Jan Hirt took the overall honours in the Tour of Oman after Fernando Gaviria won the sixth and final stage for his second win of this year’s race.
The Intermarche team rider had a winning margin of a minute over Fausto Masnada with Rui Costa in third.
Gaviria prevailed in the stage after being given a superb lead by UAE team-mate Maximiliano Richeze, the 27-year-old Colombian edging out Kaden Groves and Amaury Capiot.
Mark Cavendish was seen banging his handlebars after Richeze appeared to drift across him as he hugged the barriers in the sprint to the finish line. The British sprinter remonstrated angrily with Richeze as they crossed the line, with the Argentine rider raising his hand to protest his innocence.
“I don’t speak with Mark because it’s like that,” Gaviria said at the finish. “Max started to the right side from the guy from BikeExchange and then if you won’t pass you need to move, and then it’s sometimes the wrong way.
“The day Mark won, the guy from Arkéa passed me and then closed me to the barriers and nothing happened. That is cycling. There’s no fight every day”.
