In a stage filled with winds and hills that blew the peloton apart, QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl proved best at navigating the challenges with an aggressive strategy that paid dividends as Masnada won the day by over a minute and took a 55 second lead atop the general classification over second-placed Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Pro Cycling).
Masnada's teammate Mauro Schmid sprinted to second place from a reduced bunch to make it a 1-2 for the Wolfpack and cap a brilliant performance by the entire group.
The early climbs of Al Jissah and Al Wadi al Kabir blew the race wide open as Schmid launched into a solo breakaway with 44 kilometres to go after the peloton had been reduced to around 30 riders thanks to the work of QuickStep and Team DSM on the front.
Multiple attacks meant Schmid was eventually joined by a bevy of companions including Soren Kragh Andersen and Jonas Hvideberg (both Team DSM) as well as Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ), Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and Marco Canola (Gazprom-RusVelo).
The group reached the 3.2 kilometre finishing circuit around Muscat together before Schmid went solo again before a 12-man bunch including Masnada and Charmig brought the group back together once more.
Inside the last 15 kilometres Masnada went clear with only Charmig, Jan Hirt (Intermarché), and Henri Vandenebeele (DSM) able to follow onto the descent, before the Italian attacked once again with a blistering move inside 12 kilometres to the finish.
Masnada stretched his lead out to 25 seconds on the ensuing flat section before disorganization from the chase group allowed the gap to stretch out to 1 minute and 7 seconds as he flew home with plenty of space to take the stage and the leader's jersey.
Watch the extended highlights of the stage below:
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