Called up as a replacement for Koen de Kort after the Dutchman was injured in the Tour of Qatar, Marcel Kittel roared into the race lead on the first stage of the Tour of Oman, notching up his first victory of the 2013 season.
The German rider powered home ahead of Davide Appollonio (AG2R La Mondiale) and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) on the opening stage, a mainly flat race from Al Musannah to Sultan Qaboos University.
The victory was also the first of the year for Kittel’s Argos Shimano team, getting the ball rolling on what it hopes will be a very successful first year as a UCI WorldTour outfit.
Kittel’s performance was a welcome step up from his form of the Santos Tour Down Under, where sixth place on day four was his only result inside the top 80 on stages.
“We started the stage today with a good plan, we followed the plan all race, and I felt really confident that we would be able to work it out,” the stage winner said afterwards. “The entire team did such a good job, first in leading the chase during the stage, and then in bringing me to a perfect position in the finale. It was really great teamwork today. The communication was good and nobody got nervous.
“We should be proud today. I am very happy that we confirmed our strength as a team. This gives me confidence in my own fitness and in the performance of the team. It didn’t work out before, but we learned from the mistakes we made in the races earlier this year. Tomorrow we have another stage that will probably end in a sprint, and I see chances again in the last stage on Sunday.”
The 162 kilometre stage was shaped by an early attack by Bobbie Traksel (Champion System Pro Cycling Team) and Kohei Uchima (Japan), two riders who darted clear very soon after the drop of the flag and who built a nine minute thirty second lead over a relaxed peloton just before kilometre 45, the location of the day’s sole climb.
Traksel went over the top ahead of Uchima, guaranteeing himself a podium visit, while Kittel’s team-mate Tom Stamsnijder led the peloton over almost ten minutes later.
Twenty kilometres Traksel also took the intermediate sprint, while behind Dominque Rollin (FDJ) was first of the main bunch. They were seven minutes 20 seconds back at that point. The gap fell to just under six minutes at kilometre 87, the feed zone, but increased temporarily prior to the peloton’s inevitable acceleration.
With Argos Shimano and Orica GreenEdge chasing behind, the gap began to tumble. Traksel once again led Uchima over the line at the second intermediate sprint, 36 kilometres from the finish, while two and a half minutes later Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani Valvole CSF) was first of the peloton.
The leaders had less than a minute inside the final thirty kilometres. Traksel realised the game was up but Uchima was in a persistent mood and pushed ahead alone, extending his gap back out to one minute twenty seconds. Unsurprisingly, though, he was reeled in sixteen kilometres from the finish, paving the way for the bunch gallop and Kittel’s success.
The race continues tomorrow with a 146 kilometre race between Fanja in Bidbid to Al Bustan. It includes the two climbs of Al Hamriya and Al Jissah and should be more selective than today’s race.
Tour of Oman (2.HC)
Stage one, Al Musannah to Sultan Qaboos University (162 km):
1, KITTEL Marcel (Team Argos - Shimano)
2, APPOLLONIO Davide (AG2R La Mondiale)
3, BOUHANNI Nacer (Equipe Cycliste FDJ)
4, KRISTOFF Alexander (Katusha Team)
5, BOONEN Tom (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
6, PHINNEY Taylor (BMC Racing Team)
7, FORTIN Filippo (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
8, GODDAERT Kristof (IAM Cycling)
9, VIVIANI Elia (Cannondale Pro Cycling Team)
10, GUARNIERI Jacopo (Astana Pro Team)
11, VAN HUMMEL Kenny (Vacansoleil - DCM)
12, DELLE STELLE Cristian (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
13, VAN POPPEL Danny (Vacansoleil - DCM)
14, DOWNING Russell (Team NetApp – Endura)
15, COLEDAN Marco (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
16, VAN POPPEL Boy (Vacansoleil - DCM)
17, BONNET William (Equipe Cycliste FDJ)
18, NISHITANI Taiji (Japan)
19, FRIEDEMANN Matthias (Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
20, VANDENBERGH Stijn (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
21, KUMP Marko (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
22, BENNATI Daniele (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
23, BOZIC Borut (Astana Pro Team)
24, WETTERHALL Alexander (Team NetApp – Endura)
25, CANOLA Marco (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
26, BAGDONAS Gediminas (AG2R La Mondiale)
27, GOSS Matthew (Orica GreenEDGE)
28, JEANNESSON Arnold (Equipe Cycliste FDJ)
29, BANDIERA Marco (IAM Cycling)
30, VELITS Peter (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
31, KNEES Christian (Sky Procycling)
32, SAGAN Peter (Cannondale Pro Cycling Team)
33, SUZUKI Yuzuru (Japan)
34, ROLLIN Dominique (Equipe Cycliste FDJ)
35, VOSS Paul (Team NetApp – Endura)
