Despite the race being shortened to just 72km due to adverse weather conditions on the 5th stage of the Tour of Oman, Green Mountain proved as decisive as ever in determining the outcome of the race, with Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) winning on the slopes of Jebel Akhdar and claiming overall victory in the race.
Formation of the group of fugitives
At the beginning of the day, the first breakaway formed after around 20km of racing, with Tord Gudmestad (Uno-X), Huub Artz (Intermarché – Wanty), Tobias Lund Andresen (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Tegsh-bayar Batsaikhan ( Roojai Insurance). They took the main points in the only intermediate sprint of the day at Birkat Al Mouz, with Batsaikhan crossing the line first.
The attack on Green Mountain
The cyclists arrived at the foot of Green Mountain with a good gap over the peloton. Artz accelerated on the lower slopes and went alone, immediately leaving Gudmestad and Andresen behind while Batsaikhan fought to keep up, but ended up falling behind as well.
With the rest of his fellow escapees being caught up by the pack, Artz was at the front alone, but it wasn’t long before Yates came to the front of the pack and began to thin the group.
Adam Yates’ victory
Yates was forced to follow the wheel of Czech Jan Hirt (Soudal – Quick-Step), who attacked, leaving his teammate and the remaining cyclists in the peloton behind. The pair then chased after Artz, catching and overtaking him in the last kilometer, before Yates unleashed his sprint and easily beat Hirt to take victory and overall standings in the competition.