Astana's Lutsenko keeps lead in Tour of Oman Stage 5

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Alexey Lutsenko completed his hat-trick at the Tour of Oman after winning atop of Green Mountain today. Lutsenko overtook Fabian Grellier, part of the early breakaway, just a few hundred meters before today's summit finish. With one hilly stage to go, the red jersey is now even more firmly on the shoulders of Alexey Lutsenko, who is set to win the Tour of Oman for the second consecutive time, the third win of the race in the history of Astana Pro Team (Vincenzo Nibali, 2016). The Kazakh champion won the ninth race for the team in 2019, making it the most successful team of the season so far.

The Queen Stage took off from Samayil, to finish after 152 kilometers atop of Al Jabal Al Akhdar (Green Mountain). A breakaway of six riders was created right from the start, creating a gap of a maximum of 6 minutes. One man of this group would lead the race until the final hundred meters, Fabian Grellier. Behind this break, the Astana Pro Team took control in the peloton to protect Alexey Lutsenko. During the decisive climb of the Green Mountain, other teams took over to make the race hard. Alexey Lutsenko was able to follow and a few kilometers before the finish he attacked together with Jesus Herrada and Domenico Pozzovivo, Astana Pro Team informs on its website.

In the final kilometer, Alexey Lutsenko attacked to overtake Fabian Grellier in the final hundred meters, to win his third stage in this edition of the Tour of Oman. The Kazakh champion is now leading the race with an advantage of 44" seconds on Domenico Pozzovivo and 47" on Jesus Herrada.

Tomorrow is the final stage of the 2019 Tour of Oman, starting in Al Mouj Muscat to finish in Matrah Corniche after 135.5 kilometers. A hilly stage, but normally a stage for the sprinters.