Bennati beats Farrar and Boasson Hagen in Samail

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Daniele Bennati (Liquigas-Doimo) was all smiles after winning stage two of the Tour of Oman on Monday.

The mild-mannered Italian had not won a sprint since the Giro di Sardegna last February because of injuries and bad luck but he was back to his best on the straight and slightly rising finish in the small town of Samail.

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) was second as he continued to go close to victory, while Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) was third in the sprint.

Protected sprinter

Bennati was the protected sprinter for Liquigas-Doimo after he helped teammate Francesco Chicchi win two stages in the Tour of Qatar.

His teammates kept him out of trouble during the stage and then Chicchi and Daniel Oss gave him an excellent lead out. When everybody else hesitated with 300 metres to go, perhaps wary of committing so far out, Bennati jumped and had the speed to hold off the other sprinters.

"I've waited too long for this win. I've had so many problems that I've decided to stop looking back. Now I just hope to look to the future," Bennati told Cyclingnews.

"The whole team helped me during the stage and then Daniel [Oss] and Francesco [Chicchi] gave me a great lead out. Chicchi was amazing. I went with about 300 metres to go as the bunch hesitated. It was a long way out but I've got a long sprint when I'm fit and healthy."

Boasson Hagen took the red leader's jersey from stage one winner Jimmy Casper (Saur-Sojasun), who was only 10th in the sprint today. Casper is second, with Bennati third, both in the same time as Boasson Hagen. Farrar is fourth overall at four seconds.

Farrar has had a string of placings and some bad luck but he must surely win a sprint in the remaining four stage of the Tour of Oman.

"My form is coming around and so it's got to happen soon," Farrar told Cyclingnews, clearly not having lost his morale or determination for the sprints.

Four-rider early break

The 148.5km stage started in the small town of Nizwa on the main trading route across Oman and ended with two laps of a 7.5km finishing circuit around Samail. It was by far the biggest day of sport the town had ever seen and everyone packed the roadside and the finish area to see the funny men in lycra race round their block.

Despite temperatures close to 30 Celsius and with little wind, the early break formed after just seven kilometres when Britain's Alex Dowsett (Trek-Livestrong), America's Jackson Stewart (BMC), Belgium's Kristof Vandewalle (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Luxemburg's Ben Gastauer (Ag2r- La Mondiale) got away.

The four all committed to the move and opened a 6:25 gap after 42km of racing. However, after being caught out in Qatar when Wouter Mol and Geert Steurs gained enough time to secure first and second overall for the rest of the race, the bunch and especially Casper's Saur-Sojasun team never the let the quartet get away.

The four were eventually caught just after the first time through the finish area, with 15km left to race. They'd been out front for a brave 141.5km.

Next time through the finish, although there was still one lap remaining, Lieuwe Westra (Vacansolseil) of the Netherlands jumped away and thought he'd won the stage. His joy turned to anguish and then embarrassment, as race officials and soigneurs from other teams told him there was still a lap to race.

The sprinters teams controlled the bunch in the final lap but just like in Qatar, no one team had the muscle and fitness to dominate the sprint and set up their leader. Garmin-Transitions, Saxo Bank, Team Sky and Liquigas-Doimo all tried to take charge but the other teams responded and the sprint was a high-speed fight for all.

Liquigas-Doimo was riding for Bennati and when the other sprinters hesitated with three hundred metres to go, he opened up his long surging sprint and got a gap. Now back to his best, Bennati powered to the line and everyone else was unable to get anywhere near him.