(MENAFNEditorial)
Dubai, UAE, February 19, 2018: Alexander Kristoff recorded his first victory of the 2018 season and his first in UAE Team Emirates' colours as the European Champion took home the final stage on the Tour of Oman, adding to his two previous victories on this stage in 2016 and 2017.
The Norwegian produced a thrilling display in the final sprint finish to take home the win ahead of his nearest rivals, Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept Cycling Club), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana).
A five-man breakaway dominated the day's riding, but an assured team performance gave UAE Team Emirates the edge, unleashing Kristoff in the sprint to take home a well-deserved win.
Commenting on his first ever UAE Team Emirates podium finish, Alexander Kristoff said; 'I'm very happy to have picked up my first victory with UAE Team Emirates. I have faith in the team and I've always had strong men at my side in the first few races of the season. I enjoyed this finish a lot. I won here in 2016 and 2017, so I knew that today would be a good chance to succeed. In the meeting this morning with the sports directors and team-mates, we studied every move we were looking to make and we took on the final kilometres perfectly my team-mates worked impressively and I could not ask for more of them. As for my personal performance, I had great legs, which allowed me to take on the sprint. To win is always great, but to do it with a new team is even better. We're looking forward to taking this victory back to the UAE and hope to use it as momentum going into the Abu Dhabi Tour. Hopefully it can inspire us to produce more fantastic results in front of our home fans, who are surely celebrating this first victory, dedicating it to the memory of His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayhan in the 100th year of his birth.
There was also another top 10 finish for the team, as former World Champion Rui Costa finished 10th in the General Classification, which was eventually won by Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team).
Stage 6 Results
1. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 3:11:29
2. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept '
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo '
Final General Classification
1. Alexey Lutsenko (Kha) Astana Pro Team 22:49:50
2. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 00:19
3. Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain Merida 00:28
10. Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 1:37
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