Date: Friday, 07 February 2025
Rick Pluimers gave Tudor Pro Cycling their third victory of the 2025 early season, winning the Muscat Classic one-day race in Oman with a perfectly timed sprint finish.
Pluimers followed the wheels on the rising finish and then kicked in sight of the line to secure his first professional win.
Tudor Pro Cycling are hoping to secure wild card invitations to the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and other major races and have shown their credentials with three victories even before team leader Julian Alaphilippe makes his debut in their black and red colours.
Their other key rider Marc Hirschi won the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana and Florian Stork also took his first pro win at the races of the Mallorca Challenge.
“It’s super nice to finish off the hard work my team has put in today and of course it’s amazing to secure my first pro victory here," Pluimers said.
"Cycling may look like an individual sport sometimes but it definitely is a team sport. Everyone on the team was needed to take this win today. The boys invested a lot during the race and now we’re celebrating together.
The Muscat Classic was added to the calendar when the Tour of Oman was reduced to five stages. A one-day race awards 125 UCI ranking points to the winner, far more than the 20 awarded for a stage win, making the race a big goal for the teams fighting for WorldTour survival.
The 170.3km race started on the coast to the west of Muscat and then climbed in the foothills behind Oman's capital city.
Adne van Engelen and Muhammad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff (Terengganu Cycling Team) and Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Uno-X Mobility) formed the first break of the day and the peloton allowed them to open a seven-minute gap. Groupama-FDJ, Arkéa-B&B and UAE Team Emirates-XRG powered the chase as the riders began the hilly laps south of Muscat with 58km to race.
Max Kanter (XDS-Astana), Rayan Boulahoite (TotalEnergies), Xabier Azparren (Q36.5) and Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ) tried to anticipate the attacks on the final lap, catching van Engelen, but they were gradually pulled back on the Hamriya climb with 25km to race.
Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step), Vine and Harper made their surge on the Hamriya climb, joined Germani and then pushed on the approach to the steep Al Jissah climb. Tudor Pro Cycling and Picnic-PostNL tried to keep them in control as other riders were dropped by the peloton.
Vine and Harper stayed away and were joined by a Movistar rider over the top of the barren Al Jissah climb. They dived down the fast, wide road to the Al Bustan palace at over 100km/h. They seemed clear but the peloton could see them and the gap closed before the final roundabout turn.
