Kristoff wins opening stage at the Tour of Oman

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) won the sprint finish to claim stage one of the Tour of Oman ahead of Kristian Sbaragli (Dimension Data) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida).

Stage 1 of the race started at Al Sawadi Beach and finished after 176,5 km near the central entrance to the Naseem Park. Five riders made the daily breakaway after only few kilometers from the start, but Katusha-Alpecin and Quick-Step did everything to control it. The break was completely neutralized with some 10 km to go. A strong powerful sprint at the finish brought Alexander Kristoff’s second 2017 victory.

”Of course, all in the peloton looked at us, as we were the favorites with me as one of the best sprinters, so we had to take control of the race from the beginning.”, said Alexander Kristoff

”Quick -Step helped and later on also Sunweb. Our team did an amazing job. In the end they all contributed for the lead-out. We knew the finish from last year and knew that we had to come to the front a little bit late, especially because of the straight road and the head wind. We waited in the bunch quite a long time. Just in the end, with 300 meters to go, we hit the front. It was still tough with the head wind, but our lead-out was perfect. Marco Haller and Michael Mørkøv were the last guys to bring me to the ideal position but also Nils Politt helped a lot. I am proud of this team. Already in Bessèges we showed to have a good group. This is a great feeling. I hope we can continue this way”.

Tour of Oman 2016 – stage 1 results (Al Sawadi Beach – Naseem Park):