Stage 1: Bushar to Bimmah Sink Hole (177,7km), Saturday February 8th 2025
© A.S.O./Oman Cycling Association/Pauline Ballet
Decked out in their black-and-yellow livery, the Visma – Lease a Bike armada went full steam ahead to put their captain, Olav Kooij, on coarse to victory when the opening stage of the 2025 Tour of Oman reached the boulevard hugging the coast of the Sea of Oman.
Buoyed up by the efforts of his shipmates, the 23-year-old Dutchman seized the victory at Bimmah Sink Hole, stealing the wind from Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL) and Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility) in a bunch sprint to claim the opening stage of the fourteenth Tour of Oman and pull on the inaugural red jersey.
With a stage win at the 2024 Giro d’Italia Kooij lived up to his status as the man to beat on Saturday. This is his first triumph of the season, his first since a stage at the Tour de Pologne and a maiden win in Oman —where he is racing for the first time— and his 37th career victory overall.
Five men broke away as soon as the flag dropped and added some excitement to the 177.7-kilometre opener. The blistering sun and the mostly unfavourable winds prevented their advantage from increasing much beyond five minutes. The last two survivors of the breakaway, Rodrigo Álvarez (Burgos-Burpellet BH) and the leader of the combativity standings, Kane Richards (Roojai Insurance) were caught with 25 kilometres to go, not long after David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ) took third place and a bonus second at the second intermediate sprint.
Stage 2 Profile
