Astana Team rider Magnus Cort took a perfect victory in sprint from a reduced group of leaders at stage 4 of the Tour of Oman with the finish nearby the Ministry of Tourism. Another Astana rider Miguel Angel Lopez became the new best young rider.
– I am so happy with this win! I want to thank all team for a great support today, especially Alexey Lutsenko, who did an amazing job in the last kilometer. He was so strong, pulling in front, keeping the second group far behind and leading me out for the sprint! I felt quite good today and in the sprint I gave my best to take this win. Yeah, finally, I did it! I was close so many times already this season at the Dubai Tour and also here in Oman I was not far from the best riders at the finish. But the win makes the difference. Today everything went absolutely amazing, the team was super strong, and we succeed. I was ok during the whole stage, however, with one kilometer to the top of the final climb I had a tough moment, because there were some attacks in front of the group and our riders tried to control these attacks. So, I am happy with my win, but also with the way I’ve started my debut season for Astana Pro Team. Also, it was so nice to see our general manager Alexandr Vinokurov at the finish line and to share this success with him and the whole team, – said Magnus Cort after the podium.
Stage 4 of the Tour of Oman started in Yiti (Al Sifah) and finished near the Ministry of Tourism in Muscat after 117,5 km of racing. The stage was characterized by quite hot weather and some tough climbs, including Bousher Al Amerat passed for three times.
At the final climb of the stage the last rider of the break was caught, while later the group has exploded with a few attacks close to the top of the climb. Anyway, Astana riders stayed in front of the pack all together, leading the group and controlling all rivals. Finally, the group of the favorites came together to the finish line in Muscat. It was Alexey Lutsenko, who led the group into the final kilometer, working hard for Magnus Cort.
Magnus did a very nice sprint, taking his first victory in Astana colors. He outsprinted two Italians, Giovanni Visconti and Alberto Bettiol. Alexey Lutsenko and Miguel Angel Lopez finished in the same leading group (14th and 16th, respectively).
Besides, Miguel Angel Lopez became the new leader of the best young rider classification, taking the white jersey.
– It was a hard stage, but I felt good. My legs were ok and after four stages I am where I wanted to be. I am happy for Magnus and this nice victory. Also, it is a pleasant bonus to get the white jersey. This is my first jersey in the 2018 season. Tomorrow we will have the queen stage, let’s see, how we will manage with it, – said Miguel Angel Lopez.
The Belgian Greg Van Avermaet still leads the general classification of the race, while Alexey Lutsenko holds his second place, 9 seconds behind the leader. Miguel Angel Lopez moved up to 5th position (+0.24).
Astana leads in the team classification of the race.
The key’s stage of the Tour of Oman will be held tomorrow: it will be an iconic stage with the finish atop the famous Green Mountain (152 km).
