Stage 5 of the Tour of Oman has been cancelled in the interests of rider safety due to extreme weather conditions.
A sandstorm initially caused the route of Saturday’s penultimate stage to be shortened, and the riders travelled by car to the finishing circuit around the Ministry of Housing. At that point, the plan was for the peloton to complete a 95-kilometre stage, with three laps of 29.5 kilometres and the original finishing circuit at the Ministry of Housing.
Within five kilometres of beginning the truncated stage, however, it was immediately clear in the peloton that conditions were still dangerous. With the temperature touching 40 degrees Celsius, multiple punctures were reported due to over-heated tyres, and while the sandstorm had subsided, the peloton was still being buffeted by potentially dangerous gusts.
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The peloton wheeled to a halt a short time later and after negotiations with the organisers, it was eventually decided to neutralise the stage altogether.
The cancellation of the penultimate stage means that Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida) is on the brink of final overall victory. The Spaniard holds a lead of 9 seconds over Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and 19 over Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) ahead of Sunday’s final stage.
More to follow...
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