| Picking up his first podium finish of the season, Adam Yates raced to second place at the Muscat Classic in Oman. The result marks a promising start to life in the Middle East for Yates, who will head into the Tour of Oman as the two-time defending champion.
Raced a day ahead of the Tour of Oman, the Muscat Classic challenged the peloton with a hilly parcours that looked perfect for attacking racing. Never one to shirk an opportunity to go on the offensive, Yates animated the final 10km of the day.
Once his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Abdulla Jasim Al-Ali had closed down an earlier move from Jayco AlUla, Yates seized his chance to attack on the Climb of Al Jissah (1.1km at 9.3%).
Immediately, Yates’ back wheel was tracked by Mauro Schmid and Luke Plapp of Jayco AlUla, with the trio soon emerging as the three strongest riders in the field. With only 5km left to the finish in Al Bustan, it was two Jayco AlUla riders vs the lone UAE Team Emirates-XRG figure of Yates.
Try as he might, the 33-year-old could not shake Plapp nor Schmid from his wheel, though he did have the latter briefly on the ropes. Instead, it was Plapp who used his racing craft to open a brief gap with 2km to go. The Australian was well aware that he and Schmid had the numbers advantage over Yates.
Not to be denied a chance to sprint for the win, however, Yates closed down this attack and headed into the final 500m alongside the Jayco AlUla pair.
Inside 200m to go, Yates was the first to open up his sprint, but it was always going to be a tall order against the muscly figure of Schmid. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG man was forced to settle for second, as the Swiss National Champion took the day’s victory.
Plapp, meanwhile, rolled across the line in third, as UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Rui Oliveira finished strong to take seventh.
The Tour of Oman will begin for the peloton on Saturday, and Yates will head into that race full of confidence from his impressive performance.
Yates: “It was a good fight there in the final with the two guys from Jayco there, it was always going to be tricky to win, but I think with second place we can be happy. We can be happy to start the week like this and now onto the Tour of Oman. Off the bike, we are all friends, and it’s good to fight in the final there with some guys you know.
“I went quite fast on the climb, maybe a little bit too early, but it’s not a super long climb so I needed to make the difference somewhere. I tried from the bottom basically and those two guys managed to hang on, so it was a good fight in the finish, and then in the sprint, I’m never going to be the fastest there.
“It was a good day. I think in general it is a hard race. Obviously, at the beginning it is quite easy, on the big roads, but when we get to the circuit here, it’s lumpy, it’s twisty, it’s grippy roads. So it catches up quickly and I think you see there in the final, there was a lot of guys without legs and we could make the difference there. I think it’s good signs for next week and hopefully [the Tour of Oman] will be good.
“Tomorrow, it is a sprint day so hopefully a ‘rest day’ for us guys, and staying out of trouble! We have Molano here, he did a good job today to do some lead-outs and positioning, so hopefully tomorrow he is fresh and ready to go.”
Muscat Classic 2026 results:
1. Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) 4:14:36
2. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t
3. Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) +4″
7. Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +15″
Belgian rider partakes in late attack that makes it to the line, with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man sprinting to third place.
Florian Vermeersch picked up a commendable third-place finish on stage 3 of the Volta Comunitat Valenciana, with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider also vaulting up to third overall.
On a day where GC skirmishes were promised, the expected blows were thrown between the likes of João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). However, none of these attacks stuck, and the finale was actually played out in unexpected circumstances.
It was UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Vermeersch who attacked on a late descent and managed to break free of the peloton. The Belgian was joined by Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility), AJ August (Ineos Grenadiers), and Jonathan Vervenne (Soudal Quick-Step), and a battle ensued between the quartet and those behind.
There was a healthy gathering of fast men in the peloton, drawing out a strong pursuit, but Vermeersch and co. worked in unison to spoil the party.
In the end, Vervenne spent all his bullets in working towards the finish line, leaving the other three to sprint for the honours. Their sprint played out with the peloton agonisingly close in the distance.
Vermeersch opened his sprint first but was ultimately swamped by his breakaway companions, leaving third place for the Belgian. It was a fine performance that saw Vermeersch vault up to third overall ahead of Saturday’s all-important GC showdown.
Vermeersch: “In the downhill I saw my chance and I went for it. Marc (Soler) left a gap (on purpose) and I took my opportunity, and went full for it. It is a shame it didn’t pay off in the end because I really wanted to give a victory back to the boys today.
“The level is good, we will keep on fighting, and tomorrow is a big GC day and we try again to win this thing.”
Volta Comunitat Valenciana stage 3 results:
1. AJ August (Ineos Grenadiers) 3:20:54
2. Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) s.t
3. Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t
Volta Comunitat Valenciana general classification after stage 3:
1. Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) 6:46:29
2. Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) s.t
3. Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2″ |
