News | Tour of Oman • February 20, 2019
Rui Costa comes close to podium finish Oman’s queen stage
Portuguese cyclist places 4th on Green Mountain
Alexey Lutsenko (Team Astana) wins the Tour of Oman’s queen stage, his third in the 2019 edition, with UAE Team Emirates’s Rui Costa just behind in fourth place.
The Green Mountain climb ended the 152km stage. Lutsenko used it to consolidate his lead in the Middle Eastern race while holding off rivals like Costa, at 19″ back today. Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie) placed second at seven seconds and Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) third at 11 seconds.
Jan Polanc rode well in seventh, only four seconds back from his team-mate Costa.
An escape of six dominated the early phases. Leaving at seven kilometres and whittling down to just Grellier. The Frenchman remained ahead even on the climb of Green Mountain (5.7 km with a 10.5% average). Only Lutsenko pulled him back at 100 metres to the finish.
Costa with his ride solidified his fourth place overall. He sits 53 seconds back from Lutsenko with one stage to race.
“I gave my best, it was hard to do more today,” Costa said. “It’s too bad I wasn’t able to get into the top three. Grellier was good and held off all the way to the line.
“Two fourth places in stages and fourth overall are good signs for me, they give me feedback on my good form. I can still improve in the next events. The UAE Tour coming up is clearly important for me and the team.”
The sixth and final stage, 135.5km, will take the riders from Al Mouj Muscat to the likely sprint finish along the Matrah Corniche.
Stage 5 results:
1 Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) 3h44’03”
2 Fabien Grellier (Direct Energie) 7″
3 Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) 11″
4 Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) 19″
7 Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) 23″
General classification after stage 5:
1 Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) 18h38’39”
2 Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) 44″
3 Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) 47″
4 Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) 53″
