Anthon Charmig (Uno-X) took his first victory as a pro rider in stage 3 of the Tour of Oman.
The race exploded on the short final climb, with Jan Hirt (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) hitting out early, only to be outpaced by a perfectly-timed effort from Charmig.
The Danish rider finished ahead of Hirt and crossed the line first at the top of a 2.8km climb that had an average gradient of 6.5%. Elie Gesbert (Arkea-Samsic) took third after crossing the line two seconds later.
“I think I tried to do a bit defensively from the bottom of climb and just follow wheels as much as I could,” Charmig said. “And yeah, I think we’re still not the biggest team here or the biggest riders so we can hide a bit, but in the end I had enough to win.
“Of course, we want to challenge the WorldTour teams when we get the chance to race against them. So, it’s really nice to show that we are also a team that can compete with the best.”
The race continues on Sunday with a mostly hilly stage before a flat finish in Muscat.
