Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) took the stage victory and the race lead on the second day of the Tour of Oman on Wednesday, emerging fastest up the short, but steep finishing climb to Quriyat.
The Norwegian opened up a clear gap in the sprint, with Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) coming across the line for second, alongside Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) in third.
Race leader Bob Jungels (Etixx-QuickStep) was distanced on the final climb and ended up losing almost a minute, meaning that Boasson Hagen now leads overall, with Nibali at four seconds and Van Avermaet at six.
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The climb to Quriyat, 2.8 kilometres long with an average gradient of 6.5 per cent, was always going to be tricky for Jungels, but Etixx-QuickStep weren’t expecting Dan Martin to be dropped before it had even been reached. The Irishman lost ground as the peloton split in the run-up to the climb and lost 1:41, severely denting any general classification ambitions he was harbouring.
Richie Porte (BMC) said he wasn’t surprised or perturbed to lose time on the opening stage, and the same happened again today, with the Australian also dropped before the climb and suffering a further deficit of three minutes.
Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R-La Mondiale), Davide Rebellin (CCC Sprandi Polowice), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Romain Bardet (AG2R), and Rui Costa (Lampre-Merdia) all finished in the front group of nine, with Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) just behind, meaning the GC is taking shape ahead of Friday’s crucial test on Green Mountain.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://ift.tt/20Z0aJT
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