AlSecond stage win for Alexander Kristoff in Oman - result of huge team effort

Team KATUSHA ALPECIN’s Alexander Kristoff is so far one of the most successful riders of the year. In stage 4 of the Tour of Oman the Norvegian rider took already his third victory of the young 2017 season. In front of the Ministry of Tourism, Kristoff was the fastest rider of a group beating Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrein Merida Team) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing team). The sprint win was again a result of nice team work.

After the tough stage to Quriyat and on the eve of the decisive climb of Jabal Al Akhdhar (or the Green Mountain), day 4 of the Tour of Oman was almost as demanding. Taking off from the splendid resort of Yiti (Al Sifah) just by the sea, the peloton went up and down all day. A total of five difficulties were on the course of this short 118-km stage including three in the last 40kms.

“We knew it could be a sprint with a selected group. The last years I was dropped but we were determined to go deep. We wanted to go all the way to finish. It was not easy at all as I was dropped again on that last climb but the teammates did an amazing job. First of all, they stayed with me all day, but later they managed to pull it back for me. It was fantastic what Rein Taaramäe, Marco Haller and Reto Hollenstein did till the end. Without them I would never have been able to win. We managed to come back and then it was just to me to finish the job in the sprint. It is cool to win like this. This was a real team effort. It cannot get better”, said Alexander Kristoff.

“The guys were so loyal. They believed in it until the end. It took a long time to come back but with 1 kilometer to go, they succeeded and brought our sprinter back to the front. I can only be happy with the team’s attitude, physically as well as mentally”, added team director Torsten Schmidt.

Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team) still leads the General Classification. Alexander Kristoff is back in green as leader of the Points Classification.