Results Tour of Oman 2026 | Erlend Blikra powers through Molano to win lightning-fast Stage 4 sprint
CyclingTuesday, 10 February 2026 at 11:28
Erlend Blikra delivered a perfectly timed sprint to win Stage 4 of the Tour of Oman, denying favourite Juan Sebastian Molano at the end of a relentlessly fast run to Sohar that averaged over 46 km/h.
After more than 140 kilometres of flat, high-speed racing, the day unfolded exactly as expected on paper, but required absolute precision in the final kilometre. Uno-X Mobility controlled the closing phases calmly, allowing Blikra to launch late and hold his line as Molano opened up beside him, with the Norwegian proving strongest on the drag to the line.
A break never given real freedom
The stage was animated early by a two-man move featuring Patryk Goszczurny and Warre Vangheluwe, who built a modest advantage and swept up intermediate sprint points, but were never allowed to drift far beyond two minutes. As the kilometres ticked down, Team Jayco AlUla, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Uno-X Mobility gradually increased the tempo, squeezing the gap until the break was finally absorbed inside the final three kilometres.
With the attackers caught, the race snapped immediately into full sprint-train mode.
Uno-X execute as favourites blink
Alpecin-Premier Tech looked well-positioned through the final kilometre, with Jensen Plowright and Gerben Thijssen prominent on the front, while UAE Team Emirates - XRG brought Molano forward with three riders just before the flamme rouge. But Uno-X timed their move to perfection, launching Blikra late and cleanly into open road.
Molano responded, but could not come past, settling for second place as Blikra held on to secure his fourth career professional victory.
GC unchanged after sprint day
As expected on the flattest stage of the race, the general classification remained unchanged. Mauro Schmid retained the overall lead safely in the bunch, with the race now set to pivot decisively back towards the climbers on the remaining stages.
Stage 4 may have been billed as transitional, but at this speed, and with margins this tight, execution mattered just as much as power, and Uno-X Mobility were faultless when it counted.
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- Good one George ironic you were in the one of the most doped teams in the sport and Armstrongs right hand man and you talk about integrity.paultryan200210-02-2026
- Back in Roger de Vlaeminck's day, things were great. Cyclists rode up mountains backwards, in the wrong gear, because forward was for cowards. Domestiques didn’t exist, and if you needed help, you simply weren’t strong enough to be there. These days riders sit in the wheels and cry because their teammate didn’t look at them nicely. They could ride Paris-Roubaix with frozen feet in -10 ºC through snow and hail, with no gloves, and with mud up to their knees, and didn't even need to hold their handlebars. Handlebars were optional and balance was genetic. With these little fellas there's drama at 5 ºC and they stop when there's rain or God forbid when there's just a little bit of wind. Back then the winds could be 500 miles per hour and they'd ride sitting upright, chatting, whistling and smoking. Now there's 'crosswinds' and suddenly there's four riders left. They could ride with broken ribs, punctured lungs, fractured arms, shattered legs and even snapped necks. Sometimes the snapped neck was from the previous race. These lot abandon races with mere bruises - back then, if you crashed you just got right back up and blood on the legs was normal. They'd barely ever crash because they knew how to ride their bikes, unlike these new lot who get taken out by potholes or even when putting on their own jackets. They would ride 400 kilometres a day and 5 classics a week and never get tired, and their rest days just meant riding slower - look at these ‘professional’ cyclists, they're exhausted after 200 kilometres. Back then, Milano-Sanremo was just a normal training ride and now the riders are absolutely finished by the end of it. And even through all that, when Roger de Vlaeminck was racing, they'd never get punctures because they were just better. These modern riders are taken out of contention by the smallest of pebble fragments, which just shows how weak they are. They didn't have brakes, which was considered cheating and power meters were witchcraft, while data was for accountants, and that was because they were just so good, but now the riders always have to check their data first… so rubbish. Back then they rode without gears, which were sacrilegeous, and their tyres were made of stone - if your bike broke, you fixed it with a hammer. If the hammer broke, you became the hammer. They carried stones in their pockets to make it harder, and they even carried spectators on their backs up mountains. These losers need their teammates to carry their bidons for them and they throw them away like toddlers in a tantrum. And despite doing all that, they ran on gin and beer, their food was bacon sandwiches, recovery was another beer and they didn't even know what a