Stage 5 : Paret-Peintre and Yates share the spoils
February 12 th 2025 - 11:19
The fourteenth Tour of Oman came to a head today on the torturous slopes of Jebel Akhdar (5.7 km at 10.5%), the iconic climb of the Tour of Oman, also known as Green Mountain. David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ), who had earlier taken the stage win and the overall lead on Eastern Mountain, fought gallantly to defend his red jersey, but the Breton finally cracked when Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates XRG) upped the pace for the second time with 700 metres to go. The British rider finished stage 5 a couple of seconds behind the Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre, who opened his account with Soudal–Quick-Step with a prestigious triumph on Green Mountain. This was enough to propel Yates to his second consecutive overall victory in the Tour of Oman. The man from Haute-Savoie took second place at 6 seconds, while Gaudu rounded out the final podium at 39.
Like a bat out of hell
115 riders lined up for the fifth and final stage of the Tour of Oman, a 141.3-kilometre romp starting in the historic village of Imty. The fearsome slopes of the summit finish on Green Mountain, looming on the horizon, failed to deter a multitude of breakaway specialists from trying their luck. Attacks came thick and fast as the peloton barrelled down the road. An 18-man group finally opened up a gap after 10 kilometres.
Breakaway on a tight leash
The escapees were Luca Giaimi (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Mauri Vansevenant and Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal–Quick-Step), Anthon Charmig (XDS Astana Team), Niklas Behrens (Visma–Lease a Bike), Amaury Capiot (Arkéa–B&B Hotels), Pavel Bittner and Sean Flynn (Team Picnic PostNL), Orluis Aular (Movistar Team), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco–AlUla), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), Marcel Camprubí (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Lucas Eriksson (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Sakarias Koller Løland and Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility), José Luis Faura Asensio (Burgos Burpellet BH), Dylan Hopkins (Roojai Insurance) and Said Al-Rahbi (Omani national team). Al-Rahbi was dropped 121 kilometres from the line, with the peloton an ever-present threat at half a minute.
Flynn moves into the virtual red jersey
David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ) and Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates XRG), the top two riders on GC, put their teams to work, and JLC Team Ukyo, one of the three teams not represented in the breakaway, joined them at the front of the peloton. The race was neutralised around 104 kilometres from the line to allow the riders to safely navigate a section with a slippery road surface. The action continued with the breakaway 45 seconds ahead, the same gap as before the neutralisation. It continued to grow slowly but steadily until it reached 2′15″ with 64 kilometres to go, which put Sean Flynn (36th at 2′14″) in the virtual red jersey.
Howson takes a tumble
The 24-year-old Scotsman picked up two bonus seconds thanks to his second place at the intermediate sprint in Wadi Sout (61 km to go), right behind Capiot. The gap peaked at 2′35″ with 55 kilometres to go. Two hours into the stage, the average speed of the 17 men at the front was 46.1 km/h. Flynn took first place and another three bonus seconds at the second intermediate sprint, located in Birkat Al Mouz. Damien Howson (Q36.5), third overall, and Adam Yates's right-hand man, Rafał Majka, hit the deck with 10 kilometres to go. The Australian and the Pole managed to get back into the lead group at the foot of the final climb, Green Mountain (5.7 km at 10.5%).
Paret-Peintre takes the stage and Yates the overall
The road bent towards the sky with the breakaway a meagre 45 seconds ahead of the pack. Vansevenant, who had won here in 2023, made a move to keep his dream alive, but the Belgian was caught with 3.4 kilometres to go together with Eriksson and Faura Asensio. UAE Team Emirates XRG shovelled more and more coal into the fire until the Brit went on the offensive 2 kilometres from the line. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal–Quick-Step), the only man capable of matching him pedal stroke for pedal stroke, launched his own counter-attack 300 metres down the road, but he was soon caught by Yates himself and Gaudu. It was a Mexican standoff as the race went under the red kite. Yates, riding at a brisk pace, managed to drop Gaudu for good with 700 metres to go. Paret-Peintre came around Yates to clinch the stage win, but the overall title went to the man from Bury.
