Olav Kooij was the most anticipated rider of the first stage of the Tour of Oman and did not miss his chance, taking a powerful sprint victory at Bimmah Sink Hole ahead of Pavel Bittner (Picnic postnl) and Erlend Blikra (Uno X Mobility). Fourth place for Andrea D'Amato (Team Ukyo)

The first stage of the Tour of Oman, which officially started after yesterday's Muscat Classic, was entirely dedicated to fast wheels. The group pedaled 177.7 km from Bushar to the tourist site of Bimmah Sink Hole, facing a route almost completely devoid of difficulties. The only real climb was Jabal Road (also scheduled for tomorrow), but over 150 km from the finish line.

From the start, a breakaway of 5 riders went away: Rodrigo Alvarez (Burgos Burpellet), Mohammed Al Wahibi and Said Alrahbi (Team Oman), Kane Richards (Roojai insurance) Muhammad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Terenggaun Cycling Team), the latter who was also in the breakaway yesterday, quickly lost the wheels of the other leaders.

The group always maintained control of the situation, never allowing the 4 attackers to gain more than 5 minutes. The work of the very young Pietro Mattio was precious, who completely dedicated himself to the Visma Lease a bike team that significantly increased the pace in the final part of the race. Alvarez and Richards were the only ones to try to resist the advancing peloton, which however caught them 20 km from the finish line.

In the final straight, Olav Kooij, well launched by his teammates, unleashed all his power and took his first seasonal victory. Plenty of Italians in the top ten: near podium for Andrea D'Amato (JCL Team UKYO), ninth Luca Giaimi (Uae Team Emirates – XRG), tenth Giacomo Nizzolo (Q36,5 Pro Cycling Team).

With today's beautiful victory, Kooij also conquers the first leader's jersey, the white jersey and the green points jersey. Tomorrow, the second stage from Al Rustaq Fort will climb to the mythical Yitti Hills with the first mountain finish of this edition of the Tour of Oman

RESULTS

1. Kooij Olav (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) in 04:27:19
2. Bittner Pavel (Team Picnic PostNL)
3. Blikra Erlend (Uno-X Mobility)
4. D'Amato Andrea (JCL Team Ukyo)
5. Pluimers Rick (Tudor Pro Cycling Team)
6. Gaviria Fernando (Movistar Team)
7. Turgis Anthony (Team TotalEnergies)
8. Jeannière Emilien (Team TotalEnergies)
9. Giaimi Luca (UAE Team Emirates)
10. Nizzolo Giacomo (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)