Yates second in Oman summit finish

Adam Yates showed a strong pair of climbing legs to take 2nd place on stage 3 of the Tour of Oman which finish on the hilltop of Eastern Mountain, in an entertaining duel with Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) who took the spoils.

Gaudu took ten bonus seconds with the victory, moving into the overall lead of the race, just six seconds ahead of Yates with two stages left to race. The pair will likely go head-to-head again in a GC decider on the final day to Green Mountain.

The lumpy stage took the riders from Fanja to Eastern Mountain(180.8km), packing in 1838 metres of climbing, with the critical part coming in the final 5km as the steep ramp to the line saw the bunch splinter. Yates, surrounded by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates Rafal Majka and Jay Vine stuck with the pace of Groupama-FDJ before Gaudu hit-out at -1km with only Yates able to follow. It looked like the veteran climber from Bury would cruise past the Frenchman at 100m to go but Gaudu found another gear to seal the win.

Yates: “I’m actually really happy with today’s performance, like I said at the beginning of the week I’ve had an easier approach to the start of the season as I need to in top shape for a long time later in the year – so to be fighting for the win on an explosive final climb like this is a good sign that the training is working and my shape is coming. We have a sprint stage tomorrow so we’ll try to stay out of trouble, then we have one more chance on stage 5 to see if we can win the tour.”

The race continues tomorrow with a sprint stage from Oman Across Ages Museum to Oman Convention and Exhibition Center (181.5km).

Stage 3 results

1.David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) 4:16:10

2.Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1”

3.Damien Howson (Q.36 Pro Cycling) +5”

General Classification after stage 3 

1.David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) 13:28:26

2.Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +6”

3.Damien Howson (Q.36 Pro Cycling) +12”