Chris Froome leads Tour of Oman after mountain stage win

Chris Froome (Sky) won the fifth stage of the 2014 Tour of Oman and moved into the red leader’s jersey with an attack on the final Green Mountain climb. With just 1.5kms to go, he attacked and went on to cross the finish line ahead of Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Robert Gesink (Belkin).

As expected it was Sky who lead the peloton on the final climb, executing perfectly a plan that had Sergio Henao attack with 2km left, and Froome counter-attacking once the Colombian had been caught by van Garderen and Robert Gesink (Belkin). Froome managed to pass them all and secured the lead ahead of van Garderen and ex-teammate Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in the general classification.

The win marks Froome’s first of the season, and he has only one stage left to secure his first overall win of 2014.

It was a generally uneventful day before the final Green Mountain ascent, which, despite lasting just 5.7 kilometres, saw some crucial gaps open up. Prior to this, the break of the day was formed by Marco Canola (Bardiani), John Murphy (UnitedHealthcare) Thomas Sprengers and Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen), who also took enough points in the most aggressive rider competition to move into the lead.

Tomorrow’s stage features just the two small climbs, neither of which is close to the finish line, meaning that Froome should comfortably defend his lead.

Results
Tour of Oman 2014, stage five: BidBid to Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain), 147.5km
1. Chris Froome (GBr) Sky

2. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing at 22 secs

3. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 33 secs

4. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha at 38 secs

5. Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin at 47 secs

6. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r at 51 secs

7. Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ at 56 secs

8. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r at 59 secs

9. Sergio Henao (Col) Sky at 1-09

10. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo at 1-15

Overall classification after stage five
1. Chris Froome (GBr) Sky

2. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing at 26 secs

3. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 31 secs

4. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha at 48 secs

5. Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin at 57 secs

Chris Froome on the attack at the Tour of Oman

Peter Sagan wins Tour of Oman stage four

Peter Sagan takes first victory of the year from late escape on stage four of the 2014 Tour of Oman