Tour of Oman: Mark Cavendish misses out on victory in points classification as Jan Hirt wins race
- Published
Mark Cavendish missed out on the green jersey at the Tour of Oman after being impeded in the final sprint finish by Maximiliano Richeze, who was later disqualified.
Britain's Cavendish banged his handlebars in frustration and remonstrated with Argentine Richeze as they crossed the line.
Fernando Gaviria won the 132.5km stage from Al Mouj Muscat to Muttrah Corniche to take the points classification.
Jan Hirt won the overall race.
Czech rider Hirt came home safely in the peloton, with Italy's Fausto Masnada and Portugal's Rui Costa finishing second and third in the six-stage race.
Sprinter Cavendish, who crossed the line in sixth, was hoping for a repeat of his victory on the same stage in 2011.
He was clearly exasperated by the actions of Richeze, a UAE Team Emirates colleague of Colombian Gaviria, who drifted across towards the barriers and squeezed Cavendish, causing the 36-year-old to halt his sprint.
The incident ended Cavendish's hopes of clawing back his deficit in the points classification and saw Richeze fall foul of the race stewards.
The Manxman, who won stage two, was docked nine points on Monday's fifth stage for holding on to a car while returning to the peloton after a crash in which he fell heavily.
Stage six results
1. Fernando Gaviria (Col/UAE Team Emirates) 4hrs 10mins 16secs
2. Kaden Groves (NZ/Bike Exchange-Jayco) Same time
3. Amaury Capiot (Bel/Arkea-Samsic)
4. Paul Penhoet (Fra/Groupama-FDJ)
5. Hugo Page (Fra/Intermarche Wanty Gobert Materiaux)
6. Mark Cavendish (GB/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl)
7. Felix Gross (Ger/UAE Team Emirates)
8. Laurenz Rex (Bel/Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB)
9. Szymon Sajnok (Pol/Cofidis)
10. Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-Samsic)
General classification
1. Jan Hirt (Cze/Intermarche Wanty Gobert Materiaux) 22hrs 35mins 43secs
2. Fausto Masnada (Ita/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +1mins 00secs
3. Rui Costa (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +1mins 16secs
4. Elie Gesbert (Fra/Arkea-Samsic) +1mins 18secs
5. Anthon Charmig (Swi/Uno-X Pro Cycling) Same time
6. Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-Samsic) +1mins 38secs
7. Kevin Colleoni (Ita/Bike Exchange-Jayco) +1mins 50secs
8. Rein Taaramae (Est/Intermarche Wanty Gobert Materiaux) +1mins 51secs
9. Henri Vandenabeele (Bel/DSM) +1mins 54secs
10. Mauro Schmid (Swi/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +2mins 01secs
What happened to Shergar? A prize-winning super horse is kidnapped from an enigmatic owner
Is this a new alternative to dating apps? Find out the unusual way one man is going about finding his perfect other half