Sagan opens his account at the Tour of Oman

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Peter Sagan (Cannondale) finally landed his first victory of 2014 stage 4 of the Tour of Oman, using his descending skills, aggression, quick thinking and speed to show that he is not distracted by speculation about his future and that he is on form as the Classics begin to loom on the horizon.

The 24-year-old Slovakian comfortably out sprinted fellow escapees Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) outside the Ministry of Housing in Muscat after the race exploded on the four climbs of the Bousher Alamrat highway.

Sagan's win also gave him the overall lead ahead of Saturday's decisive stage to Green Mountain. Uran is second overall at 10 seconds, with Nibali third at 14 seconds.

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The trio jumped clear in the finale of Friday's stage, after Chris Froome (Team Sky) attacked on the fourth and final ascent of Bousher Alamrat (3.2km at 6.8%). Another stiff headwind nullified several attacks from Team Sky and facilitated the chase. Sagan, Nibali and Uran - who had tracked Froome's earlier move - escaped on the run-in to the finish, quickly building up a lead of 15 seconds.

With three kilometres to go, they stretched their margin out to 20 seconds. However the break lost time with just over a kilometre to go as they hit a final roundabout. The trio was on the wrong side of the road for the right turn, with a footpath suddenly blocking the best line. Sagan bunny hopped the path and went the right way, while Uran and Nibali were forced to go the long way around the island and then chase Sagan.

That allowed the peloton to almost catch them but they held on, with Sagan and Uran crossing the line two seconds ahead of the others. Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) led the 40-man bunch home in fourth place.

Happy to have won at last

After second place finishes on stages at the Tour de San Luis, Dubai Tour and earlier this week in Oman, Sagan admitted it was a relief to land his first win of the season.

"I'm happy to have won. I tried to win yesterday too, but it's important it's come now. It's important for me and for the team and so we're happy. I think I proved that my form is good. It was a hard stage," he said.

Sagan's failure to win had sparked doubts about is form, but he explained that, at least in Oman, there were other factors beyond his control.

"The outcome of races also depends on the wind," he said. "I went for alone too yesterday but we got pulled back and 80 riders fought for the win. This time it was windy on the climb but we made it to the finish.

"I attacked and did the descent without pedaling. I saw that Vincenzo and Uran came across to me. We worked well together and made it."

The early action

The stage was animated by an early break featuring Evan Huffman (Astana), Yaroslav Popovych (Trek Factory Racing), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise). Their lead stretched out in excess of six minutes at one point, but the move began to falter on the finishing circuit, which featured the four climbs of Bousher Alamrat.

Van Avermaet was the final survivor from the early break, and he approached the foot of the final climb with 55 seconds in hand on the peloton, which was now being led by Team Sky after Mikel Nieve desisted in his lone pursuit of the leader.

By then, the main bunch had been significantly whittled down by the repeat ascensions - Andy Schleck (Trek) and Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) were among those dropped - and as the gradient bit once again, Froome himself jumped clear, bringing Uran with him. Froome led Uran over the top of the final climb, but they were soon reeled in on the descent. Then it was Sagan's turn to strike sand prove his form is excellent, that he is not distracted by transfer talk and than he certainly hasn't lost his instinctive winning ability.

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