Ben Hermans (BMC) won the queen stage of the Tour of Oman atop the brutal climb of Green Mountain ahead of Fabio Aru (Astana) and Rui Costa (UAE Abu Dhabi).
The 152.5 kilometer long stage started with an escape of five riders: Daniel Diaz (Delko Marseille Provence KTM), Preben Van Hecke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Mark Christian (Aqua Blue Sport), Jonathan Clarke (UnitedHealthCare) and Olivier Pardini (WB-Veranclassic Aquality Protect).
As they extended their lead to 8:35, Romain Bardet (AGR2 La Mondiale) crashed in the peloton as water from a stream caused slippery conditions on the road. This advantage was not enough and the escapees were caught on the ascent to Green Mountain.
Hermans and BMC kept a good pace in the peloton to repel the attacks of rivals. Inside the final kilometre Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data) launched his move, which prompted a response first by Hermans, then Fabio Aru (Astana) and Rui Costa (Abu Dhabi). Hermans caught the Eritrean and won for the second time in a week to lead by 22 seconds ahead of the final stage on Sunday.
The last stage of the Tour of Oman will be between The Wave Muscat and Matrah Corniche and will include two climbs, to finish after a flat stretch.
Tour of Oman 2017 – stage 5 results (Samail – Jebel Akhdar):
| 1 | Ben Hermans (BMC) | 4:08:46 |
| 2 | Fabio Aru (Astana) | +03” |
| 3 | Rui Costa (UAE Abu Dhabi) | +11” |
| 4 | Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain Merida) | +27” |
| 5 | Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 6 | Tsgabu Grmay (Bahrain Merida) | +34” |
| 7 | Lachlan Morton (Dimension Data) | +37” |
| 8 | Mathias Frank (AG2R) | +41” |
| 9 | Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) | +44” |
| 10 | Romain Bardet (AG2R) | ,, |
General classification after stage 5:
| 1 | Ben Hermans (BMC) | 17:59:17 |
| 2 | Rui Costa (UAE Abu Dhabi) | +22” |
| 3 | Fabio Aru (Astana) | +35” |
| 4 | Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data) | +58” |
| 5 | Tsgabu Grmay (Bahrain Merida) | +1’12” |
| 6 | Romain Bardet (AG2R) | +1’17” |
| 7 | Mathias Frank (AG2R) | +1’19” |
| 8 | Lachlan Morton (Dimension Data) | +1’21” |
| 9 | Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain Merida) | +1’33” |
| 10 | Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) | +1’38” |
