Frank Schleck (Trek) missed the chance to test himself against the best climbers in the world in his first summit finish after coming back from suspension. Having not had a single puncture the entire race, Schleck had one just as it mattered most in yesterday's queen stage of the Tour of Oman.

Chris Froome (Team Sky) climbed his way to the stage win and the overall leader’s jersey in the 147-kilometer decisive stage five. Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) placed second and Rigoberto Urán (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) third, as the Green Mountain stage lived up to its expectations and sorted out the strongest climbers, and general classification.

Fränk Schleck had an untimely rear wheel puncture just as the teams had turned on the gas in the race to the bottom of Green Mountain.  He managed a fast wheel change and rejoined the peloton with help from the team, but the effort would cost him, and by the end he faded to finish 27th.  With no flat tires in the race until now, it was the worst possible moment for the Trek Factory Racing team.

“It was a flat stage to the last five kilometers where it was steep,” explained Fränk Schleck.  “It was an easy controlled race until last 20kms. Then it was full gas by the teams for position to the bottom of the climb. I punctured in one of the worst moments. I made it back to the peloton just as the climb started.  But I already had the knife to my lungs. Then I just could not find the rhythm.

“The team was awesome. Popo (Yaroslav Popovych) waited, and Rasty (Grégory Rast). I asked Popo to bring me through the peloton and we were skidding and zigzagging through. Honestly it was quite a challenge to get to the front.

“Today, it’s just how it is. It has been a fun race, overall, but it just did not work out for us today.”

Four riders made their move off the front early in the stage, but with the Green Mountain summit looming (5.7 kilometers with an average gradient of 10.5%), the critical and decisive climb of the six-day race, the breakaway was policed perfectly and the catch made before the road tilted upwards.

Chris Froome, who had been chomping at the bit all race whenever the road tipped up, finally unleashed his climbing prowess for good and stamped his 2014 passport with his first win, and possibly his first overall victory, too. The top of general classification also mirrors today’s stage finish, with van Garden in second place and Urán third.

“It was quite a good stage, really nice,” director Kim Andersen explained afterwards. “It went very, very fast before the climb - Sky, Quick-Step and Katusha were pulling hard. We did not have one puncture all race and now seven kilometers before the start of the climb… It was bad timing. Fränk was still moving up at the start of the climb. He was à bloc going into the climb.

“We had Rasty (Rast) waiting first and Popo (Popovych) and Stijn (Devolder) waiting at the back of the peloton to help bring him up. It was very nice to see.

“Andy (Schleck) was feeling much better today, he thinks he was in too big of a gear for the climb, but he was better.”

Today the Tour of Oman concludes with a 146-kilometer stage that will tackle stage four’s Bousher Alamrat climb one more time at the mid-point of the stage, before a fast, flat run-in to Matrah Corniche.