36, BRAMMEIER Matthew (Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
37, COLBRELLI Sonny (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
38, HALLER Marco (Katusha Team)
39, RUIJGH Rob (Vacansoleil - DCM)
40, GALLOPIN Tony (RadioShack - Leopard)
41, SELIG Rüdiger (Katusha Team)
42, POPOVYCH Yaroslav (RadioShack - Leopard)
43, RAST Gregory (RadioShack - Leopard)
44, LAGUTIN Sergey (Vacansoleil - DCM)
45, CANCELLARA Fabian (RadioShack - Leopard)
46, MARCATO Marco (Vacansoleil - DCM)
47, NIBALI Vincenzo (Astana Pro Team)
48, IMPEY Daryl (Orica GreenEDGE)
49, CATALDO Dario (Sky Procycling)
50, JARC Blaz (Team NetApp – Endura)
51, VEELERS Tom (Team Argos - Shimano)
52, FROOME Christopher (Sky Procycling)
53, PASQUALON Andrea (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
54, GRIVKO Andriy (Astana Pro Team)
55, HINAULT Sébastien (IAM Cycling)
56, BRUTT Pavel (Katusha Team)
57, FISCHER Murilo Antonio (Equipe Cycliste FDJ)
58, SOUPE Geoffrey (Equipe Cycliste FDJ)
59, CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
60, AAEN JORGENSEN Jonas (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
61, EICHLER Markus (Team NetApp – Endura)
62, NOCENTINI Rinaldo (AG2R La Mondiale)
63, TRENTIN Matteo (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
64, LANG Pirmin (IAM Cycling)
65, KIRYIENKA Vasil (Sky Procycling)
66, SCHAR Michael (BMC Racing Team)
67, FUMEAUX Jonathan (IAM Cycling)
68, GILBERT Philippe (BMC Racing Team)
69, MOL Wouter (Vacansoleil - DCM)
70, ELMIGER Martin (IAM Cycling)
71, KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr (Katusha Team)
72, KOREN Kristjan (Cannondale Pro Cycling Team)
73, DEMPSTER Zakkari (Team NetApp – Endura)
74, BUSCHE Matthew (RadioShack - Leopard)
75, VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
76, KEUKELEIRE Jens (Orica GreenEDGE)
77, TRAKSEL Bobbie (Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
78, VAN AVERMAET Greg (BMC Racing Team)
79, SANO Junya (Japan)
80, ELISSONDE Kenny (Equipe Cycliste FDJ)
81, IGLINSKIY Valentin (AG2R La Mondiale)
82, IRIZAR ARANBURU Markel (RadioShack - Leopard)
83, BOOKWALTER Brent (BMC Racing Team)
84, TSCHOPP Johann (IAM Cycling)
85, EVANS Cadel (BMC Racing Team)
86, ARNDT Nikias (Team Argos - Shimano)
87, EIJSSEN Yannick (BMC Racing Team)
88, BOUCHER David (Equipe Cycliste FDJ)
89, RATTO Daniele (Cannondale Pro Cycling Team)
90, CUMMINGS Stephen (BMC Racing Team)
91, JIAO Pengda (Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
92, BRESCHEL Matti (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
93, HOLLENSTEIN Reto (IAM Cycling)
94, DI CORRADO Andrea (Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox)
95, COOKE Baden (Orica GreenEDGE)
96, KINOSHITA Tomohiro (Japan)
97, DEVOLDER Stijn (RadioShack - Leopard)
98, MINARD Sébastien (AG2R La Mondiale)
99, CHAINEL Steve (AG2R La Mondiale)
100, POZZOVIVO Domenico (AG2R La Mondiale)
101, HATANAKA Yusuke (Japan)
102, GRUZDEV Dmitriy (Astana Pro Team)
103, ROULSTON Hayden (RadioShack - Leopard)
104, MEERSMAN Gianni (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
105, PORTE Richie (Sky Procycling)
106, MORI Kazuhiro (Japan)
107, BOIVIN Guillaume (Cannondale Pro Cycling Team)
108, RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquim (Katusha Team)
109, TERPSTRA Niki (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
110, STYBAR Zdenek (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step)
111, HUFFMAN Evan (Astana Pro Team)
112, KREDER Wesley (Vacansoleil - DCM)
113, DOMBROWSKI Joe (Sky Procycling)
114, XU Gang (Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
115, MOURIS Jens (Orica GreenEDGE) at 13 secs
116, BEPPU Fumiyuki (Orica GreenEDGE) at 14 secs
117, NISHIZONO Ryota (Champion System Pro Cycling Team) at 17 secs
118, SABATINI Fabio (Cannondale Pro Cycling Team) at 19 secs
119, SMUKULIS Gatis (Katusha Team) at 24 secs
120, KENNAUGH Peter (Sky Procycling)
121, ROWSELL Erick (Team NetApp – Endura)
122, HERNáNDEZ BLAZQUEZ Jesús (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
123, BODNAR Maciej (Cannondale Pro Cycling Team)
124, TOSATTO Matteo (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
125, LUND Anders (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
126, KAMYSHEV Arman (Astana Pro Team)
127, SINKELDAM Ramon (Team Argos - Shimano)
128, STAMSNIJDER Tom (Team Argos - Shimano)
129, DEGENKOLB John (Team Argos - Shimano) at 27 secs
130, LANCASTER Brett (Orica GreenEDGE) at 35 secs
131, BEWLEY Sam (Orica GreenEDGE) at 37 secs
132, MURAVYEV Dmitriy (Astana Pro Team) at 38 secs
133, CURVERS Roy (Team Argos - Shimano) at 49 secs
134, MEZGEC Luka (Team Argos - Shimano)
135, UCHIMA Kohei (Japan)
136, DE MARCHI Alessandro (Cannondale Pro Cycling Team) at 56 secs
137, SCHILLINGER Andreas (Team NetApp – Endura) at 59 secs
138, WIGGINS Bradley (Sky Procycling) at 1 min 21 secs
139, BOUET Maxime (AG2R La Mondiale)
140, ISAYCHEV Vladimir (Katusha Team)
141, FENG Chun Kai (Champion System Pro Cycling Team)
142, JANG Chan Jae (Champion System Pro Cycling Team)