dietitian was, unlike these weaklings who always have to weigh their food first and see how many calories it has. Roger and the rest of them were never afraid to take their medicine. Medicine was just medicine. Very strong medicine. These lot are so scared of getting caught and are always so foolishly loyal to ‘clean sport’. Sometimes they even rode without a bike and won with one leg, and at night they slept in ditches. Those were real men, and unlike now, no-one complained on Twitter or Instagram. No-one needed a sports psychologist then, and you solved all your problems on the bike. So when you hear anyone say that Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel are as good as Eddy Merckx and Roger de Vlaeminck, know that, as good ol’ Roger said, they're ‘not even fit to land Eddy's shoes’. And on that matter, the cyclists now are so miserable that they don't even have laces. Back in Roger de Vlaeminck's day, everything was better. Edit: Sounds better in Dutch
Rafionain-Glas10-02-2026 - Nairo 'trammy' Quintana 😁
leedorney10-02-2026 - I think the problem is he feels his brother wasn’t given the respect he felt he deserved. When saying can’t sprint/climb it’s obvious he’s not comparing to his brother who didn’t achieve that much on the road. In cyclocross the comparison is more nuanced. Without a broken bike Eric would have had 8 consecutively, the field back then (maybe even more so than road racing) was extremely competitive, nowadays even WVA hardly bothers anymore. Had he been free to continue it would either have increased to more than 7 (or 8) or he’d have maybe died because what Roger seems to want to stay blind to is that unlike MVDP, his brother had a substance issue. He seems to remember him as a victim of it but it obviously couldn’t have started that way. In light of the bad karma that ensued, his anger and reactions are understandable even if wrong and unnecessary. Someone should help him finish mourning in time for finding peace in peace.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- I agree but it is perfectly ordinary internet behaviour. Blaming someone for reacting like the majority is dangerously courageous ;-)Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- Not totally clear what you’re saying but Let’s not call them g. pigs, it wasn’t that organised, the « scientists » weren’t asking for precise feedback to tune their products, it was more a case of take what you want but be careful not to get caught and within that frame everyone was responsible for their own experiments. Of course indirectly, it was deduced what didn’t work line when someone got caught and that was integrated into new consumption guidelines to ensure continued sales. Too much risk of getting caught would dent them. Getting caught was WAY more likely than landing in hospital, that only happened to those trying to be smart with their « own » discoveries to eliminate the possibility of a +ve like Mauro Gianetti (you can never be +ve for something no-one is testing for). The argument that a clean 2020´s rider can’t beat a doped 90s rider is pretty weak if you incorporate what’s known from other sports that have had way less technological advancement. The only outlier being Eastern blocs women’s middle distance running in the 80/90, still not beatable due to manliness a trans athlete can only dream of outside the Enhanced games.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- not all run on the same stuff
ChillingCyclist10-02-2026 - Seems like decisions are pretty rational. Some races suit their star riders and team more than others. Maybe there’s a hint you can’t just « buy » your way to a tdf wildcard. Maybe the main sponsor is too controversial for some already worried about more fallout from nation-state ones.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- There is no answer to such a proposal, only representative voting or testing will reveal what works. Xmas is celebrated differently depending on where, for some it’s all about the evening of the 24th, for others it’s the day of 25th. Most riders have parents but not kids. Cyclocross is neither long nor a complex event organisationally so doesn’t have to take up much of the day. No-one will be forced to participate and I doubt any rider really does all races on the calendar except maybe as a personal challenge. Plenty of people don’t celebrate (or want to) with family and are bored. Ironically, plenty of amateur events are popular, also on January 1st. Other winter sports make no fuss over this, cross country, skiing, skating, etc. In fact, huge numbers take advantage of this period to get away for winter sports or to warmer climes far removed from Xmas « obligations ». I repeat, there is no answer but there is always choice.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- Helping by giving answers that contradict known information doesn’t. But thanks for the engagement. Let’s hope we’re done with this season’s injuries and everyone can build up to full strength for an exciting season.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
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