Boasson Hagen cruises to Oman win

Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen confirmed that he is the big favourite to win the first edition of the Tour of Oman by winning Tuesday's third stage to Qurayyat and extending his overall lead.

The 22-year-old Norwegian got a perfect leadout from his teammates, responded to a late surge by the Garmin team and then accelerated to the line to win with his arms waving in celebration.

Italy's Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) was second and America's Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) was third. Tom Boonen (Quick Step) waited too long before starting his sprint and finished fourth. Aussie veteran Stuart O'Grady (Saxo Bank) showed he is back on form with an impressive fifth place.

Thanks to the 10-second stage-winner's time bonus, Boasson Hagen extended his overall lead to 10 seconds of Farrar. Stage two winner Daniele Bennati (Liquigas-Doimo) is third, also at 10 seconds. Furthermore, Boasson Hagen leads the points competition and the best young rider's competition.

Wednesday's hilly 187km stage will be a test of Team Sky's combined strength, but the rolling 18km final time trial on Friday suits Boasson Hagen, and it is difficult to see who can stop him winning overall.

Happy for his teammates

Modest and self-effacing as ever, Boasson Hagen was happier to have paid back his teammates for their hard work rather than to have taken his first individual victory of the season.

"I'm really happy. Finally we made it. The guys made good leadouts in the last stages, but I didn't finish it off. To finally win is a good feeling," he said to Cyclingnews before pulling on a new race leader's red jersey in front of the local Shura leaders in Qurayyat.

Team Sky rode the 25 kilometres to the start of the stage, perhaps scoring a psychological blow on their rivals. They then controlled the race all day, before leading out Boasson Hagen in the sprint.

"There was an attack on the descent but CJ (Sutton) and (Davide) Vigano took me up to the front," Boasson Hagen explained.

"The sprint was really fast and we were all on the left because there was a slight side wind blowing from the right. We lead it out but then Garmin came up on us. CJ responded and stopped them taking control, then I went past them."

Team Sky celebrated with hugs and big smiles. The champagne bottles will be on their table at dinner tonight as they celebrate their fourth win of the season. The team has grown together during the Tour of Qatar and the Tour of Oman and is beginning to take control of the sprint leadouts.

"We always new Eddy was fast enough to win here but we needed to put him in the right conditions to do it," Briton's Geraint Thomas said.

"The slight headwind finish was perfect for him and we got the lead out just right. We had to work all day controlling the attacks, but that's okay when you finish it off like that."

Team Sky in control

The 124km stage covered a loop near the coast and capital Muscat. It started overlooking a breathtaking beach, but the riders had no time for a quick swim and most warmed up after seeing the hilly and twisting road during the early part of the stage.

However the first three kilometres were neutralised, saving the riders' legs, and the first rider to attack was young Australian Ben King (Trek-Livestrong). He opened a 2:50 gap but was joined by Gatis Smukulis (AG2R-La Mondiale), Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) and Laurent Mangel (Saur Sojasun) after 45km as the race stopped the traffic in the centre of Muscat.

The four built a lead of 3:50 after 54km but Team Sky never let them get away, with Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard doing big turns on the front.

Smukulis won the second intermediate sprint but the break's lead came down quickly on the short but steep Qurayyat climb, and they were swept up just before the twisting high-speed descent to the finish.

The flat straight road to the finish was only disturbed by a roundabout with 2.5km to go. But Team Sky were in control and lead the peloton home before Boasson Hagen accelerated hard to pay back the boys in blue for all their hard work.

They were all happy to have won for 'Eddy' Boasson Hagen but knew they will have to do it all over again during Wednesday's longest and hilliest stage over a distance of 187km from Ibri to Nakhal.

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