Tour of Oman: Lutsenko wins on Green Mountain

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Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) set up his second consecutive overall victory at the Tour of Oman by winning the queen stage on the slopes of Green Mountain.

The Kazakh national champion beat Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie), who was in the early break of the day, by seven seconds on the barren mountaintop finish, with Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) third at 11 seconds. Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) was fourth at 19 seconds.

As Lutsenko crossed the finish line he again pointed to the sky. After recovering from his huge effort, he thanked his Astana teammates via radio.

Thanks to his third stage win of the race, Lutsenko has tightened his grip on the leader’s red jersey with just one stage left to race, having already won two stages in this year’s edition. He now leads Pozzovivo by 44 seconds, with Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) third overall at 47 seconds.

Thursday’s 135.5km sixth stage is from Al Mouj Muscat to the Matrah Corniche, where the riders cover three circuits before the expected final sprint finish.

How it happened

The stage to Green Mountain is always about the climb to the finish line, which is fixed 5.7km up the twisting road to the mountain resort in the Oman desert, with an average gradient of 10 per cent.

The road to the mountain is rolling but fast, with a deviation to visit several Wadi oases along this year’s 152km route after the start in Samayil.

The overall contenders were again happy for a breakaway to go clear, with Julien Duval (AG2R La Mondiale), Romain Cardis and Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie), Stijn Steels (Roompot-Charles), Julien Mortier (Wallonie Bruxelles) and Kenneth Van Rooy (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) accepting the challenge.

Their gap quickly reached three minutes after 20km, five minutes after 40km and then six at the halfway point. It was only then that the Astana team began to drive the chase in the hope of setting up Lutsenko and defending his race lead.

Van Rooy swept up the two intermediate sprints and with six riders in the break, they shared the work and made it hard for Astana and the peloton. Their lead was still at 4:10 with 20km, meaning someone in the break had a chance of a prestigious stage victory.

However, the climb to the finish is hard and comes after a hot ride in the desert. The climb is officially only 5.7km long but the gradient kicks up before that, with a steep ramp at a check-point. After an easier section, the road snakes up the side of the mountain, with the gradient at double figures.

It was here that the breakaway lost much of its lead and was soon swept up, with only Grellier left out front. He gave his all as he tried to hold off the charge of Lutsenko, Pozzovivo and Herrada but the three were stronger and fresher.

Lutsenko and Pozzovivo cracked Herrada and then Lutsenko surged again, catching Greillier on the final sweeping curve that leads up to the finish line. Lutsenko then distanced him with just 100 metres to race, giving Astana their ninth win of the season in just the last 10 days.

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