Tour of Oman stage 3: Anthon Charmig conquers Qurayyat climb to take GC lead
Charmig opens his account for Uno-X senior team as Scandi crew continues hot start to the season.
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Anthon Charmig (Uno-X) outkicked Jan Hirt (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) on the Qurayyat hilltop to win stage 3 of the Tour of Oman.
Élie Gesbert (Arkéa-Samsic) was third after Charmig and Hirt sprinted for the line on the 2.8km, 6.5 percent kicker in Qurayyat.
Charmig, 23, stepped up from the Uno-X devo team this winter and has been quick off the mark at senior level. The Dane took a third-place finish and seventh overall at the Saudi Tour last week, and now slots into the GC lead in Oman.
Uno-X started the season on a tear after Tobias Jonannessen lit up the Etoile de Bessèges with his stage win and resilient ride to third overall last week.
Charmig kept the team’s party pumping with his four-second overall lead in Oman, and an hour later Saturday, Jacob Hindsgaul Madsen added extra fizz for the team with victory at Tour of Antalya.
. @AnthonCharmig wins stage 3 of the #TourofOman @UnoXteam pic.twitter.com/WqnGwrCDuv
— Tour of Oman (@tourofoman) February 12, 2022
Saturday’s long, lumpy stage out of Sultan Qaboos University was bound to see a GC reshuffle after the sprinters filled the podium through the race’s opening stages.
The stage played out per the template, with a bunch of six getting away early before the peloton timed its move to perfection. UAE-Emirates and Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl combined to reel in the last of the escapees with 10km to go and set up the reduced bunch sprint on the Qurayyat summit.
Overnight GC leader and winner of stage 2 Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) drops out of the top half of the classification after finishing six minutes back when the massed bunch blew apart on the grinding hilltop finish.
The six-stage race continues Sunday with a mostly hilly stage before a flat finish in Muscat.
Tour of Oman Stage 3
- Anthon Charmig (Uno-X): 4:19:30
- Jan Hirt (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert): S.T
- Elie Gesbert (Arkéa-Samsic): +0:02
Tour of Oman GC
- Anthon Charmig (Uno-X): 11:46:55
- Jan Hirt (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert): +0:04
- Élie Gesbert (Arkéa-Samsic): +0:08