2025 Muscat Classic : Pluimers opens his account
February 7 th 2025 - 16:44 [GMT + 4]
The undulating suburbs of the Omani capital set the scene for a rolling barrage of attacks in the third edition of the Muscat Classic. The peloton, reduced to just under 30 units, reeled in the lead group consisting of Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar) and Chris Harper (Jayco–AlUla) in sight of the line. In the end, the precocious Rick Pluimers (Tudor) prevailed in the bunch sprint and bagged the first professional win of his career. The Belgian winner of the inaugural Muscat Classic two years ago, Jente Biermans (Arkéa–B&B Hotels), took second place and the Eritrean Henok Mulueberhan (XDS Astana) came in third.
Three men versus the world
A 114-strong peloton rolled out of the Al Mouj neighbourhood of Muscat, with Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma–Lease a Bike), Tim Naberman (Picnic PostNL) and Davide Cimolai (Movistar) on the DNS list. As soon as the flag dropped, Adne van Engelen (Terengganu) jumped out of the peloton with his teammate Mohamad Mohd Zariff and Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Uno-X Mobility) in tow. Their margin soon grew from 1′30″ at km 10 to 4′30″ at km 23 before peaking at 7 minutes at km 30.
3, 2, 1…
After the gap hit 6′45″, UAE Team Emirates and Visma–Lease a Bike traded turns at the front of the peloton to make sure the situation did not get out of hand. 73 kilometres into the race, the first slopes whittled the breakaway down to two men after the 2022 Malaysian national champion lost contact. Wallin was gapped by Van Engelen on the ascent to Bousher Al Amerat but managed to reconnect on the descent. Their advantage dipped below the 2′30″ mark at km 85. The Dutchman finally got rid of the Norwegian for good on the Hamriyah climb (km 111).
Germani rolls the dice for Groupama–FDJ
The start of the final circuit encouraged several riders to try their luck. Kanter (XDS Astana), Boulahoite (TotalEnergies) and Azparren (Q36.5) flew past Van Engelen at km 127 as if he were standing still. The Q36.5 Spaniard hit the front of the race, only to be undone in turn by Lorenzo Germani (Groupama–FDJ), who launched a solo move from 34 kilometres out, dangling precariously half a minute ahead of the peloton.
Oh-so-close for Vine and Harper
A new three-man group consisting of Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) and Harper (Jayco–AlUla) counter-attacked and caught Germani with 17 kilometres to go. The newly formed quartet held a 25-second margin over the peloton going into the final 10 kilometres. The young Italian racing for Groupama–FDJ ran out of steam with 6 kilometres to go. Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar) rocketed out of the peloton and soon dropped his would-be breakaway companions before linking up with Vine and Harper at the front. Alas, with just 7 seconds to spare with 2 kilometres to go, it was not to be. A much-reduced peloton gobbled them up under the red kite, leaving the Dutchman Rick Pluimers to turn on the afterburners on the false flat leading to the finish line and fly to his maiden win as a professional rider.
