Good performances by Stijn in Oman.
Stage 2 was way harder to win than stage 1 for Stijn, since guys like Sagan and Van Avermaet are better on the hills.
Third stage, we're looking to get back the jersey with Stijn!
This is more to Stijn's liking. Let's see if he could make it happen.
Willy Wouters
Veelers was in the mood for a day in the wind and attacked.
He spend the day alone as nobody found the energy to join him. I had a nice day in the pack, without any stress.
Stijn Van Gent
Just as Veelers was brought in and the pace dropped, Slagter attacked. With 16 km to go, it seemed tough.
He got caught in the final 2 km, so close!
Petacchi went hard too early, which suited me fine. I had his slipstream, and behind Van Hummel there was a little gap, so that the other sprinters didn't have the slipstream!
Today we made it a one-two! Amazing result for us here. I get my third win this season! I'm really excited!
The team was very aggressive today and as a result I was sitting easily in the pack. I really love racing at Argos - Shimano. I hope to spend many years more here!
Result
1
Stijn Van Gent
Team Argos-Shimano
3h04'09
IanButler
2
Kenny Van Hummel
Team Argos-Shimano
s.t.
IanButler
3
Aidis Kruopis
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
4
Daniele Bennati
Radioshack Nissan Trek
s.t.
5
Davide Appollonio
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
6
Francis Van Ness
Radioshack Nissan Trek
s.t.
7
Alessandro Petacchi
Lampre-ISD
s.t.
8
Elia Favilli
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
9
Christopher Sutton
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
10
Adam Blythe
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
And, yes, we took what belonged to us, the leader's jersey!
General Classification
1
Stijn Van Gent
Team Argos-Shimano
10h21'12
IanButler
2
Greg Van Avermaet
Team Garmin-Barracuda
+ 12
3
Kenny Van Hummel
Team Argos-Shimano
+ 42
IanButler
4
Daniele Bennati
Radioshack Nissan Trek
+ 46
5
Aidis Kruopis
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
6
Andrei Dovzjenko
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
7
Davide Appollonio
BMC Racing Team
+ 52
8
Adam Blythe
Sky Pro Cycling
+ 54
9
Alessandro Petacchi
Lampre-ISD
s.t.
10
Elia Favilli
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
We'll see you tomorrow, for another expected sprint!
Stijn & Willy
Tensions ran high as the fourth stage was coming up. Van Avermaet was looking for payback, while Sagan was looking for a win instead of being second here!
Should be a mass sprint again! A slightly uphill finish, not in my advantage.
Willy Wouters
Slagter went down bad! He couldn't get up and was sent to a hospital. There's no further news so far.
I had to lead out Stijn. He'll tell you why!
Stijn Van Gent
We held our legs still to wait for Slagter. After a couple of minutes we got the message that he abandoned. But the breakaway had taken a dangerous gap in the mean time. First Veelers emptied himself completely.
So Willy was the only one left with some energy at the end. He caught the final breakaway member and tried launching me uphill!
But Van Avermaet was strong once again! Sagan must be getting frustrated. I could've sworn I heard him cursing in his language, crossing the finish line.
I finish third. To be honest, it makes me happy. I've never been so consistent in a stage race of this caliber!
Result
1
Greg Van Avermaet
Team Garmin-Barracuda
3h29'08
2
Peter Sagan
Liquigas-Cannondale
s.t.
3
Stijn Van Gent
Team Argos-Shimano
s.t.
IanButler
4
Assan Bazayev
RusVelo
s.t.
5
Davide Appollonio
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
6
Christopher Sutton
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
7
Daniele Bennati
Radioshack Nissan Trek
s.t.
8
Aidis Kruopis
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
9
Adam Blythe
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
10
Rosalbino Cau
Liquigas-Cannondale
s.t.
General Classification
1
Stijn Van Gent
Team Argos-Shimano
13h50'12
IanButler
2
Greg Van Avermaet
Team Garmin-Barracuda
s.t.
3
Kenny Van Hummel
Team Argos-Shimano
+ 50
IanButler
4
Daniele Bennati
Radioshack Nissan Trek
+ 54
5
Aidis Kruopis
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
6
Andrei Dovzjenko
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
7
Davide Appollonio
BMC Racing Team
+ 1'00
8
Adam Blythe
Sky Pro Cycling
+ 1'02
9
Assan Bazayev
RusVelo
s.t.
