Rigoberto Uran showed that he is a great addition to the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team when he finished 2nd in today's hard stage of the Tour of Oman. Having joined forces with Peter Sagan and Vincenzo Nibali in the final attack, the Colombian admitted that he knew that he would have no chance against eventual winner Sagan but was going all out to gain time on GC.
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Rigoberto Uran took his chances late in the 4th stage of Tour of Oman. The action for Uran and others began after the 4th and final climb of the stage, the Bousher Alamrat. All four of those climbs were back-to-back late in the race.
Together with Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Uran attacked and opened up a gap of 15 seconds on the descent. The three leaders worked well together and the chasers couldn't close the gap in the remaining kilometres. Sagan took the stage win and is the new overall leader. Uran finished 2nd and is also second on GC.
Prior to the decisive action, Uran had proved his strength when he was the only rider who could follow Chris Froome when the Tour champion had attacked on the final climb.
"Sagan attacked on top of the last climb," Uran said. "I chased on the downhill and I caught him, and Nibali followed me. I knew probably I would be beaten by Sagan, but the goal was to try and gain a few seconds on the GC guys. Because today I saw we had 20 to 25 strong riders on the climb, so I tried to gain some time on them.
"We really collaborated well on the downhill and then the flat part to the finish, but there was a roundabout at 2km to go, and we took the wrong way, all three of us. Then we lost a few seconds, so we arrived with only a few seconds advantage over the rest of the guys. But OK, Sagan won and I am second.
Uran now faces tomorrow's queen stage that finishes on the Green Mountain.
"I think we did a good race," he said. "It's a shame we didn't gain a few seconds more, but that's racing. In any case I am happy and feeling good. I was there on the climbs and even followed a few attacks. The team was very good and we will see what will happen tomorrow in the queen stage. It will be a difficult with a lot of strong riders at the same level of fitness, so we will see what can happen."
You can read our preview of the race here.
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