Muscat Classic podium history | Course map & profile | 2024 edition
Al Mouj Mouscat - Al Bustan, 173.7 km
Jenthe Biermans wins the first Muscat Classic. Photo: ASO/Thomas Maheux
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Weather at the race city of Muscat at 8:50 AM, local time: 21C (70F), fair, with the wind from the southwest at 8 mph. No rain. The forecast is for the temparature to climb to 24C (74F) by 4:00 PM.
The race: Here's the race organizer's report:
Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-Samsic) raised a finger to the sky on Friday, as he powered to victory in the first edition of the Muscat Classic. At 27 years old, the Belgian rider claimed his first professional win, a couple of weeks after his first podium finish. And it had a very special meaning for Biermans: “Last year, my girlfriend’s father passed away. He always said in his last words that I could win. This is for him.” He narrowly got the best of Jordi Warlop (Soudal Quick-Step) and Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën) in the sprint from a reduced group. The riders will face new battles from Saturday, with the 12th edition of the Tour of Oman.
The headwind faced by the peloton in the sunny settings of Al Mouj Muscat doesn’t deter an early attacker: Manabu Ishibashi (JCL Team Ukyo) jumps on the move after a couple of kilometres and gradually increases his lead, up to 16’ at km 71, just before he enters the last 100km.
Racing in Oman. Photo: ASO/Thomas Maheux
Kern Pharma, Movistar and Soudal Quick-Step are the first to react. At the bottom of the first ascent of the day, in Bousher Al Amerat (3.5km at 9.5%), the climb reaches a maximum of 17’30’’. But Ishibashi loses 4 minutes to the peloton in this climb.
Hammer, down
The gap quickly decreases and two of the strongest teams in the field, UAE Team Emirates and Astana-Qazaqstan, set a stronger pace as they enter the final circuit and tackle the second climb of the day, in Hamriyah (900m at 10.1%). Over the top (km 108.8), the gap is down to under 9 minutes.
And Bora-hansgrohe put the hammer down. The bunch is reduced to some 50 riders. But they get back together ahead of the climb of Al Jissa (1.1km at 10%), inside the last 5km of the circuit. Meanwhile, the gap to Ishibashi drops down to 2’10’’ with 35km to go and AG2R Citroën also work at the front of the bunch. The Japanese attacker is eventually reeled in 30km away from the finish.
A very animated finale
The peloton explodes on the penultimate ascent of the day, in Hamriyah (21.7km to go at the summit). And attacks keep flying, with Roger Adria (Kern Pharma) and riders from Bora-hansgrohe, Astana Qazaqstan and UAE Team Emirates among the most active.
Still, a group of 32 riders get back together ahead of the uphill sprint. And Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-Samsic) was not gonna let his chance pass with a long and powerful sprint to hold off Jordi Warlop (Soudal Quick-Step) and Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën).
The podium, from left: Jordi Warlop (2nd), Jenthe Biermans (1st) & Andrea Vendrame (3rd). Photo: ASO/Thomas Maheux
Complete results:
117 riders started, 86 classified finishers, 31 riders did not finish. There was 1 non-starter.
173.7 kilometers raced at an average speed of 38.917 km/hr
1 | Jenthe Biermans | Arkéa-Samsic | 4hr 27min 48sec |
2 | Jordi Warlop | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
3 | Andrea Vendrame | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
4 | Francesco Busatto | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | s.t. |
5 | Maxim Van Gils | Lotto Dstny | s.t. |
6 | Diego Ulissi | UAE Team Emirates | s.t. |
7 | Roger Adriá | Equipo Kern Pharma | s.t. |
8 | Ide Schelling | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
9 | Lennert Teugels | Bingoal WB | s.t. |
10 | Carlos Verona | Movistar | s.t. |
11 | Jesus Herrada | Cofidis | s.t. |
12 | Matteo Jorgenson | Movistar | s.t. |
13 | Niklas Eg | Uno-X | s.t. |
14 | Giovanni Aleotti | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
15 | Greg Van Avermaet | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
16 | Giovanni Carboni | Equipo Kern Pharma | s.t. |
17 | Fredrik Dversnes | Uno-X | s.t. |
18 | Jordi Lopez Caravaca | Equipo Kern Pharma | s.t. |
19 | Sylvain Moniquet | Lotto Dstny | s.t. |
20 | Davide Formolo | UAE Team Emirates | s.t. |
21 | Victor Langellotti | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
22 | Mauri Vansevenant | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
23 | Simone Petilli | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | s.t. |
24 | Emanuel Buchmann | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
25 | Fausto Masnada | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
