Goss in command 1
February 16 th 2011 - 15:07
The Wave, Muscat resort welcomed the 127 riders for the start of stage 2 of the Tour of Oman: a 139.5km ride to Al Wutayya including a very demanding hill climb. Straight from the line, 5 riders managed to break away: Cassidy (SKT), the first to take off, as well as Ratto (GEO), Van Zandbeek (SKS), Krivtsov (LAM) and Neirynck (TSV). The leading riders saw their advantage grow from 1’10 at km 2, to a maximum 3’40 at km 71.
Closing in on the first bonus sprint of the day, staged at the top of a very difficult 4km climb, the pack started moving closer. After taking off in the climb, Ratto made it first to the top (km 81.5), claiming the most bonus seconds ahead of Cassidy while Krivstov made it third, 17” adrift.
The pack also broke up into several groups with overall leader Theo Bos, struggling in a late group. The Dutchman in a pack of around thirty men made it to the sprint line with a 3’20 deficit.
Meanwhile the five escapees were caught by a first bunch of 30 men at km 90. The front group including the likes of title-holder Cancellara (LEO) and Alexander Vinokourov (AST) was eventually caught by forty other men. The gap with the Red Jersey group also including Boonen (QST), Hushovd (GRM) and Cavendish (THR) started seriously increasing: 2’30 at km 96.
At km 100, two riders broke away: Sinkewitz (FAR) and Malori (LAM). They reached the second intermediate group (km 103.5), won by Sinkewitz, with an 18” advantage over the first pack led by Kangert (AST), while the red jersey group remained 3’05 adrift. The front two were eventually caught at km 108.5.
As the gap carried on increasing with the dropped riders, Grivko (AST) and Sinkewitz (FAR), again, broke away. With 3kms to go, the leading riders could enjoy a slim 10” advantage before being caught by the hungry pack.
A pack of around seventy riders remained bunched for the final decisive sprint. Australia’s Matthew Goss proved to be the fastest to the line. The rider from team HTC-Highroad impressively beat Daniele Bennati (LEO) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY). The pack of dropped riders including Theo Bos, eventually made it to the line over 10’ after the day’s winner.
A stage winner and second overall of the Tour DownUnder, Goss now takes command of the general classification with a 4” lead over Bennati and 6” over Boasson Hagen who claims the points’ classification Green Jersey. Pieter Serry looses his white jersey (best young rider) to Goss but keeps the most aggressive rider’s jersey.