Monday 10 / February / 2025
MUSCAT: David Gaudu of Groupama–FDJ claimed victory in Stage 3 of the 14th edition of the Tour of Oman on Monday, winning the challenging summit finish at Eastern Mountain set beneath the towering Jabal Shams, Oman’s highest peak.
French rider Gaudu narrowly defeated reigning champion Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates XRG) by just one second, securing his first win of the season and taking the red leader’s jersey from Louis Vervaeke (Soudal–Quick-Step).
The 180.8-kilometre stage saw Gaudu outlast Yates in a thrilling sprint, with Damien Howson (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) finishing third, five seconds behind.
Gaudu now leads the overall classification by 6 seconds over Yates, with 12 seconds on Howson heading into the final stages of the race.
Stage 3 saw riders tackling the first of two summit finishes as it tested the climbers to their limits, with a grueling ascent to Eastern Mountain (1,016 metres above sea level, masl).
The stage unfolded under the hot, oppressive heat of Fanja as the peloton rolled out at 10:34 am, with 117 riders still in the race.
Six men initially broke away from the pack, including Nicolas Vinokourov (XDS Astana), Rayan Boulahoite (TotalEnergies), Nur Amirull Mazuki (Terengganu), Andreas Miltiadis (Roojai Insurance), and Omani national team members Said Al Rahbi and Mohamed Al Wahibi.
Al Wahibi, however, was forced to abandon the breakaway attempt early on due to a puncture at the 27 km mark, leaving his companions to continue without him.
Despite their efforts, the breakaway was not allowed to build a significant lead, as the peloton remained vigilant.
Soudal–Quick-Step, with Louis Vervaeke at the helm, quickly took control of the chase, keeping the gap from growing beyond 3 minutes. UAE Team Emirates XRG soon joined the effort, working to protect the interests of Yates, the reigning champion and hot favourite for a back-to-back win.
As the race pressed on, the breakaway group began to splinter. Al Rahbi, Miltiadis, and Mazuki each struggled and were eventually dropped from the front group, leaving just Vinokourov and Boulahoite to carry on. The two men maintained a 2-minute lead as they passed through the first intermediate sprint at Birkat Al Mouz, with Vinokourov taking top points and Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL) leading the peloton across the line for a bonus second.
By the time the breakaway reached the final climb to Eastern Mountain, Vinokourov had managed to gap Boulahoite, taking a 50-second lead into the base of the climb. The pack, however, was closing in quickly, and at the 2.7 km mark, Vinokourov was caught by the main peloton, which was now under the control of Groupama–FDJ.
With the climb now fully underway, Clément Braz Afonso of Groupama–FDJ played a crucial role in setting up his leader, Gaudu, for an attack just under the red kite.
In a thrilling sequence of attacks, Gaudu and Yates exchanged moves, with Gaudu unable to shake off the British rider for much of the climb. However, as the final few hundred metres approached, Gaudu found an extra burst of speed, edging out Yates in a fiercely contested sprint to the line.
Gaudu’s victory also meant that he wrested the red jersey from Vervaeke, who had been dropped from the lead group with just 3 km remaining. The Belgian had been instrumental in helping his teammate Valentin Paret-Peintre, who finished fourth, 13 seconds behind Gaudu.
