Olav Kooij takes Stage 1 sprint victory
Muscat: Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij opened the account for his team Visma-Lease a Bike in 2025 with the Stage 1 victory of Tour of Oman from Bausher to Bimmah Sink Hole on Saturday.
The Dutch cyclist with time bonus of 10' edged past Pavel Bittner (6') of Picnic PostNL in second place and Erlend Blikra (4') of Uno-X Mobility in third to take the leader's red jersey after the 177.7 km opening stage of the 14th edition of Tour of Oman.
The exciting bunch sprint finish at Bimmah Sink Hole saw 109 riders finish in the same time as the winner at four hours 27 minutes and nine seconds.
Italian rider Andrea D'Amato of JCL Team Ukyo claimed fourth spot while Muscat Classic winner Rick Pluimers of Tudor finished fifth.
Oman's Mohammed al Wahibi was among the 119 cyclists who finished the first stage as three riders did not start.
Speaking after the win, Kooij said the race was tough as expected.
'There was more headwind than expected. In the strong sprint finish, I managed to end on top,' he said.
Reflecting on his views on the 202.9 km second stage from Al Rustaq Fort to Yitti Hills – the longest in Tour of Oman – on Sunday, the Dutch youngster said it will be more for the punchers than the sprinters.
'I think tomorrow will be a hard day, the stage will be more for the punchers than the sprinters. But I'll try to keep the red jersey.'
In the general classification after Stage 1, Kooij led followed by Pavel Bittner (+04') and Rodrigo Alvaro Rodriguez (+05') of Burgos Burpellet BH).
A 120-strong peloton started the Tour of Oman 2025, with a five-man group opening up a gap in the first kilometre.
Olav Kooij takes Stage 1 sprint victory
OMANIS HIT THE FRONT
Oman national team riders Mohammed al Wahibi and Said al Rahbi hit the front with Rodrigo Alvarez (Burgos Burpellet BH), Kane Richards (Roojai Insurance) and Mohamad Mohd Zariff (Terengganu).
Their margin quickly grew to three minutes by the time that the peloton got to grips with Jabal Road (3.5 km at 9.2 per cent), the only categorised climb of the day, with 167 km to go. Zariff and Al Rahbi were dropped a kilometre from the top, leaving Al Wahibi, Richards and Alvarez to crown the ascent in this same order. The Spaniard got his own back 13 km down the road by taking the first intermediate sprint at Al Amerat.
Zariff and Al Rahbi managed to get back to the front 151 km from the line, with the peloton five minutes back at that point. The peloton sprang into action, cutting the gap to 3′35″ with 140 km to go.
Zariff gave up with 126 kilometres to go, first sinking back into the peloton and then abandoning the race altogether. Kooij's men brought the deficit below the two-minute mark 100 km from the line, only to ease up for a bit and keep the escapees dangling in front for a bit longer. The gap rose to 3′35″ and then fell back to 1′10″ as the peloton got its first glimpse of the finish line with 41 km left.
Kane Richards, stepped up the pace with 37 km to go, leaving everyone but Alvarez in the dust. The Australian and the Spaniard fought gallantly, but they were reeled in with 25 km to go, shortly after Richards took the intermediate sprint.
The Groupama–FDJ train propelled David Gaudu to third place, which came with a one-second time bonus. From there on, it was a bunch sprint all the way to the finish, with Olav Kooij prevailing in the final rush to the finish line.
Tour of Oman Stage 1 results
Rank, Rider, Country, Team, Time
1. Olav Kooij, Netherlands, Team Visma|Lease a Bike, 04:27:19
2. Pavel Bittner, Czech Republic, Team Picnic PostNL, + 00
3. Erlend Blikra, Norway, Uno-X Mobility, + 00
4. Andrea D'Amato, Italy, JCL Team Ukyo, + 00
5. Rick Pluimers, Netherlands, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, + 00
6. Fernando Gaviria, Colombia, Movistar Team, + 00
7. Anthony Turgis, France, Team Total Energies, + 00
8. Emilien Jeanniere, France, Team Total Energies, + 00
9. Luca Giaimi, Italy, UAE Team Emirates, + 00
10. Nizzolo Giacomo, Italy, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, + 00
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