Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) took the overall win of the 2018 Tour of Oman, having built up a time gap on the queen stage climbing the Green Mountain.
Lutsenko was second to his winning team-mate Miguel Ángel López on stage five. He then finished the final stage - won by Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) - safely in the bunch to clinch the win.
Previously, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) had held the lead following a win on the hilly stage three. Van Avermaet also took second place the preceding day, though the win then went to Nathan Haas (Katusha-Alpecin).
Day one was a sprint finish, claimed by Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) and the events of the fourth stage couldn't shake Van Avermaet from the GC lead.
Final General Classification 2018
1. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana, in 22-49-50 22:49:50
2. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana, at 11 secs
3. Gorka Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida, at 28 secs
4. Jesus Herrada (Esp) Cofidis, at 30 secs
5. Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin, at 32 secs
6. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors, at 1-05
7. Daniel Navarro Garcia (Esp) Cofidis, at 1-14
8. Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Groupe Gobert, at 1-24
9. Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data, at 1-29
10. Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 1-37
Tour of Oman 2018: Stage Six
Alexander Kristoff wins sixth and last stage of the Tour of Oman. (Photo credit PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Alexey Lutsenko won the general classification following the final stage of the 2018 Tour of Oman. The Astana rider finished safely in the bunch to maintain the lead he built up on the queen stage the previous day.
The sprint finish went to Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) - it was his third consecutive win of the stage and first of the 2018 season.
Behind him was stage one winner Brian Coquard (Vital Concept) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) was third.
Astana dominated proceedings on the decisive climb of Green Mountain, attacking en masse with Alexey Lutsenko, Miguel Ángel López and Jan Hirt. They were only followed by Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida).
Hirt did his work for his team-mates and then dropped out inside the final two kilometres, with Izagirre also distanced by the pace set by Lutsenko and López.
The Astana duo reached the line together, with a sharing of the spoils: López taking the stage win and Lutsenko the overall race lead.
Denmark's Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) won stage four. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) extended his GC lead by a handful of seconds whilst Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) took the win on stage four.
The result came down to a sprint finish from a select group of 25 riders, with Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida) taking second and Alberto Bettiol (BMC Racing) third.
Van Avermaet managed to cling on to take fourth, maintaining his lead into the Green Mountain stage tomorrow.
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) won stage three, and moved into the race lead following an undulating route over 179.5km.
The Olympic champion made his move with just 500 metres to go, crossing the solo line ahead of second place Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) who was three seconds back.
An earlier break did form, and the peloton was happy to let them go on the longest stage of the race. However, the quartet was caught with just under 20km left, with BMC Racing protecting Van Avermaet until the final ascent.
Nathan Haas wins stage two of the 2018 Tour of Oman
Nathan Haas (Katusha-Alpecin) won the second stage following a hard day's racing over hilly terrain.
Haas proved to be stronger man, beating Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) on the uphill drag to the finish at Al Bustan.
A break formed early on the 167.6km stage, but the bunch had chased them down with 25km to go. At this point, 20 riders took to the front of the race, with Haas eventually able to distance his rivals on the final climb.
Bryan Coquard wins the opening stage of the 2018 Tour of Oman/ Credit: Muscat Municipality / A.S.O. / K.D. Thorstad
Victory of the first stage went to Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept), who pipped Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) to the line.
Four riders escaped early on the 162.5km stage, but they were all caught with 10km to go - without too much trouble, in fact - the peloton arriving at the finish line fairly fresh.
Coquard - who had enjoyed four podium finishes already this year - made it to the line first, with Cavendish forced to open his sprint from quite far back, resulting in a battle for second.
The route will feature a mix of sprint stages, hilly stages - and the queen stage for the climbers on day five - read more about the Tour of Oman route 2018 here.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Stage 1
February 13
Nizwa > Sultan Qaboos University
162.5km
Stage 2
February 14
Sultan Qaboos University > Al Bustan
167.5km
Stage 3
February 15
German University of Technology > Wadi Dayqah Dam
179.5km
Stage 4
February 16
Yiti (Al Sifah) > Ministry of Tourism
117.5km
Stage 5
February 17
Sama’il > Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain)
152km
Stage 6
February 18
Al Mouj Muscat > Matrah Corniche
135.5km
Tour of Oman 2018: Teams
Teams have been announced and are as follows:
Aqua Blue Sport (Ireland)
Astana Pro Team (Kazakhstan)
Bahrain-Merida (Bahrain)
BMC Racing Team (USA)
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA (Spain)
Confidis Solutions Credits (France)
Team Dimension Data (South Africa)
Team Fortuneo-Samsic (France)
Quick-Step Floors (Belgium)
Rally Cycling (USA)
Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij (Netherlands)
Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise (Belgium)
Team Katusha Alpecin (Switzerland)
Team Sunweb (Germany)
Trek-Segafredo (USA)
UAE Team Emirates (UAE)
Vital Concept (France)
Wanty Groupe Gobert (Belgium)
Tour of Oman: 2017 race
Ben Hermans (BMC Racing) emerged victorious from the 2017 Tour of Oman, after a commanding performance which saw him claim two stage wins including on the queen stage to Green Mountain.
Despite a host of top climbers including Fabio Aru (Astana), Rui Costa (UAE Abu Dhabi) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale), Hermans showed he has the form after out-climbing them all with emphatic confidence.
The battle of sprinters was also heavily one-sided, with Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) taking three wins from the race's six stages.
The Middle Eastern races may have a reputation for being flat races through deserts, but the Tour of Oman is anything but that.
The 2017 Tour of Oman is one of the hilliest in the history race, with one bona fide mountain top finish, one hilltop finish, and two further stages with hard climbs close to the end of the race.
Tour of Oman 2017: Stages
Stage one, February 14, Al Sawadi Beach to Naseem Park, 176.5km: Report
Stage two, February 15, Nakhal to Al Bustan, 145.5km: Report
Stage three, February 16, Sultan Qaboos University to Quriyat, 162km: Report
Stage four, February 17, Yiti (Al Sifah) to Ministry of Tourism, 118km: Report
Stage five, February 18, Samail to Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain), 152.5km: Report
Stage six, February 19, The Wave to Matrah Corniche, 130.5km: Report
