Jan Hirt conquered ‘The Green Mountain’ on Monday to grab the overall race lead in the Tour of Oman after the fifth and penultimate stage.
The 31-year-old shook off his rivals in the final two kilometres of the 150.5km ride from Samail which ended with a 5.7km climb up to the summit finish on Jebel Akhdar.
Hirt outpaced French riders Kevin Vanquelin and Eli Gesbert, both of the Arkea-Samsic team, who finished 40 seconds adrift after the gruelling climb with 10.5 percent gradient.
“We took responsibility in the race and we were focused on winning the stage. All the team did a great job from the beginning to the end,” Hirt said.
“Now if don’t make mistakes tomorrow we should also win the GC but the first objective was to win the stage, so anything more is a bonus.”
The Intermarche rider claimed his first success since the 2016 Tour of Austria, and overtakes overnight race leader Fausto Masnada, who finished nearly two minutes adrift in 11th position.
Tuesday’s sixth and final stage covering 135.5km should favour the sprinters, with the finale at Muttrah Corniche.
