No change in race lead as Italian beats Zingle and Schelling in Yitti Hills
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Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) celebrates his stage 4 victory(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
The dash for the line with Ulissi leading the way(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Ulissi celebrates his win on the podium(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) remains in the race lead(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
Attacks fly early on stage 4 in Oman(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
Ukraine champion Andrii Ponomar (Arkéa-Samsic) leads the battle for the breakaway(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
Riders fight for the breakaway on stage 4(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
Race leader Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) secure in the peloton(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
Ryan Gibbons (UAE Team Emirates) gets to his feet after getting caught in a crash(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
Bingoal WB light up the peloton with their neon kits(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
Alexey Lutsenko (Astsana Qazaqstan), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-QuickStep) on the move late on stage 4(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) put in a late solo attack in the hills(Image credit: Alex BroadwayGetty Images)
AG2R Citroën lead the peloton late on stage 4(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Ivan Cobo (Kern Pharma) put in a late attack before the peloton sped to the finish(Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) won stage 4 of the Tour of Oman, beating Axel Zingle (Cofidis) and Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe) in the reduced group sprint at Yitti Hills. Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) remains in the overall lead ahead of Wednesday's final stage up to the summit finish of Jabal Al Akhdhar.
The finish lent itself to Ulissi’s qualities and there were shades of Giro d’Italia stage wins past – Viggiano in 2014 or Agrigento in 2020 sprung to mind – about his turn of his pace atop the final the climb here.
Cofidis had hit the front beneath the flamme rouge, but Ulissi’s timing was impeccable as he claimed his first victory of the season and UAE Team Emirates’ second in as many days after Tadej Pogacar’s exhibition on the gravel in Jaén.
The victory also moves Ulissi up to second place overall, five seconds behind Jorgenson, who came home in the front group and who was alive to every possible danger on a fraught run-in.
The American was quick to react when the race ignited on the climb of Al Jissah with 10km remaining. Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) made the first probing move before Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Qazaqstan) launched a rasping attack on the short, sharp ascent. Jorgenson zoomed immediately across, with Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-QuickStep) and Van Gils also on board.
Behind them, the peloton splintered into shards, but the four strongmen in front were unable to strike a working alliance over the other side, and some of the pieces began to come back together.
On the sweeping descent that followed, Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) sensed his chance. Taking a leaf from the Alexander Kristoff playbook, the German figured attack might be his best mode of defence on terrain like this, and he struck off alone ahead of the reduced peloton, opening a gap of 15 seconds or so.
The German was still in front with 3km to go, with Ulissi tucked safely in the bunch, as AG2R Citroën took over the chase on behalf of Andrea Vendrame. Ackermann's buffer eventually began to recede as the gradient bit once again and he was reeled in with just under 2km to go.
Ivan Cobo (Kern-Pharma) was the next rider to try his luck with an acceleration and he led the race until his momentum ran out beneath the flamme rouge. Cofidis took up the reins from there, but Ulissi timed his effort perfectly to claim the win.
"I'm delighted with this first victory of the season," Ulissi said later. "It was a hard stage. Ackermann attacked with 8km to go and on the final climb, Laengen and Formolo did the perfect job for setting up the sprint.
"Ackermann's attack softened up the bunch well and we took a great victory. We've started the season well as a team."
There was a rapid start to the longest stage of the race, with an average speed in excess of 47kph after two hours of racing, and it took some time for the day's early break to take shape.
Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X) attacked alone at the intermediate sprint at Al Jarda, and he was joined by Yevgeniy Fedorov (Astana Qazaqstan), Youcef Reguigui (Terengganu Polygon) and Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma).
The quartet amassed a maximum lead just shy of four minutes before the peloton, with Cofidis, Arkéa-Samsic and Movistar prominent, set about reeling them back in. Lotto-Dstny's show of force with 12km to go condemned the break, with Thomas De Gendt setting a stiff pace on the lower slopes of Al Jissah before Van Gils and then Lutsenko blew the race apart.
Wednesday’s concluding stage brings the race up Jabal Al Akhdhar, with the ‘Green Mountain’ set to define the final overall standings. Jorgenson, already so impressive in claiming his first professional win on Monday, made an assured defence of the red jersey on stage 4, but the margins are tight ahead of the grand finale.
Ulissi and Vansevenant are both five seconds down, with Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R-Citroën) lying fifth at 14 seconds. Further down the standings, Rein Taaramae (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) hover just 18 seconds back, while the Astana duo of Harald Tejada (11th at 22 seconds) and Lutsenko (13th at 32 seconds) are also likely to be the fore.
Barry Ryan was Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
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