their sprinters.
Astana Qazaqstan gathered to protect Cavendish and stayed on the wheels until two kilometres to go. They moved to the front with three riders ahead of Cavendish and the Manxman suddenly seemed perfectly poised to contest the sprint.
However as the road rose gradually in the final 500 metres, Soudal came up from the left to take control of the sprint. Other teams followed them and suddenly Cavendish was swamped, with no way back to the front. He eased up and finished 21st at the line.
Merlier was emotional to take his first road race win for Soudal-QuickStep so soon after becoming a father.
“I couldn’t be happier! I’ve been a father for almost two weeks now, and this is what makes today’s result so special. This victory is for my son,” he said.
“Okay, I had already won that cyclo-cross race last month, but I was really eager to experience this feeling as fast as possible on the road, and I’m delighted that I did it here, in my very first stage race with the team.”
Merlier’s sprint wasn’t perfect but was successful.
“In the closing kilometres, I lost the guys a bit, but I could come back, and it was quite easy to follow Bert from that moment on. Then, in the sprint, I went a bit too early, but I had what it took to keep the speed, and this gives me a lot of confidence for the future.”
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
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