Two riders, Bobbie Traksel (Champion System) and Kohel Uchima (Japan) temporarily stole the limelight on today’s 162 kilometer long first stage of Tour of Oman where Team Saxo-Tinkoff are preparing for the season with the line-up: Alberto Contador, Daniele Bennati, Matti Breschel, Matteo Tosatto, Anders Lund, Jonas Aaen, Marko Kump og Jesus Hernandez.
The breakaway duo was however doomed and with 30 kilometers to go, their lead was brought down to just 30 seconds. Soon, the Japanese rider launched a solo attack and prolonged the breakaway for a while.
On the finish line, the field was complete and no one was able to match Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) who took the first stage of the race. Team Saxo-Tinkoff DS, Lars Michaelsen says:
”It was a stage primarily for the sprinters and Daniele, Matti and Marko tried to launch a sprint in the finale but without any luck. Tomorrow is another treat for the fast riders. However, a couple of small climbs in the finale could make it difficult for the heavy sprinters. We’ll take one stage at a time and see what tomorrow brings for us.”
Marcel Kittel leads the race overall.
any idea of the average speed of this stage?
Works out to 23.95 mph. 162km in 4 hrs., 4 min.