Alexander Kristoff won stage 2 of the 2014 Tour of Oman in Quriyat today – finishing ahead of Leigh Howard and Tom Boonen by barely a bike’s length.
As a result of today’s bonus points, Howard moved up into the overall race lead, while Boonen rode his way into third.
The Race
Today’s stage began with a moment of silence to honor the death of Kristof Goddaert. The Belgian rider was killed yesterday after he fell from his bike into the pathway of a motor vehicle while out on a training ride.
The attacks got underway almost as soon as today’s stage began, with a breakaway group of three riders containing Preben van Heckegot, Paolo Colonna and Aldo Ilesic, forming within the first few kilometers.
Within the first 13 kilometers, the trio had successfully built up a lead of more than two minutes over the peloton. Sébastian Hinault of the IAM Cycling team was the first rider to try and bridge himself to the escapees. However, his efforts were ill timed, as the french rider found himself isolated in no-man’s land – before being reeled back in.
Meanwhile, the breakaway continued to increase their lead. And, at one point, the trio had created a massive gap of almost eight minutes – before the peloton slowly began reeling them in.
With 22 kilometers remaining, Ilesic was the first to be caught by the peloton, while the remaining two escapees managed to hold out until the final 10 kilometers before being swallowed up by the field as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TimepQb7ouU
Top 10 Finishers
1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 2 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 3 Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team 4 Robert Förster (Ger) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 5 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr 6 Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 7 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 8 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 9 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team 10 Sam Bennett (Irl) Team NetApp – Endura
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