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Czech rider ends six years of hurt with Tour of Oman victory
Czech rider ends six years of hurt with Tour of Oman victory
Czech rider Jan Hirt took the overall honours in the Tour of Oman on Tuesday after Colombian sprint specialist Fernando Gaviria won the sixth and final stage for his second win of this year's race.
Hirt's victory ends a six year hiatus for him -- he won the 2016 Tour of Austria -- with the 31-year-old taking control after Monday's challenging stage which climaxed on the summit of the Green Mountain.
The Intermarche team rider had a winning margin of a minute over Italy's Fausto Masnada with experienced Portuguese cyclist Rui Costa in third.
Gaviria prevailed in the stage after being given a superb lead by UAE team-mate Maximiliano Richeze -- the 27-year-old Colombian edging out Kaden Groves of Australia and Belgian Amaury Capiot.
British cycling great Mark Cavendish finished seventh in the stage.
Hirt is the first winner of the race since Kazakhstan's Alexey Lutsenko won it in 2019 for the second successive time.
It was not held in 2020 due to national mourning following the death of long-time ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said and last year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
F.T. Michaud--SMC
