Katusha-Alpecin’s Nathan Haas beat BMC Racing Team’s Van Avermaet to take overall victory of the two-day Tour of Oman a few hours ago.
Australian rider had to find a way to come up at the first place through an aggressive finale which eventually paid him off by taking both, second 167km stage at Al Bustan and overall victory of the tour.
This was Australian’s first win since 2016 when he took the Vuelta a Burgos. This is also Katusha-Alpecin’s first victory of the new season. Third place went to Astana’s man Alexey Lutsenko.
“I just wanted to give myself a nice Valentine’s present today,” said Haas soon after packing a double victory.
“I have been trying to win a bike race, a real bike race for a while, so for me to finish it off, means a huge reaction. I’ve been saying to everyone that they’ll know it when I won because they’ll hear it. I woke up this morning and had a really good feeling about today, my legs felt fantastic. I love coming to Oman. It’s a fantastic race and for me it’s one of the best ways to transition from Australia back to Europe.”
Red is totally in right now. So trending. Thanks to my unreal team for today, the win feels so good, no more bridesmaid awards, Yes!!!! #racetowin @katushacycling pic.twitter.com/gl9f1llY8m
— Nathan Haas (@NathanPeterHaas) February 14, 2018
Stage 2 Results
Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin 4-22-15
Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana
Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors
Gorka Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida
Jesus Herrada (Esp) Cofidis
Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana, all same time
General classification
Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin 8-20-46
Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana
Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana
Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
