Tour of Oman: Kittel wins opening stage

Marcel Kittel and his Argos-Shimano teammates celebrated with hugs and big smiles after the German sprinter won stage one of the Tour of Oman to give the team its first ever victory as a WorldTour squad.

The women's Argos-Shimano team was on fire at the Tour of Qatar but the men's team had struggled in the early season sprints, with Kittel struggling to be competitive in the sprints at the Tour Down Under.

He blew away any doubts about his 2013 sprinting prowess and any pressure to perform with an impressive sprint on the dead straight finishing run-in. He timed his surge perfectly, beating Davide Appollonio (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ). Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was fourth, with Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) fifth on his season debut, despite his recent time in hospital and septic elbow problem. Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) was sixth.

Kittel pulled on the red race leader's jersey and also took the green points jersey and the white best young rider's jersey.

"It's the first victory of the season and I think it's very, very important. For me and for the team too," Kittel said after the celebrations.

"Sometimes the small things can make a big difference. We had problems in the Tour Down Under to find each other and today it was just amazing."

"I think the sprint was perfect for me, it was a long straight road at high speed. I'm really, really happy that it worked out. We had a good plan and we did a really good job in the finale and so I have to give a big thank you to my teammates. We're on a good way and I'm very happy about that."

"We said we wanted to go for the win today and the guys did a great job. We believed in the victory and I think that's the strongest team spirit you can have. I think we can relax and look forward to the next few days."

A steady first day in the saddle

The 162km stage was a pretty steady first day in the saddle for the Oman peloton. The atmosphere at the start in Al Musannah was relaxed and informal. Several teams had changed riders, with Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) joining many of their teammates who had ridden the Tour of Qatar. Evans and Contador posed for photographs on the start line but Wiggins opted to avoid the attention and rolled out at the back of the peloton.

The riders sat tight behind two race official cars in the neutralised section but the attacks began virtually from the drop of the flag, with Bobbie Traksel (Champion System) and Kohei Uchima (Japan) jumping away in search of glory.

They opened a 45-second gap in just two kilometres and had 2:30 after eight kilometres. They knew they would be able to pick up the time bonuses and mountain points and so pull on one of the first race leader's jersey. The peloton let them go, preferring to roll along as the race headed inland with Argos-Shimano and later Orica-GreenEdge leading the controlled chase.

The gap reached nine minutes at the top of the Ar Rustaq climb, with Traksel taking the points to secure the polka-dot jersey for Champion System. The Dutchman also won the first intermediate sprint after 65km and the second sprint after 126km. However the gap was falling steadily. Traksel sat up, his job done, but Uchima continued on, retaining a lead of a minute until the sprinter's team upped the speed and finally swept him up with 16km to go.

Lots of fresh legs in the peloton, a long straight finish and a slight cross wind could have caused problems but the sprint turned into a drag race, with a good lead out and pure power more important than sprint tactics. Bouhanni surged through the middle but it was too early and Kittel's white jersey and shorts emerged at just the right time to win.

The early season nerves and pressure to land Argos-Shimano's first win as a WorldTour team was suddenly over.

"Another hard day is coming up but that's tomorrow," Kittel said, knowing the finale of the stage includes two nasty little climbs near Muscat.

The 146km stage is from Fanja in Bidbid to Al Bustan, with the Al Jissah climb ending just five kilometres from finish line. The day's winner could be whoever proves to be the best descender of the race.