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2023 Muscat Classic (1.1)

1st edition: February 10, 2023
Muscat, Oman

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


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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

 


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Course map & profile:

2023 Muscat Classic map

2023 Muscat Classic map

2023 Muscat Classic profile

2023 Muscat Classic profile