Danish climber Anton Charmig (Uno X Pro Cycling) took his first career win on the uphill finish of the Tour of Oman in Qurayat on his eighth day as a pro.

After Jan Hilt (Intermarque-Wanti-Gobert-Matériault) had a shot at victory on the steep 500 meters remaining in the 2.8km finish, the 23-year-old pulled away on the final section to grab the win.

Ahead of this stage, in which he took the leader's jersey by 4 seconds over Hilt, Charmig said his run in the Tour of Saudi Arabia (finishing third in the uphill finish in Abu Lakha) gave him confidence going into this race.

"I think it's similar to my third place in the second stage in Saudi Arabia. I want to follow in the footsteps of Søren Krag Andersen, who won here in 2017, and see what he can do and hopefully be among the best."

In the end, Charmig's compatriot finished 44th, 1:53 behind the stage winner, who also outpaced Elie Gesbert (Alcare Samsic), Fausto Masnada (Quick Step Alfa Vinyl), and Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates).

After the stage, he said he was defensive on the downhill slope, hoping to keep up with the wheels as he had stated in the morning. As a UnoX neo-pro who is on a pro team but one step behind a WorldTour team like Quick Step Alpha Vinyl, he was able to stay somewhat "hidden" before making his victory jump.

"I think I got a little defensive from the top of the climb and tried to keep up with the wheels as much as possible," he said after the awards ceremony wearing the red and white jersey.

"And I think we were able to hide a little bit because we're not the biggest team or the biggest rider here yet.

"Of course, if we get a chance to race with a World Tour team, we want to try. So I'm really happy to prove that we're a team that can compete with the best too."

[18 [Charmig, who finished sixth in last year's Tour of Turkey, is likely to follow in the footsteps of former Uno-X riders Tobias Foss, Markus Hoergaard, and Andreas Reknesund, who are now on the World Tour, with his first professional win only weeks after stepping up from Continental. who are currently on the World Tour.

But before we talk about bigger things and bigger races, there is still much to do in the Tour of Oman, including defending the jersey in the hilly stage 4 in Muscat and, of course, the summit finish in Green Mountain on Monday.

"I think we will do our best, but it will be a tough stage. 'I think the Green Mountain stage will probably be the most similar to today's. It's about who has the best legs. So I hope it's me.

"I had a lot of confidence going into this stage, but yeah. So I'm really, really happy."