Mauro Schmid is experiencing an incredible moment of form that he doesn't hesitate to define as the best of his career. After an excellent debut in Australia with a series of great placements, he is making his mark in Oman. After his masterful performance a few days ago at the Muscat Classic, today he triumphed again at the top of Eastern Mountain. A masterful victory that demonstrates his period of grace.

"Everything is beautiful, I am very happy because everything went in the best possible way. As a team, we were very motivated, we tried to send Luke Plapp in a breakaway who lost a lot of ground yesterday, it could have been a way to play for the stage, but when he was caught, we helped other teams control the situation. In the finale, my teammates were incredible, they did a great job and I must say I was very lucky because I was not involved in any crashes, in both cases I found myself on the opposite side of the roundabout. On the final ramp, Paul Double set a great pace, I was almost surprised to find myself at the front because usually I am not able to hold on in such climbs, but I wanted to believe until the end. It's a victory for the team, a way to thank them for all the work they did for me," Schmid explains, who wanted to thank all his teammates. As Christian Scaroni told us right after the finish line, the crashes were indeed decisive, they disrupted the plans in the group, but Team Jayco Alula was able to immediately take control of the situation.

Already in Australia, the Swiss rider from Team Jayco Alula had shown excellent form, thanks to a winter spent without hitches, but also with total determination: "I had a good winter, I trained well and was never sick. It's something unusual for me because every year I always had problems that slowed down my preparation. At the beginning of January, I left immediately for Australia, I was there for two weeks, I acclimatized and then we raced, it was of enormous help because I could train in the warm and I believe it makes a difference compared to the guys who come from Europe. The leg is turning well, I feel better and better and I believe I am experiencing absolutely the best form of my entire career." Schmid continues, who after Oman will take a period of rest to recover from the efforts of this first block of races.

After today's victory, Schmid leads the general classification with 4" over Christian Scaroni, 32" over Adam Yates and 3'44" over Paret Peintre, but on Wednesday the Green Mountain climb is scheduled and the question is more than legitimate: will the advantage be sufficient? "Yates and Paret Peintre are pure climbers and the Green Mountain climb is very well suited to their characteristics; today's effort was only about ten minutes, it's nothing compared to what we'll find on Wednesday. I already did the climb in 2020 and I remember it quite well, it's very difficult, especially in the final part, but it's the last stage and anything can really happen, everyone will want to use their last energies. I'm feeling very good, but losing a minute to Yates is really very easy," Schmid concludes, and so we can only wait for the show.