Cycling: Ben Hermans (BMC) also won Stage 4 of the Tour of Oman. The Belgian not only celebrated his second stage win, but was also able to extend his lead in the overall standings. On the king's stage up to Green Mountain, he left first class climbers like Fabio Aru (Astana) and Rui Costa (UAE Abu Dhabi) behind.
Romain Bardet unlucky
The decisive stage of the Tour of Oman traditionally leads from Samail to Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain). Vincenzo Nibali, Rafael Valls, Christopher Froome, Joaquim Rodriguez and Robert Gesink have triumphed up here in recent years. Clearly something for the mountain specialists. Ben Hermans' victory therefore comes as a bit of a surprise, although he is also known to be a good climber. In any case, its shape seems to be correct. It is not without reason that he is now facing overall victory. The Italian Fabio Aru doesn't seem to be in top form yet. He can also be satisfied with second place, but with such a finish he should actually be able to put his competitors in the shade. Romain Bardet (Ag2r) was also hoping for a lot more. The Frenchman, however, credited his disappointing tenth place to a crash with 40km to go. Last year he finished second here.
Two Africans in the top ten
Bardet's teammate Mathias Frank (Ag2r) also presented himself strongly. The Swiss finished eighth, making him the best driver in his team. Two Africans also achieved a historic result: Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data) and Tsgabu Grmay (Bahrain Merida) finished fifth and sixth respectively. In the overall standings, the two are fourth and fifth. Kudus is even in the lead in the junior ranking. Team Dimension Data is first in the team ranking. Further indications that cycling is also on the rise in Africa. On tomorrow's final stage to Matrah Corniche there shouldn't really be any more changes in the overall standings. With a 22 second lead over Rui Costa and 35 over Fabio Aru, Ben Hermans has little to worry about.
