Greipel wins final stage of Tour of Oman

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Chris Froome enjoyed an untroubled final stage at the Tour of Oman to secure his second successive overall victory in the six-day stage race and so warn his Grand Tour rivals they face another season of suffering if they try to beat him in any stage race he rides.

André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) used his power and experience on the fast tailwind assisted finish to win his third stage in Oman and take his season tally to an impressive six victories.

Greipel saw off the challenge of Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) and an impressive Sam Bennett (NetApp-Endura) in the sprint after his loyal and hard working teammates dug deep on the finishing circuit to close down the break and several late attacks.

Froome finished safely in the peloton surrounded by his teammates and enjoyed a moment of celebration with his loyal men in black before heading to the podium to pull on the final winner's red jersey.

"I couldn't ask for much more. If at the start of the race you'd said to me I'd be here in the red jersey, I'd have taken it, definitely. That's the best case for me," Froome said.

"It's great to be able to back it up and come and defend my title. The team we've had here has been really compatible, really aggressive and wanting to make the most out of the racing. It shows that everyone has come off a good winter and that everyone is working hard to be in good shape for this. It really a pleasure to work with people who share that mentality. We've got the leader's jersey to show for it. We're really happy."

Team Sky opted to mix their race tactics during the race, catching their rivals off guard with attacks. Team Sky skillfully set up overall victory on Green Mountain on Saturday, with an attack by Sergio Henao and then a knock-out follow-up move by Froome. That is how the race was won.

"That was one of the objectives this week, to play our tactics are little bit differently and go on the offensive a little bit more than normal. I think it's really healthy for the guys and normal," Froome said, before heading back to the race hotel for another bottle of celebratory champagne and then a quick night flight home.

A day of aggressive racing

The hilly start to the 146.5km stage sparked several attacks and others moves formed on the Bousher Alamrat climb.

Five riders formed the first breakaway after 17km, with Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Nicholas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) amongst them. They were caught before the first sprint after 59km and a new attack of ten riders formed.

Michael Hepburn (Orica-GreenEdge) and Alessandro Bazzana (UnitedHealthCare) were in the move. However the peloton chased after them on the Bousher Alamrat and more attacks came behind, with Sagan and at one point Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) testing their legs one last time.

Christopher Juul Jensen (Tinkoff-Saxo) managed to join Hepburn and Bazzana to create the final break of the day that lead the race into the three finishing circuits on the seafront Muscat Corniche. The strong headwind made them suffer but they fought on and in turn tested the resolve of the peloton and the Lotto Belisol team that was obliged to do much of the chasing.

The gap hovered at less than a minute for the final 21km on the finishing circuit and the trio was only caught in the final kilometre. However Lotto Belisol still had the riders to protect Greipel and he again finished off their hard work with an unbeatable sprint.

"It was windy just like two years ago, with a strong tailwind. It was a really fast sprint because it's also downhill, so I decided to go early because you can't go faster than your fastest," Greipel explained after celebrating his third stage win in six days of racing in Oman.

"The other teams tried to get ride of me during the stage but my teammates stayed with me on the climb. I was lucky that I had good legs today and so wasn't that far back on the climb, just maybe ten seconds. I got back on during the descent. The other teams tried but I had the best team to support me."

Riders and mechanics quickly packed up their bikes and traveled home over night to Europe, quickly bringing down the curtain on the fifth edition of the Tour of Oman and the triptych of Middle Eastern races

The Tour of Oman arguably marks the end of the early season. Things will get much more serious next weekend in Belgium at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and then the week after at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. Spring is now in the air.

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