Today, 145 kilometers had to be covered from Bank Muscat to Al Bustan, with a final that should primarily benefit the classic and mountain specialists. But in the end it turned out differently. André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) not only secured the day's win, but also regained the red jersey of the overall leader.
With the starting gun, a four-man lead group broke away from the field. Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Nicola Boem (Bardiani-CSF), Martijn Maaskant (UnitedHealthcare) and Kevin Ista (IAM) then dominated the race, while the sprinter teams initially took care of the tracking work in the field.
However, when the Sky teams around last year's winner Chris Froome and Cannondale also showed up in the final, the measuring sticks of the escape quartet were quickly read. First, the almost ten percent steep ascent to Al Hamriya awaited the drivers, but the preliminary decision was to be made a few kilometers later.
As previously expected, Froome attacked on the final climb. Together with Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) he was able to tear a gap of about 50 meters to the field. However, this should not be enough on the descending home stretch. Because in the field, Team Lotto Belisol launched its captain Greipel. While Froome, Cancellara and Stybar all gave up, Sagan tried to push his luck. However, he had no chance against the strong emerging Rostocker. With a lead of a bike length, Greipel celebrated his fifth win of the season. Behind Sagan, Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) finished third.
Result
1. André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol 3:29:08
2. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) 0:00:00
3. Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) 0:00:00
4. Ben Swift (Sky) 0:00:00
5. Marco Canola (Bardiani-CSF) 0:00:00
Total
1. André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 10:44:20
2. Leigh Howard (Orica GreenEdge) 0:00:08
3. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 0:00:10
4. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) 0:00:14
5. Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) 0:00:16
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