MUSCAT: Cofidis rider Jesus Herrada's stupendous effort in the final metres on the Qurayat uphill powered him to the second stage triumph and the overall leader’s red jersey in the Tour of Oman 2023 on Sunday.
The Spanish puncheur finished in 04:21:07 after pouncing on the right moment to get the better of Maxim Van Gils (Lotto Dstny) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates).
“I was familiar about the final climb. I finished second here in 2019 behind Alexey Lutsenko. I knew it was hard. Today I had good legs and it all went very well.’’
The Cofidis rider is an expert on rising finishes and he waited until the final 300 metres before attacking in the 174 km stage.
Herrada had finished third in the Tour of Oman 2019 with a second place in Qurayat stage.
“I want to keep the red jersey all the way to Al Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain), the final summit of this 12th edition, on Wednesday,” he said.
The peloton left the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex to head into the infamous climb of Al Jabal Street (3.5km at 9.2%).
Ivan Cobo (Equipo Kern Pharma) made good attack uphill but with little space from the peloton. After leading alone, he slipped to the bottom of the downhill.
UAE, ASTANA IMPRESS
Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X) jumped ahead of the bunch at 15 km. Luca Van Boven (Bingoal WB) joined him soon but Dvernes dominated the intermediate sprint of Al Amerat (20.1 km).
Four more riders joined them after 25km. Ivan Cobo, Angel Fuentes (Burgos-BH), Kosuke Takeyama (JCL Team Ukyo) and Jeroen Meijers (Terengganu Polygon) made the attack.
The gap raised to 4 minutes but UAE Team Emirates and Astana Qazaqstan reacted quickly at the front of the bunch. Mark Cavendish led the chase for the Kazakh team to keep the gap between 2 and 3 minutes until the conclusion of the stage.
Cobo showed his climbing skills again as the attackers face the climb of Qurayat (2.6km at 7%) for the first time, 52km before the uphill finish. Meijers dropped back to the bunch.
The peloton upped the ante after the summit as the gap dropped to one minute. Cobo, Dvernes and Takeyama also dropped back to the bunch. Van Boven and Fuentes remained at the front inside the last 30km.
Soudal Quick-Step move to the front of the bunch and put the hammer down with 15km to go. The two attackers remaining at the front were brought in 7km away from the finish, just ahead of the final ascent.
UAE Team Emirates, Bora-Hansgrohe and Arkea-Samsic set a strong pace for their leaders. Herrada pulled away in the final 200m with Maxim Van Gils and Diego Ulissi coming closest to the Spaniard.
Herrada became the new race leader, courtesy to the time bonuses. He leads Van Gils by four seconds, with Ulissi at six seconds.
Van Gils’ efforts saw him pick up the best young rider jersey as Meijers retained the most aggressive rider’s golden jersey.
Herrada and Cofidis will defend the leader’s red jersey on 151.8 km-long Stage 3 from Al Khobar to Jabal Haat that ends with a 4.6km climb to the line.
Tour of Oman Stage 2 results
POS, RIDER, TEAM, TIME
1. Jesus Herrada (ESP) Cofidis 04:21:07
2. Maxim Van Gils (BEL) Lotto Dstny + 00
3. Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates + 00
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team + 00
5. Mauri Vansevenant (BEL) Soudal Quick-Step + 00
6. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Qazaqstan Team + 03
7. Remy Rochas (FRA) Cofidis + 05
8. Cristian Rodriguez (ESP) Team Arkea-Samsic + 05
9. Stan Dewulf (BEL) AG2R Citroen Team + 05
10. Davide Formolo (ITA) UAE Team Emirates + 05
General classification
1. Jesus Herrada (ESP) Cofidis 07:51:57
2. Maxim Van Gils (BEL) Lotto Dstny + 04
3. Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates + 06
4. Mauri Vansevenant (BEL) Soudal Quick-Step + 10
5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team + 10
6. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Qazaqstan Team + 13
7. Davide Formolo (ITA) UAE Team Emirates + 15
8. Lennert Teugels (BEL) Bingoal WB + 15
9. Niklas Eg (DEN) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team + 15
10. Harold Tejada (COL) Astana Qazaqstan Team + 15
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