Published February 21, 2016 03:59PM
Feb 21, 2016 – Vincenzo Nibali won the Tour of Oman for the Astana team on Sunday after Norwegian Alexander Kristoff took the sixth and final stage in a sprint finish.
AFP/Kåre Dehlie Thorstad
The Italian, who took second place in Oman four years ago, held on to the overall leader’s red jersey 15 seconds ahead of Frenchman Romain Bardet with Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang 24 seconds back. For Kristoff it was a second stage win of the tour as he edged home ahead of Zico Waeytens and Soren Kragh Andersen.
“I am a lot more experienced now and this time I cycled more intelligently,” Nibali said. “On the most important climb, the Green Mountain, I was able to bide my time and attack at the end. We then only had to stay in control of the race over the last two days.”
Nibali has already made it clear that his main objective for the year remained the Giro d’Italia. “The last two years, as I had the Tour at the back of my mind, I opted to keep things quiet early in the season, but it was difficult not being able to express myself completely.”
“Everything becomes simpler in organizing your season when get off to a good start.”
Final kilometers of Stage 6
Coming soon…
Results Stage 6:
1. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha 3:01:18
2. Zico Waeytens (Bel) Giant-Alpecin
3. Soren Kragh Andersen (Den) Giant-Alpecin
4. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
5. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon-18
6. Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
7. AmauryCapiot (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen
8. Marko Kumpo (Slo) Lampre-Merida
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
10. Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare
General Classification:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 22:25:25
2. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:15
3. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:24
4. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:40
5. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 0:00:54
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:01:06
7. Brendan Canty (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling 0:01:31
8. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:38
9. Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data 0:01:56
10. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:59