Amaury Capiot (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) gets back on the victory trail on Tour of Oman Stage 4

Amaury Capiot won the 4th stage of the Tour of Oman, which finished in Yitti Hills, in a sprint. It was the Belgian rider’s first success since returning from injury

After a year hampered by injuries, Amaury Capiot (Arkéa-B&B Hôtels) claimed an emotional victory in stage 4 of the Tour of Oman today, after the Belgian sprinter survived a climb-packed stage from Fanja to Yitti Hills, where he narrowly got the better of Ide Schelling (Astana Qazaqstan), who was 3rd last year on the same finish, and Davide De Pretto (Jayco AlUla).

Meanwhile, the battle for the general classification remains disputed, with Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates) making the most of time bonuses through the stage to claim back the red jersey 3’’ ahead of Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step) on the eve of the final stage, set to decide the overall winner on the slopes of Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain).

The peloton rolled from Fanja, as the course was adapted and shortened (104km) to take into account the exceptional weather conditions in the Sultanate of Oman.  

Blake Quick (Team Jayco Alla), Rasmus Bogh Wallin (Uno-X Mobility) and Matteo Malucelli (JCL Team Ukyo) were the first riders to set off, later opening up a modest gap of around a minute after 20km of racing.  

On the day after Paul Magnier and Lamperti took the race over in Al Bustan, Soudal Quick-Step set the pace, while the escapees lengthened their lead to around 2 minutes.

Burgos-BH upped the ante on the first ascent of the day, the mighty climb of Al Jabal Road (Bousher Al Amerat). Following the climb, Carter Bettles (Roojai Insurance) tried to counter-attack but he couldn’t bridge across the leaders, who were still holding onto a one-minute lead with 40km remaining. 

Soudal Quick-Step and UAE Team Emirates took to the front towards the final ascents of the day, later reining in the escapees along the base of the penultimate climb of the day with 10.8km to go, with Fisher-Black taking 3 bonus seconds and the overall lead.

The pace remained hard until the finish, culminating in a reduced bunch sprint to the line, with Schelling almost nixing Capiot, while De Pretto rounded out the podium.

Amaury Capiot said afterwards, “Last year was a very complicated season, but the past is the past. I’m now looking ahead. I started the Muscat Classic with a podium that almost surprised me. It gave me a lot of confidence. I’d like to thank my teammates who did a superb job for me on this stage, and Embret was a great help when the road was steep. This victory is also theirs. I know it was close on the line, but as I crossed it, I just thought: “I’ve won! I celebrated a bit, but I preferred to wait for the photo finish to really do it. I knew that the final was difficult, and that I really had to stay among the frontrunners to compete in the sprint and have a good chance of winning. This success is good for the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team and for me. I know how hard I’ve worked to get back to this level, I can be proud of myself, but especially right now, I’m very happy.”

VIDEO: 2024 Tour of Oman Stage 4 Highlights

2024 Tour of Oman Stage 4

1  CAPIOT Amaury Arkéa - B&B Hotels 2:17:35
2  SCHELLING Ide Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:00
3  DE PRETTO Davide Team Jayco AlUla 0:00
4  HERRADA Jesús Cofidis 0:00
5  ROTA Lorenzo Intermarché - Wanty 0:00
6  ADRIÀ Roger BORA - hansgrohe 0:00
7  PESENTI Thomas JCL Team UKYO 0:00
8  RODRÍGUEZ Cristián Arkéa - B&B Hotels 0:00
9  COBO Iván Equipo Kern Pharma 0:00
10  ZWIEHOFF Ben BORA - hansgrohe 0:00

2024 Tour of Oman GC after Stage 4

1  FISHER-BLACK Finn UAE Team Emirates 12:32:48
2  LAMPERTI Luke Soudal - Quick Step 0:03
3  ULISSI Diego UAE Team Emirates 0:09
4  CHARMIG Anthon Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:14
5  ADRIÀ Roger BORA - hansgrohe 0:15
6  BERCKMOES Jenno Lotto Dstny ,,
7  DE PRETTO Davide Team Jayco AlUla ,,
8  YATES Adam UAE Team Emirates ,,
9  VANSEVENANT Mauri Soudal - Quick Step ,,
10  ZWIEHOFF Ben BORA - hansgrohe 0:19