Mauro Schmid Outsprints Adam Yates to Win Muscat Classic 2026
Mauro Schmid has taken the victory at the Muscat Classic (UCI 1.Pro). The Swiss rider from Jayco AlUla beat Adam Yates of UAE Emirates-XRG in a three-man sprint. Luke Plapp, Schmid’s teammate, led out the sprint and finished third.
The Muscat Classic covered 176 kilometers, with the last 100 kilometers being particularly tough, featuring climbs such as Jabal Road (3.8 kilometers at 8.5%), Al Hamriyah (1 kilometer at 8.6%) and the decisive Al Jissah (1.1 kilometers at 9.3%), which had to be tackled twice, with its summit just five kilometers from the finish.
Veistroffer lone leader
In the flat opening phase, it was Frenchman Baptiste Veistroffer of Lotto-Intermarché who tried his luck. The 25-year-old rider had no fellow escapees to work with and had to go it alone. Nevertheless, Veistroffer built a sizeable lead that at one point exceeded five minutes.
Veistroffer also held strong in the hilly section, but the peloton, mainly led by XDS-Astana, controlled the race. With 23 kilometers to go, the lone leader was finally caught and the finale could begin.
Yates breaks up the race
Soudal Quick-Step and Lotto-Intermarché then moved to the front of the peloton heading into the last climb of Al Jissah. At the foot of the final climb, about seven kilometers from the finish, Double launched the first attack. The Briton couldn’t create a gap but succeeded in thinning out the peloton heading into the finale. Yates then took over and, together with the Jayco duo Luke Plapp and Schmid, managed to get a gap on the peloton.
The trio began the last five kilometers with a lead of around ten seconds on the peloton. Plapp tried to take advantage of Jayco AlUla’s numerical superiority by attacking with two kilometers to go, but Yates did not allow it. In the final kilometer, the Australian led out the sprint with Yates in second and Schmid in last position.
Sprint for the win
It was then Yates who launched the sprint first on the last uphill section. However, the Swiss champion comfortably came over the top and claimed his first win of the season. Yates had to settle for second place, while Plapp took the third spot. Italian Christian Scaroni of XDS-Astana won the peloton sprint ahead of Bart Lemmen from Visma | Lease a Bike.
