Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) took the first win of his professional career today as he climbed to victory on stage 3 of the Tour of Oman.

The 22-year-old Dane beat former World Champion Rui Costa (Team UAE Abu Dhabi) and race leader Ben Hermans (BMC Racing) to the line in Quriyat.

Six riders went clear early on and the break comprised of Chun Kai Feng (Bahrain Merida), Bert Van Lerberghe (Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise), Matthew Brammeier (Aqua Blue Sport), Gavin Mannion (UnitedHealthcare), Kazushige Kuboki (Nippo – Vini Fantini), and Frantisek Sisr (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) gained a lead of nearly four minutes.

However, they were brought back with fifteen kilometres remaining. The peloton reduced in size as they started the final climb with Julian Arredondo (Nippo – Vini Fantini) going clear. The Colombian rider was brought back though, and Kragh Andersen proved fastest at the finish.

Hermans hung on to his leader’s jersey with a 2″ lead over Costa.

Photo: PdV/PN/Cor Vos © 2017
Photo: PdV/PN/Cor Vos © 2017

After his victory Andersen said: “The team was amazing again today. They delivered me to the bottom of the climb as fresh as possible. After their great work it was up to me to finish the job. I started the sprint with 250m to go and from then on rode full gas. It was an incredible feeling to cross the line in first place. It was a day of great team effort and great legs and one I will remember.”

Team coach Marc Reef said: “We planned today to go for Søren and to bring him into the best possible position going into the final climb of 2.5km. We knew upfront that if we were able to put him with the first five riders into the last climb, he would have a chance of taking the victory. The team performed brilliantly and the plan worked out well: Søren went with the first five riders into the last 2km without loosing any energy. At the end of the climb he had the legs to finish it off in a great way by taking his first win as a pro.”

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