Alexander Kristoff wins in Oman

Alexander Kristoff won the first stage of the Tour of Oman today along in Al Sawadi Beach a Suhar Corniche. After 138.5km, he topped the sprint ahead of Frenchmen Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis).

The Norwegian now leads the race and wears the classification jersey after the win today, the ninth victory for him in Oman.

“Mercato and Bystrom did a good lead-out for me and put me in a good position,” said Kristoff. “It was fast with a tailwind in the final straight, I was seated the whole sprint. I timed it well. I am proud of how the team worked. It was a very good team effort. We had a good start as Team UAE and I’m happy to contribute to it and get my first victory of the year here in Oman.”

“We decided that we’d have to make the race and we took on that responsibility,” said Sports Director Simone Pedrazzini. “At 70km out, we tried to break up the group in echelons since we were feeling well.

“In the sprint, once we brought back the escape, we guided the group for Alex. In the last curve, Marcato led through, followed by Bystrom, who led out Kristoff starting in the last 200 meters and holding off Coquard. For sure, it’s a good moment for all of the team because wins bring more wins.”

Alexis Guerin (Delko), Emiel Panckaert (Sport Vlaanderen), Michael Schaer (CCC) and Sergio Rodriguez (Murias Team) marked the stage with an escape. They never gained much ground and were pulled in with five kilometres to race thanks to the sprint teams.

Tomorrow, the teams face as stage from the Royal Cavalry Oman to Al Bustan, 156.2km. It should be a nervous stage with four small climbs, the last being 1.4km with sections of 9% and leaving only 5km to the finish.

Stage 1 results:

1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 2:54:50

2 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotels s.t.

3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits s.t.

General classification after stage 1:

1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 2:54:50