Cycling: Good omen as Chris Froome wins the Tour of Oman

Briton beats all major Tour de France contenders

Gilles Le Roc'h
Saturday 16 February 2013 09:21 EST
Comments
Chris Froome in the fifth day in Oman yesterday
Chris Froome in the fifth day in Oman yesterday (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Britain's Chris Froome laid down an early marker for the season as he beat all the major Tour de France contenders to win the Tour of Oman in style today.

Team Sky's Froome, second overall in last year's Tour behind team mate and compatriot Bradley Wiggins, won the fifth stage ahead of double Tour champion Alberto Contador, who took second place overall.

Today's sixth and final stage was won by French champion Nacer Bouhanni as Froome secured his first major stage race victory.

Australian Cadel Evans took third place overall ahead of Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez, winner of stage four.

Froome's win was reminiscent of Wiggins's Paris-Nice victory in 2012, when the 32-year-old rider also claimed the Tour de Romandie, the Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour.

The Kenya-born Froome went toe-to-toe with Contador, Rodriguez, Cadel Evans and Italian Vincenzo Nibali on the climbs as he snatched the leader's red jersey after stage four.

Wiggins, who started his season in Oman in a supporting role, was never in contention.

Reuters

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in