Sagan triumphs on day two in Oman

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The consensus beforehand was that the finale was ideally suited to his explosive talents, and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) didn't disappoint on stage 2 of the Tour of Oman. On the sharp pitch up to Wadi Dayqah Dam, Sagan simply ripped clear of the peloton to carry off the stage win and move into the red jersey of overall leader.

A resurgent Baden Cooke (GreenEdge) put up stout resistance in the sprint, but inside the final 200 metres it was already clear that the Australian was racing for second place. Tom Jelte Slagter (Rabobank) came home in third, just clear of Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan), but like Cooke, they were powerless when faced with the indomitable Sagan.

Overall contenders such as Jakob Fuglsang (9th), Joaquim Rodriguez (12th at 6 seconds) and Vincenzo Nibali (13th at 9 seconds) all kept a close eye on proceedings during what proved to be a demanding and technical final 20 kilometres, but on a finishing straight that was too difficult for the pure sprinters and not quite steep enough to favour a lone escape, logic dictated that there could only be one winner.

"It was a good finish for me but it's never easy to win," Sagan insisted shortly after crossing the line. "I went quite early because it seemed that the others were already starting their sprints. After that, it came as it came."

The last kilometre of the course saw the road pitch upwards to a gradient beyond 8 percent, before flattening out gradually over the final 300 metres. Adding to the difficulty were four bends between the red kite and the finishing line, which meant that the battle for positions was even fiercer than usual.

Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) made a bold bid to anticipate the sprint by jumping 900 metres from home, but his effort had fizzled out even before the final left-hand bend. It was at this point that the canny Cooke squeezed out overall leader André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) and then launched his own bid for victory, but soon afterwards he felt a blur of lime green swoop past on the left.

"I jumped to the front with 300 to go. I was a bit over-geared but there was no way I was going to beat Sagan," Cooke admitted at the finish. "He just came straight past me at about 280 to go. He's freakishly talented, so it's no disgrace to be beaten by that guy. He's capable of anything."

Sagan himself was shepherded by his teammates Daniel Oss and Maciej Bodnar for much of the chaotic finale, but he also took advantage of the work done by Sky.

"In the last 10 kilometres, there was a bit of confusion, and a lot of riders were trying to go on the attack," Sagan said. "Then after the last descent, the Sky team started working for [Chris] Sutton, so I got on his wheel and waited to see how the last climb would go.

"In Qatar I did a race to get back into my rhythm, and in this race I could try and go for the win, so I'm very happy that it's arrived now."

Frantic finale

With the stage start taking place down the coast at Sur, the riders endured a two-hour sea transfer to the start, with an onboard screening of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective to keep the masses entertained as they sailed down the Gulf of Oman. A delay in leaving Sultan Qaboos Port in Muscat had a knock-on effect on the day's schedule, with the race eventually getting underway an hour later than planned, by which time the peloton had even been treated to the opening scenes of the feature picture's sequel.

Back on terra firma, an early break shot clear featuring the BMC duo of Martin Kohler and Klaas Lodewijk (BMC), as well as David Boucher (FDJ-Big Mat) and Diego Caccia (Farnese Vini). The quartet quickly built up a lead of three minutes, but the peloton never allowed them to stretch their advantage out much further than that.

Even so, the break still had much of its advantage intact when the Lotto Belisol team of overnight leader André Greipel began setting the tempo in earnest inside the final 30 kilometres. On wide, smooth roads, they initially began to make sharp inroads into the break's lead, but the route took on a rather more feral appearance with 15km to go as it snaked into the hills surrounding Wadi Dayqah Dam.

A sharp climb 8km out didn't break up the peloton quite as expected, but it did stall its rhythm slightly, allowing the escapees a chance to extend their rally until the final 5 kilometres. With the front end of the peloton fragmenting and reforming over the rolling finale, it was difficult to put order on affairs, but GreenEdge, Sky, Lotto Belisol and Liquigas-Cannondale were all keen to keep their men in contention.

Peter Velits' late flourish added some additional suspense to proceedings, but in the end, a sprint was ineluctable and its winner inevitable.