Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) set up his second consecutive overall victory at the Tour of Oman by winning the queen stage on the slopes of Green Mountain. The Kazakh national champion beat Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie), who was in the early break of the day, by seven seconds on the barren mountaintop finish, with Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) third at 11 seconds. Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) was fourth at 19 seconds. As Lutsenko crossed the finish line he again pointed to the sky. After recovering from his huge effort, he thanked his Astana teammates via radio.ADVERTISEMENT Thanks to his third stage win of the race, Lutsenko has tightened his grip on the leader’s red jersey with just one stage left to race, having already won two stages in this year’s edition. He now leads Pozzovivo by 44 seconds, with Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) third overall at 47 seconds. Thursday’s 135.5km sixth stage is from Al Mouj Muscat to the Matrah Corniche, where the riders cover three circuits before the expected final sprint finish. How it happened The stage to Green Mountain is always about the climb to the finish line, which is fixed 5.7km up the twisting road to the mountain resort in the Oman desert, with an average gradient of 10 per cent.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com.read full article
