Casper captures first stage in Muscat

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Ghosts often appear at night and in the dark of the St. Valentine's night, French sprinter Jimmy Casper (Saur Sojasun) emerged from the shadows to win the opening stage of the Tour of Oman on the Corniche in the capital Muscat.

Casper took full advantage of the Team Sky lead out train that was working to set up Edvald Boasson Hagen and then jumped past the young Norwegian fifty metres from the line.

Boasson Hagen finished second, with Kenny Dehaes (Omega Pharma-Lotto) third. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) was fourth and double Tour of Qatar stage winner Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas-Doimo) was fifth.

Casper put his name in the history books as the first rider to win a stage at the Tour of Oman and also pulled on the first leader's red jersey thanks to his win and a ten-second time bonus. The result is hugely important for his now Professional Continental Saur-Sojasun French team to get the attention of Tour de France organisers Amaury Sports Organisation, which also runs the Tour of Oman, and earn a wildcard bid for the French Grand Tour.

"I knew it would be difficult to beat riders like Boonen and Chicchi who showed they're on form in Qatar but I got my sprint just right," Casper said as he was mobbed by the local media and the huge crowd that had turned out to see what professional cycling was all about.

"I followed the Team Sky lead out and was on Boasson Hagen's wheel. He jumped with about 150m to go and then I went on the lift with about fifty metres to go. It was late but I just beat him at the line by about 20 centimetres. Not much but one centimetre is enough."

Riders left in the dark with evening stage

When the riders arrived in Oman on Saturday morning, they were surprised to discover that the opening stage would be held on Sunday evening. They expected to ride the 16 laps of the near 4km circuit up and down the Muscat Corniche as the sun set. But the race was put back by an hour and then delayed even more by a laser and firework show in front of his Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

That meant the riders would race in the dark, with only streetlights to illuminate the road. They were rightly worried about safety, especially at the start of the race and so early in the season, and spent several minutes talking to the organizers. A high-speed crash could have been a disaster and they wisely agreed to look after each other in the dark and only hit full speed in the final two laps.

The race organisers agreed to cancel time bonuses for the two intermediate sprints, keeping them for the points classification only, and the direction of the circuit had already been changed to allow better wheel changes and make the finish slightly uphill instead of slightly down and with a curve to the right.

The first laps were neutralized as riders adapted to the conditions but the speed quickly increased as four riders jumped off the front.

Wilfried Cretskens (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Novoa Menedez (Cervélo TestTeam) and Cedric Coutouly (Saur-Sojasun) were the first to attack. Three laps later they were joined by German champion Martin Reimer (Cervélo TestTeam), Peter Wrolich (Milram) and Alessandro Ballan (BMC). The six gained 40 seconds on the bunch but were eventually pulled back on the ninth lap.

A few kilometres later, Marco Pinotti (HTC-Columbia), Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Transitions), Nikita Eskov (Katusha) and Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) took off. They carved out a 20 second advantage but with the final sprint getting closer and closer, the bunch pulled them back with two laps remaining.

The speed was over 50km/h now with the dangers of poor light, twitching wheels and huge crowds packing the barrier-less roads making the peloton a little nervous. Some riders justifiably decided not to take any risks and did not contest the sprint.

Team Sky came with a different strategy and hit the front on the final lap to stay out of trouble and also lead out Edvald Boasson Hagen.

All the team hit the front and in the final two kilometres, as Casper and Farrar went shoulder to shoulder for Boasson Hagen's wheel because they both knew it was the best place to be. CJ Sutton led Boasson Hagen but Casper had a better jump and emerged from the shadows to win the sprint and make cycling history in Oman.

Thanks to time bonuses of ten, six and four seconds awarded on the line, Casper leads Boasson Hagen by four seconds. But he was just happy to have won the opening stage, He will worry about defending on Monday.

"From now I'm not thinking about the overall, I'm just happy to enjoy this win. Before the start of stage two we'll try and work out a plan on how to defend the jersey."

Stage two is from Niswa to Samail to the east of the Jabal Akhdar mountains. The 148.5km stage ends with two laps of a 6.5km finishing circuit.