UAE Team Emirates' Alexander Kristoff finishes seventh on first stage of Tour of Oman

David Cooper - Writer 22:29 13/02/2018
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  • UAE Team Emirates’ Alexander Kristoff produced another scintillating ride to grab seventh place on stage one of the Tour of Oman on Tuesday.

    It was the reigning European champion’s fifth successive top-10 finish in a week – after a consistent showing at the Dubai Tour last week.

    The Norwegian joined the counter-attacking group early on in the race and was successful in tackling the high-speed finish after overcoming three other riders to narrowly miss out on a top five place.

    French cyclist Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) won the first stage, edging out Mark Cavendish and Giacomo Nizzolo in the final sprint.

    Coquard cycled the 162.5km route from the city of Nizwa to Sultan Qaboos University campus in the capital Muscat, in just under four hours.

    Former world champion Rui Costa, who finished in 36th place, said stage one was not too difficult as the riders gear up for a gruelling 167.5km stretch featuring four classified climbs from Muscat to Al Bustan on Wednesday.

    He said: “The stage in Oman was not too demanding, so probably not a hard test for the bike either. However the course for stage two will be hilly and I’m sure then new bike will perform well and support me as I aim to achieve a positive result.”

    Meanwhile, Marco Marcato (56th), Przemyslaw Niemiec (94th), Kristijan Durasek (104th), Roberto Ferrari (105th) and Oliviero Troia (110th) were among the other finishers for UAE Team Emirates.

    Elsewhere, Dan Martin will make his highly anticipated race debut for the team in Portugal on Wednesday, as the 31-year-old Irishman takes part in the Volta ao Algarve alongside a strong line-up of riders.

    Also making his first start will be Rory Sutherland of Australia, who is determined to use his 15 years experience to support Martin in his quest for the yellow jersey.

    Martin, a Tour de France stage winner in 2013, will compete in southern Portugal alongside team-mates Ben Swift, Jan Polanc, Vegard Stake Laengen, Valerio Conti and Edward Ravasi.

    Martin said: “I have a mixture of nerves and excitement going to Portugal. There is always anxiety to get back to racing and find out where the fitness levels are, but I feel good and have trained well over the winter months, but racing is of course always different.

    “It will take time to learn how to race well together, but we have already completed two nice training camps where we have got to know each other.

    “I’m confident that we have a very strong team coming to Algarve, so I can’t wait to get started.”

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