Cycling: The Katusha-Alpecin team can look forward to their first win of the season. Nathan Haas won the second stage of the Tour of Oman in a sprint in what ended up being a 14-strong first group. This had previously provided the escapees and was decimated more and more. Surprisingly, the Australian then left Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) behind.
[gap height=“25″]
[gap height=“25″]
Terpstra attack blasts the field
After 167 kilometers from Sultan Qaboos University to Al Bustan, Nathan Haas had reason to celebrate. The Australian was the only rider from his team to stay with the peloton until the finish. For a long time on the second stage of the Tour of Oman, it looked like a breakaway victory was in the cards. Markel Irizar (Trek-Segafredo), Loic Chetout (Cofidis), Fabricio Ferrari (Caja Rural), and Danny Pate (Rally) had built up a lead of over four minutes. The first-mentioned Spanish rider was riding solo at the end, but he too was caught on the Al Jiassah climb. An attack by Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors) then decimated the peloton so drastically that only those 14 riders remained at the finish.
His first for #TeamKatushaAlpecin . Most likely not his last one. Amazing @NathanPeterHaas in #TOO2018 #racetowin #raceasafamily . More info to come. 📸 @GettySport pic.twitter.com/kEDAi5QQDL
— Team KATUSHA ALPECIN (@katushacycling) February 14, 2018
Haas takes the overall lead
With his stage win, Nathan Haas also takes over the red jersey as overall leader. At the Tour of Oman, the 28-year-old now has a four-second lead over Greg Van Avermaet and six seconds over today's third-place finisher, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana). Several contenders for the overall victory also finished in the first group, including Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana). Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), however, lost 48 seconds.
Curious: While Nathan Haas was celebrating the stage win in the foreground, a professional from Team BMC was celebrating in the background. He was also counting on his captain Greg Van Avermaet to win. Maybe it will work in the coming days.
@SupermanlopezN met 10 in the second section of the @tourofoman #TOO2018 @AstanaTeam with the same tie of Hass Nathan @katushacycling ganador of the section, Lopez ahora it 8° in the CG a 10″ of the líder @Lauruiz04 @PARbelaezR @felixciclismo pic.twitter.com/aoqF8SB7a5
— CampeonesyGregarios (@FinalEnAlto) February 14, 2018