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2025 Muscat Classic (1.1)

3rd edition: Friday, February 7, 2025
Muscat, Oman

Muscat Classic podium history | Course map & profile | 2024 edition | Start list

Al Mouj Mouscat - Al Bustan, 170.3 km

Rick Pluimers is the day's fastest rider. Photo: ASO/Thomas Maheux

David L. Stanley's masterful telling of his bout with skin cancer Melanoma: It Started with a Freckle is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the race city of Muscat at 8:30 AM, local time: 22C (71F), fair, with the wind from the southeast at 10 km/hr (6 mph). The temperature is forecast to climb to 26C (79F) by 2:00 PM. No rain is forecast.

Climbs:

• Km 85: Climb of Al Jabal Road (Bousher Al Amerat), 3.5 km @ 9.2%
• Km 112.2: Climb of Hamriyah, 900 m @ 10.1%
• Km 126.9: Climb of Al Jissah, 1.1 km @ 10%
• Km 136.6: Climb of Wadi Al Kabir, 2.1 km @ 7.3%
• Km 147.3: Climb of Hamriyah, 900m @ 10.1%
• Km 164.9: Climb of Al Jissah, 1.1 km @ 10%

The course: The one-day race that began as warm-up act for the Tour of Oman in 2023 is gradually earning a place as an early-season challenge in its own right. The 170.3-kilometre course definitely lives up to its "Classic" epithet and lends itself to a hectic race, even though the first half is not particularly hard. In the words of the mastermind behind the course, Franck Perque, "The road starts to bend towards the sky at Bousher Al Amerat, which comes around the halfway point. This is not where the race will be decided, but it begins to string out the peloton and ramp up the tension". The battle will start in earnest 60 kilometres from the line, with each of the five climbs whittling down the peloton a bit further. "In the first two editions, there were only about thirty riders in contention by the time the peloton hit the Al Jissah climb, which ends 5 kilometres from the finish and is one of those places where fortune favours the bold.

The race: Here's the organizer's race report.

The undulating suburbs of the Omani capital set the scene for a rolling barrage of attacks in the third edition of the Muscat Classic. The peloton, reduced to just under 30 units, reeled in the lead group consisting of Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar) and Chris Harper (Jayco–AlUla) in sight of the line. In the end, the precocious Rick Pluimers (Tudor) prevailed in the bunch sprint and bagged the first professional win of his career. The Belgian winner of the inaugural Muscat Classic two years ago, Jente Biermans (Arkéa–B&B Hotels), took second place and the Eritrean Henok Mulueberhan (XDS Astana) came in third.

The podium, from left: Jenthe Biermans (2nd), Rick Pluimers (1st) & Henok Mulubrhan (3rd). Photo: ASO/Thomas Maheux

Three men versus the world
A 114-strong peloton rolled out of the Al Mouj neighbourhood of Muscat, with Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma–Lease a Bike), Tim Naberman (Picnic PostNL) and Davide Cimolai (Movistar) on the DNS list. As soon as the flag dropped, Adne van Engelen (Terengganu) jumped out of the peloton with his teammate Mohamad Mohd Zariff and Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Uno-X Mobility) in tow. Their margin soon grew from 1' 30" at km 10 to 4' 30" at km 23 before peaking at 7 minutes at km 30. 

3, 2, 1…
After the gap hit 6' 45", UAE Team Emirates and Visma–Lease a Bike traded turns at the front of the peloton to make sure the situation did not get out of hand. 73 kilometres into the race, the first slopes whittled the breakaway down to two men after the 2022 Malaysian national champion lost contact. Wallin was gapped by Van Engelen on the ascent to Bousher Al Amerat but managed to reconnect on the descent. Their advantage dipped below the 2' 30" mark at km 85. The Dutchman finally got rid of the Norwegian for good on the Hamriyah climb (km 111). 

Germani rolls the dice for Groupama–FDJ
The start of the final circuit encouraged several riders to try their luck. Kanter (XDS Astana), Boulahoite (TotalEnergies) and Azparren (Q36.5) flew past Van Engelen at km 127 as if he were standing still. The Q36.5 Spaniard hit the front of the race, only to be undone in turn by Lorenzo Germani (Groupama–FDJ), who launched a solo move from 34 kilometres out, dangling precariously half a minute ahead of the peloton.

Oh-so-close for Vine and Harper
A new three-man group consisting of Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) and Harper (Jayco–AlUla) counter-attacked and caught Germani with 17 kilometres to go. The newly formed quartet held a 25-second margin over the peloton going into the final 10 kilometres. The young Italian racing for Groupama–FDJ ran out of steam with 6 kilometres to go. Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar) rocketed out of the peloton and soon dropped his would-be breakaway companions before linking up with Vine and Harper at the front. Alas, with just 7 seconds to spare with 2 kilometres to go, it was not to be. A much-reduced peloton gobbled them up under the red kite, leaving the Dutchman Rick Pluimers to turn on the afterburners on the false flat leading to the finish line and fly to his maiden win as a professional rider.

Complete results:

170.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.785 km/hr

Course map & profile:

2025 Muscat Classic map

2025 Muscat Classic profile

Start list with back numbers, February 6, 2025: