Tour of Oman: Kristoff wins on stage 2

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Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) took his first victory of the 2014 season, ahead of Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge) and Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) on stage 2 of the Tour of Oman.

Kristoff didn't have a lot of luck at last week's Tour of Qatar, where he crashed and injured himself. He also fell afoul of the desert roads and suffered from an inopportune puncture preventing him from grasping another opportunity.

The Norwegian made it to the finish unscathed this time around and had nearly a bike's length between himself and second placed Howard. Kristoff took huge satisfaction from winning the stage and from taking the scalps of some of the biggest sprint-names in the peloton.

The strong head win made the sprint especially hard to judge and created a fight for the best lead-out. Kristoff wisely went early to avoid the fighting and used his power and aero position to punch through the head wind.

"This is a good win. There are a lot of fast guys here and to beat them means that I know I can win other big races," he told Cyclingnews before enjoying his moment on the podium.

"I hit the front with five hundred metres to go and I kept going and going with my sprint. I managed to keep the other guys behind. I'd seen it was a little bit messy, with everyone fighting for wheels into the headwind, so when I made it to the front, I decided to stay there and get the best out of it."

Kristoff's white helmet and his tucked under shoulders were clearly visible as he surged up the left side of the road in the sprint. He's well built and quite tall but is able to tuck low over his bike, much like Mark Cavendish does when he produces his best sprint finish.

"I've been training a lot to stay aero in the sprints," Kristoff revealed. "But you also have to get the power out, so it's a difficult compromise. This time it was perfect."

The bonus seconds for Howard on his second consecutive runner-up position hands him the lead of the race. Boonen continues to look in good form, after he rode into third place.

With no classified climbs and a pan flat finish, stage 2 was another clear cut opportunity for the sprinters.

There was a moment’s silence ahead of the second stage at the Tour of Oman, in honour of Kristof Goddaert. The Belgian rider was killed yesterday when he fell off his bike, into the path of a bus. His IAM Cycling teammates also wore black armbands. They will continue to race.

Once the flag went down for the race to begin the attacks began immediately. Three riders managed to make their escape, including Preben van Hecke. The Topsport Vlaanderen rider was already wearing the jersey for most aggressive rider for his part in yesterday’s breakaway.

Van Hecke was joined by Paolo Colonna (Bardiani CSF) and Aldo Ino Ilesic (UnitedHealthcare). After only 13km the trio built up a lead of over two minutes, when Sébastian Hinault (IAM Cycling) decided to set off in pursuit. It was too late, though, and Hinault spent some time lingering in no-man’s land, before he was eventually caught by the pack.

The three escapees kept pushing out the gap, which hit a maximum of 7:45 before the peloton began to reel them in. The sprinters’ teams did the majority of the work, hoping to help their teammates to victory.

Ilesic was the first to go and was caught by the group with 22km to go. Without one of their number, the remaining two escapees managed to hold out a little longer. Their hope of victory ended with 10km remaining.

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