Paret-Peintre wins exciting and fast final stage Tour of Oman, Gaudu skillfully defeated by UAE

Valentin Paret-Peintre won the fifth and final stage of the Tour of Oman, beating Adam Yates in the sprint on the steep Green Mountain. However, the overall victory went to the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider, who, together with his team, skillfully defeated David Gaudu.

The fifth stage of the Tour of Oman was the last and decisive one. On the very steep slopes of Green Mountain (6 km at 9.9%), the stage race had to reach its conclusion. During the third stage, with the finish on Eastern Mountain, the GC was shaped for the first time. With Yates second, Gaudu won, so the overall victory battle focused on these two riders.

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Large breakaway makes for fast stage

A 138-kilometer stage was laid out between Imty and Jabal Al Akhdhar, or Green Mountain. After the start, a high-speed stage unfolded quickly as a dangerous, leading group of seventeen riders broke away. The GC was still about seconds, so many teams had plans.

The early breakaway consisted of several dangerous riders, not necessarily real GC contenders, but good climbers. Pepijn Reinderink, Mauri Vansevenant (both from Soudal Quick-Step), Amaury Capiot (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Anthon Charming (XDS Astana), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), Niklas Behrens (Visma | Lease a Bike), Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL) and Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla) were part of the attack attempt.

The peloton must have thought breakaways like this should never be allowed to escape. Thus, a high-speed stage unfolded. The teams of leader David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and challenger Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) worked together to control the breakaway riders' lead.

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UAE puts pressure on everyone and makes it difficult for Gaudu

The gap was down to a minute when the riders reached the foot. Everything would be revealed on the final climb. Vansevenant, who knew the climb well after his victory two years ago in the Tour of Oman, decided to take his chance immediately. The Belgian accelerated and left several fellow breakaway riders behind. But his attack was too early, as the pace in the peloton was high. At three kilometers, the fun was over.

UAE really stepped up the pace on Green Mountain, increasing the pressure and forcing riders to drop out one by one. In the end, a group of about six riders remained. UAE put Adam Yates in position for the ultimate attack, and as soon as the Brit accelerated, the group fell apart. Only Paret-Peintre could follow as he overtook and briefly left Yates behind. However, the Brit managed to get back on his wheel, which was necessary. After all, the French rider was also only fourteen seconds behind in the GC. Not much later, classification leader Gaudu rejoined at his own pace.

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Gaudu defeated, Yates overall winner, and Paret-Peintre wins the stage

In the final kilometer, Yates accelerated again, which was the final blow for Gaudu. He couldn't keep up with the other two and was eventually forced to drop out. Paret-Peintre struggled to keep up with Yates, so the battle for the stage win turned into a sprint between them.

Just over a hundred meters from the finish, Paret-Peintre launched his sprint and packed quite a punch. Yates didn't have an adequate answer to it but didn't lose so much that his overall victory was in danger. As such, the Soudal Quick-Step rider took the stage, while Yates was able to secure the GC.

Results stage 5 Tour of Oman 2025

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