Haas out-foxes reduced peloton to take stage win and overall race lead
Nathan Haas (Katusha-Alpecin) starts to celebrate (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Nathan Haas turned around his early season after a disappointing Tour Down Under, taking out the second stage in the Tour of Oman, handing Katusha-Alpecin their first victory of the season and taking the overall race lead in Al Bustan.
The day started with a group of four riders escaping the bunch. In the breakaway were Loic Chetout (Cofidis), Markel Irizar (Trek-Segafredo), Fabricio Ferrari (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Danny Pate (Rally Cycling). The leaders built a gap of four minutes before Pate lost the pace on a climb, leaving three up front.
The remaining leaders were swept up on the final climb of the day as a group of 50 formed on the front to contest the day's victory. More attacks flew off the front in the closing kilometres, but Haas timed his move to perfection to come over Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) and Astana's Alexey Lutsenko.
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