Published on : 02/12/2023
The leader of the Cofidis team offered himself a prestigious victory this Sunday in the exceptional setting of the Tour of Oman. He won the race after being the fastest in the final against some very good riders. At the same time, Jesús takes the lead in the general classification which he will try to keep.
Jesús Herrada has struck again! And the success of the day, between the Qaboos Sport Center in Muscat and Qurayyat, 174 km under a powerful sun, bears his mark. That of a hard fought race, of a sense of opportunism and of a great resistance to hold on until the end.
Already the 3rd victory of the season!
His joy was matched by the energy discharge provoked by a victory ahead of the leading group that set the pace.
This is the 19th victory of his career, the third this season for Cofidis. Jesús continues the series of victories he started around the world, after Bryan Coquard's victory in Australia (Tour Down Under) and Simone Consonni's last week in the Saudi Tour.
Now, the whole Cofidis team will be trying to keep their leader's jersey. Jesús has a 4 second lead over his first chaser, Maxime Van Gils. We hope that the momentum will continue!
THEY SAID
Jesús Herrada: "I feel very good, I am very happy with this victory. We have a great team in this Tour of Oman. Today, the final was good for me and the team did a great job. At the end, I gave everything to get this victory, for me and for the team.
I knew the course a little bit, I already participated in 2019 so it's a real satisfaction to win here. We accomplished a first goal with a stage win. We will go day by day now and defend the general jersey as long as possible."
Thierry Marichal, sport director: "It was the first uphill finish on a difficult Tour of Oman this year. We had the card to play of Jesús and also that of Axel who made a good place yesterday but we did not have the certainty that he could pass the difficulties of the day. It was a difficult start, with a group of six riders who were able to leave. The leading teams controlled the race and the team did its best to place Jesús on the last climb. Bora placed an attack and Remy did the work to set the stage for Jesús. He had said this morning that he would attack at 200m if he could. That's what he did, he continued his effort to go for the win. Rémy was 7th behind, a very good result.
The ambitions for the general classification will come from day to day, there are two summit finishes to come. I think the classification will be decided in the last stage.
We have a good team, especially Jesús and Rémy. We have possibilities for the future and to have ambition. We are in a positive spiral and we will do everything to continue it.