Gaudu outsprints Yates to take red
Muscat, FEB 10
Groupama – FDJ's David Gaudu and defending champion Adam Yates of UAE Team Emirates climbed up the ladder in Tour of Oman 2025 to take the top two spots in the overall classification after finishing in the same positions in the mountain stage on Monday.
The French rider outsprinted the British cyclist by one second to win the 180.8-kilometre Stage 3 in four hours, 16 minutes and 10 seconds. Yates was second (04:16:11), as Australia's Damien Howson (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) claimed third in 04:16:15.
Soudal Quick-Step's Valentin Paret-Peintre (04:16:23) came fourth with his best young rider jersey ahead of Tudor's Marco Brenner (04:16:23).
Valentin's teammate Louis Vervaeke, who started the day in the red jersey, fought valiantly but ceded the lead when he was dropped in the final 3km.
In the first of Tour of Oman's two summit finishes, the climbers went head to head on Eastern Mountain (1,016 metres), under the gaze of Jabal Sham (3,018 metres), the highest peak in Oman.
Gaudu proved strongest in the long-awaited duel against Yates after firing off multiple attacks within the last few hundred metres of the final ascent (4.8 km at 8.5%).
Gaudu has 6 seconds in hand over Yates and 12 over Howson going into the last two stages.
''We are already focused on Green Mountain. We will try to keep the red jersey and maybe win a second stage,'' he said.
The French cyclist thanked his team. 'I am grateful for the team's work. I have never won a general classification, and we will try to maintain this lead until the end.'
In Fanja, 117 riders who had reached Yitti Hills on Sunday were at the start line. Six men made an early move: Nicolas Vinokourov (XDS Astana), Rayan Boulahoite (TotalEnergies), Nur Amirull Mazuki (Terengganu), Andreas Miltiadis (Roojai Insurance) and the Omani national team members Said al Rahbi and Mohamed al Wahibi.
It was Soudal Quick-Step that set the pace in the bunch to keep the gap below three minutes after it peaked at 3′20″. UAE Team Emirates XRG soon arrived to defend the interests of Adam Yates.
CARNAGE
Meanwhile, utter carnage unfolded in the breakaway, with Al Rahbi, Miltiadis and Mazuki cracking at 118, 111 and 102 km to go, respectively, leaving Vinokourov Jr and Boulahoite alone at the front for the final 100 km. Unperturbed, the two men kept going and went through the first intermediate sprint at Birkat Al Mouz (58 km to go) with a 2-minute advantage. Vinokourov took top points, while Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL) led the peloton across the line and picked up a bonus second.
The pack was in no hurry to shut down the breakaway, allowing the difference to grow back to three minutes. It was still 2′05″ by the time that Vinokourov gapped Boulahoite 10 km from the line.
Vinokourov got caught 2.7 km from the line, around the time that Vervaeke got separated from the main group after working at the front of the peloton. Groupama–FDJ took over from there. Clement Braz Afonso put in a mammoth shift to set up his leader Gaudu for an attack.
Despite repeated attempts, the French rider was unable to open up a gap, with Yates close on his wheel. Nevertheless, Gaudu kept his nose ahead in a fiercely contested sprint for the stage win, which also raised him to the top of the leaderboard.
Tour of Oman Stage 3 Results
Rank, Rider, Country, Team, Time
1. David Gaudu, France, Groupama-FDJ, 04:16:10
2. Adam Yates, Great Britain, UAE Team Emirates – XRG, 04:16:11
3. Damien Craig Howson, Australia, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, 04:16:15
4. Valentin Paret Peintre, France, Soudal Quick-Step, 04:16:23
5. Marco Brenner, Germany, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, 04:16:23
6. Cian Uijtdebroeks, Belgium, Team Visma|Lease A Bike, 04:16:26
7. Chris Harper, Australia, Team Jayco AlUla, 04:16:26
8. Diego Ulissi, Italy, XDS Astana Team, 04:16:33
9. Ruben Guerreiro, Portugal, Movistar Team, 04:16:33
10. Wout Poels, Netherlands, XDS Astana Team, 04:16:33
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