Boonen finally wins in Oman

Quick Step's Tom Boonen took his third win in 11 days of racing in the Gulf on Thursday, winning a hectic sprint at the end of stage five of the Tour of Oman.

Boonen won two stages in the Tour of Qatar and seemed back to his very best, both in the sprints and whenever attacks developed into echelons during the two early-season races. The current Belgian national champion is hoping the two six-day races in Qatar and Oman will give him excellent early-season form just in time next weekend's Het Nieuwsblad and the odds of him winning with the Belgian bookmakers probably plummet every time he wins a sprint.

Boonen got an intuitive but excellent leadout from his Quick Step teammates and then dug deep to find an extra bit of speed to beat Argentina's Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank). Michael Van Stayen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) was third and Baden Cooke (Saxo Bank) was fourth.

American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) was again up there but again just missed out on a victory. His only consolation is a secure lead in the points race and so he will likely take home the special green jersey.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) was sixth in the sprint. Italy's Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) was seventh but retained the overall race lead.

Boonen moved up to second, at two seconds, but was just happy to have won a tough sprint.

"It might not have been the fastest sprint but it was the most hectic of the last two weeks, so I'm pretty satisfied," he told Cyclingnews.

"Me and Haedo had a little more speed. It was hard but I just passed him in the last 30 metres."

"We tried to do a nice leadout with the entire team, but with the headwind going back into the city it was tough. Then it was a big battle going into the last three kilometres. After that there was a bit of going left and right."

"I'd told my teammates Kevin Hulsmans and Marco Velo that we'd try and find each other in the last two kilometres. I found Kevin and so he took me up to the front, past Van Stayen and those guys. Then Marco took me to the last roundabout and then the sprint opened up. It was good."

Sprinters' teams control the breakaway

The 148km fifth stage of this first ever edition of the Tour of Oman followed an out and back route along the coast, passing the airport and the huge modern Mosque before finishing in front of the Sultan Qaboos Stadium.

Yet again riders were keen to test their legs and Belgium's Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) was one of several riders to give it a go. With the speed high, all the attacks were pulled back and it was only after a mad half hour at 47km/h, that a break formed and was allowed to get away.

Nikita Eskov (Katusha), former World Champion Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team) and Matthe Pronk (Vacansoliel) had timed their effort well and opened a five-minute gap after 50km of racing.

Ballan took the first intermediate sprint after 61km but the Liquigas team rode tempo on the front and slowly reeled the trio in. Ballan also won the second sprint at 93.5km but the move was caught by the bunch with 25km to go as the sprinters began to rev their engines.

Quick Step, Liquigas, Saxo Bank and Sky all went into formation and spent time on the front but a strong headwind and a series of roundabouts in the final three kilometres, made it difficult for any one team to control the lead out.

The road dipped with three hundred metres to go and that increased the speed of the sprinters as they snaked across the road. Everyone moved to their right to force their rivals to accelerate into the wind and Boonen and Haedo emerged on the front, going shoulder to shoulder close to the barriers.

It was close but Boonen had that little extra power and knew it as he hit the line. He threw his arms up in the air to celebrate and so did his hard working Quick Step teammates as the bunch followed him home.

A close battle for overall victory

After five days of racing, 26 riders are still within 16 seconds in the overall standings and so as expected, Friday's 18.5km time trial will decide the winner of the inaugural Tour of Oman.

It could be very close. The sprinters have the speed and better form, but both those qualities will be dented by the tough climbs early on the course. The riders have studied the climbs well because they are on the only road to the luxury resort hotel the race has stayed in all week.

The riders also use normal road bikes and so if Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) is on form, he could perhaps have the best balance between speed and time trial skill, and triumph on the Muscat Corniche on Sunday afternoon.