Cyclist Stannard stands out in Oman win
It's tough going but enjoyable says rider
After the high speed, wind blown, dusty roads of Qatar, Ian Stannard travelled straight to Oman with his Team Sky squad for the inaugural Tour of Oman.
Fortunately Team Sky didn't leave their racing legs in Qatar as Boasson Hagen - the team's Norwegian star - just missed out on his first road victory of 2010 when he finished in second position after the opening 61km evening circuit race around the Oman capital of Muscat.
"We got out on our bikes after our flight but in an hour's steady ride we climbed over 650 metres," explained an exhuasted Stannnard.
"That was something else and a first for me. To race was at night was great but there were no barriers around the circuit which made things a bit scary with the spectators.
"We had the whole field lined out behind us in the last few kilometres so Hagen could go for the win but a French guy jumped on the back of our train and just pipped him to the line."
A third place for Hagen on stage two gave the young Norwegian the race leader's red jersey and the responsibility to Stannard and his six other team mates to protect their race leader in the coming stages.
And they did that in style, helping him to a race win on the near 80-mile long stage three.
As Team Sky have only been up and running since the start of the year, it's no wonder that some observers were commenting that the boys in black and blue already looked an ominous force at the front of the pro peloton.
Unfortunately for Sky, the other teams in the race weren't in such a generous mood in the following day's stage. Add in two significant climbs - a stage length of 117 miles and a round trip of some nearly 380 miles to and from the race HQ - it's perhaps not surprising that Sky weren't given an easy ride on stage four.
Team tactics were not an issue in the closing 11.5 mile individual time though trial as Stannard finished with a time just over two minutes slower than Hagan who won with a time of 25mins.58secs.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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