26 | Alexey Lutsenko | Astana Qazaqstan | s.t. |
27 | Jan Hirt | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
28 | Cian Uijtdebroeks | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
29 | Geoffrey Bouchard | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
30 | Cristian Rodriguez | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
31 | Magnus Kulset | Uno-X | s.t. |
32 | Benjami Prades | JCL Team Ukyo | s.t. |
33 | Anthony Delaplace | Arkéa-Samsic | @ 9sec |
34 | Harold Tejada | Astana Qazaqstan | 0:26 |
35 | Stan Dewulf | Ag2r-Citroën | 0:44 |
36 | Louis Meintjes | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | 1:08 |
37 | Louis Bendixen | Uno-X | 1:14 |
38 | Max Kanter | Movistar | 1:16 |
39 | Masaki Yamamoto | JCL Team Ukyo | s.t. |
40 | Harrison Wood | Cofidis | 1:26 |
41 | Mario Aparicio | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
42 | Ben Zwiehoff | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
43 | Rein Taaramäe | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | s.t. |
44 | Michel Ries | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
45 | Nicolas Edet | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
46 | Rémy Rochas | Cofidis | s.t. |
47 | Ivan Sosa | Movistar | 1:47 |
48 | Cériel Desal | Bingoal WB | 1:50 |
49 | Johan Meens | Bingoal WB | s.t. |
50 | August Jensen | Human Powered Health | s.t. |
51 | Ryan Gibbons | UAE Team Emirates | s.t. |
52 | Bart Lemmen | Human Powered Health | 1:53 |
53 | Yevgeniy Fedorov | Astana Qazaqstan | s.t. |
54 | Floris De Tier | Bingoal WB | s.t. |
55 | Raymond Kreder | JCL Team Ukyo | s.t. |
56 | Yuma Koishi | JCL Team Ukyo | s.t. |
57 | Arjen Livyns | Lotto Dstny | 2:42 |
58 | Vegard Stake Laengen | UAE Team Emirates | s.t. |
59 | Ivan Cobo Cayon | Equipo Kern Pharma | 3:22 |
60 | Imanol Erviti | Movistar | s.t. |
61 | Mathias Norsgaard | Movistar | s.t. |
62 | Jambaljamts Sainbayar | Terengganu Polygon | 3:40 |
63 | Atsushi Oka | JCL Team Ukyo | 4:17 |
64 | Angel Fuentes | Burgos-BH | 5:27 |
65 | Abner González | Movistar | 5:39 |
66 | Josef Cerný | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
67 | Andrii Ponomar | Arkéa-Samsic | 7:16 |
68 | Embret Svestad-Bårdseng | Human Powered Health | s.t. |
69 | Baptiste Planckaert | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | 8:43 |
70 | Jesse Ewart | Terengganu Polygon | 9:02 |
71 | Kosuke Takeyama | JCL Team Ukyo | s.t. |
72 | Danny Van Der Tuuk | Equipo Kern Pharma | 9:32 |
73 | Thomas De Gendt | Lotto Dstny | 11:32 |
74 | Kristoffer Halvorsen | Uno-X | s.t. |
75 | Tord Gudmestad | Uno-X | s.t. |
76 | Arne Marit | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | s.t. |
77 | Oliver Naesen | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
78 | Manuele Boaro | Astana Qazaqstan | s.t. |
79 | Jaakko Hänninen | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
80 | Lawrence Naesen | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
81 | Luca Van Boven | Bingoal WB | s.t. |
82 | Axel Zingle | Cofidis | s.t. |
83 | Tom Paquot | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | s.t. |
84 | Tim Merlier | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
85 | Bert Van Lerberghe | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
86 | Manabu Ishibashi | JCL Team Ukyo | s.t. |
DNF | Leonardo Basso | Astana Qazaqstan | |
DNF | Mark Cavendish | Astana Qazaqstan | |
DNF | Martin Laas | Astana Qazaqstan | |
DNF | Matthew Walls | Bora-hansgrohe | |
DNF | Alexander Salby | Bingoal WB | |
DNF | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | Bingoal WB | |
DNF | Miguel Angel Fernandez | Burgos-BH | |
DNF | Alejandro Franco | Burgos-BH | |
DNF | Pelayo Sanchez Mayo | Burgos-BH | |
DNF | Rodrigo Álvarez | Burgos-BH | |
DNF | François Bidard | Cofidis | |
DNF | Wesley Kreder | Cofidis | |
DNF | Alexis Renard | Cofidis | |
DNF | Urko Berrade | Equipo Kern Pharma | |
DNF | Pablo Castrillo | Equipo Kern Pharma | |
DNF | Alan Banaszek | Human Powered Health | |
DNF | Stephen Bassett | Human Powered Health | |
DNF | Barnabas Peak | Human Powered Health | |
DNF | Ben Perry | Human Powered Health | |
DNF | Michael Schwarzmann | Lotto Dstny | |
DNF | Rüdiger Selig | Lotto Dstny | |
DNF | Eduardo Sepulveda | Lotto Dstny | |
DNF | David Dekker | Arkéa-Samsic | |
DNF | Irwandie Lakasek | Terengganu Polygon | |
DNF | Fakhruddin Mazuki | Terengganu Polygon | |
DNF | Jeroen Meijers | Terengganu Polygon | |
DNF | Youcef Reguigui | Terengganu Polygon | |
DNF | Mohd Harrif Saleh | Terengganu Polygon | |
DNF | Pascal Ackermann | UAE Team Emirates | |
DNF | Michael Vink | UAE Team Emirates | |
DNF | Lasse Norman Leth | Uno-X | |
DNS | Florian Lipowitz | Bora-hansgrohe |
Course map & profile:
2023 Muscat Classic map
2023 Muscat Classic profile