The Belgian climber put in a strong outing in Oman.
Mauri Vansevenant continued his strong form, which has recently brought him an eighth place overall at the AlUla Tour, and scored another good result in the Middle East, this time at the fourth edition of the Muscat Classic.
The 176.8km one-day race took in six climbs, all packed in the second part of the course, and Soudal Quick-Step showed themselves at the front, helping to control the breakaway’s gap and then pushing a tempo that reduced the peloton to just 50-odd riders before the final hurdle of the day. Al Jissah, averaging 10% over 1100 meters, was where the peloton splintered following a series of attacks that ended up leaving only three men in the front.
Mauri Vansevenant was part of the chasing group, which pulled hard to bring the leaders back, but came short on the finishing straight, where Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) took the win. The 26-year-old Belgian still had something left in the legs and sprinted to ninth place, a confidence-boosting result ahead of the Tour of Oman – which starts Saturday – where he concluded runner-up on the general classification a few seasons ago.
It was the first race of the season for many of the guys and they showed good legs.
“We worked hard and brought our leaders to the front when it mattered, protecting them until the final climb. We couldn’t join the attackers there, but it still was a strong display from our riders, and it makes us motivated for the next days”, explained sports director Sep Vanmarcke.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
