Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) won his second consecutive stage at the Tour of Oman and took the overall race lead in Qurayyat on stage 3 after attacks and echelons made for a tough day in the saddle. Lutsenko gave the Astana team its fifth victory in just four days after success at the Vuelta Murcia, the Tour de la Provence and Miguel Angel Lopez’s overall victory at the Colombia 2.1 stage race. Lutsenko won the Tour of Oman in 2018 and seems on form achieve that again. On Sunday, he attacked on the last climb and held off the chasers. On Monday he attacked in the final part of the 2.8km climb to the finish, opening a gap and winning a second ahead of Jesus Herrada (Cofidis). Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) was third, also at one second, with Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) fourth on the same time.ADVERTISEMENT Stage 1 winner Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) was distanced with two kilometres to go and so Lutsenko pulled on the race leader’s red jersey. He now holds an 18-second advantage over Herrada, with Van Avermaet third at 20 seconds. The Tour of Oman is expected to be decided on Green Mountain on Wednesday. How it happened The 192km stage rolled out from Shati al Qurum near Muscat with a breeze blowing in from the sea, a clear sign that echelons could be a problem on the exposed roads of the long loop near Qurayyat to the south.
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