10
Alessandro Petacchi
Lampre-ISD
s.t.
Points
1
Stijn Van Gent
Team Argos-Shimano
88
IanButler
2
Greg Van Avermaet
Team Garmin-Barracuda
80
3
Peter Sagan
Liquigas-Cannondale
50
4
Davide Appollonio
BMC Racing Team
44
5
Daniele Bennati
Radioshack Nissan Trek
41
Tomorrow is the one mountain stage! Let's see if Willy's in a good shape. Until then,
Stijn & Willy
Nooooo! Slagter! Hope he's okay and won't miss the Ardennes... (If he rides it, I don't know what he has developed in)
Nice finish for Stijn again.
I repeat my stage 2 comment again: An uphill sprint is harder for Stijn than a flat one. Although this one wasn't that steep...
Uhh,it will be hard for Stjin to keep jersey when terrain comes uphill,but at least,you can try with Willy.Seems like Avermaet is doing great job following you.
Jesleyh - It's still early, I think/hope Slagter will recover fast enough Going uphill isn't Stijn's specialty. However, it's nice to see he can manage a podium uphill! Might be necessary for winning the Green Jersey once day
Stromeon - Let's hope so!
Jakstar22 - Thanks. Though that jersey will definitely be gone tomorrow...
sutty68 - Hope a couple of weeks rest will do Slagter some good!
TTspecialist - Van Avermaet and Stijn have been battling a great war here, now it's up to the climbers
The one but last stage in Oman. Today the GC should fall into shape.
The one and only mountain stage here. We expect a huge battle on the final slope!
Willy Wouters
Dennis Vanendert got in the morning breakaway, which caused some confusion.
With the leader's jersey, we had to do some work, but with Vanendert in the breakaway, we didn't. So other teams stepped up.
I tried racing up front enough, to react quickly on attacks.
Halfway the climb I saw a large part of the peloton was still together. I tried to cut at least 40 riders off.
Unfortunately, I completely failed... See Stijn's report.
Stijn Van Gent
I thought I was dead when I saw the road leading to the finish...
But surprisingly a large pack stayed together. It seems the climb wasn't selective enough today, the pace wasn't high enough. I even finished top 20 today.
Although Fränk Schleck took the win, Van Avermaet did brilliantly and takes over my jersey!
Result
1
Fränk Schleck
Radioshack Nissan Trek
4h08'45
2
Robert Kiserlovski
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
3
Daniel Martin
Team Garmin-Barracuda
+ 9
4
Francesco Masciarelli
Astana Pro Team
+ 27
5
Greg Van Avermaet
Team Garmin-Barracuda
+ 40
6
Linus Gerdemann
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
7
Ben Hermans
Radioshack Nissan Trek
s.t.
8
Willy Wouters
Team Argos-Shimano
+ 1'02
IanButler
9
Kanstantsin Siutsou
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
10
Fabian Cancellara
BMC Racing Team
+ 1'15
11
Luis León Sánchez
FDJ-BigMat
s.t.
12
Cadel Evans
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
13
Damiano Cunego
Lampre-ISD
s.t.
14
Trent Lowe
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
15
Yoann Offredo
FDJ-BigMat
s.t.
16
Stijn Van Gent
Team Argos-Shimano
s.t.
IanButler
17
Dimitry Kozontchuk
RusVelo
+ 1'47
18
Craig Lewis
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
+ 2'05
19
Elia Favilli
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
20
Andrew Talansky
Team Garmin-Barracuda
+ 2'15
General Classification
1
Greg Van Avermaet
Team Garmin-Barracuda
17h59'37
2
Fränk Schleck
Radioshack Nissan Trek
+ 2
3
Robert Kiserlovski
Astana Pro Team
+ 10
4
Stijn Van Gent
Team Argos-Shimano
+ 35
IanButler
5
Francesco Masciarelli
Astana Pro Team
+ 49
6
Ben Hermans
Radioshack Nissan Trek
+ 1'02
7
Linus Gerdemann
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
8
Willy Wouters
Team Argos-Shimano
+ 1'24
IanButler
9
Kanstantsin Siutsou
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
10
Fabian Cancellara
BMC Racing Team
+ 1'37
News from the hospital-front: Slagter doesn't need surgery, so all in all he's quite lucky. He'll start his next race in Italy with us, Strade Bianchi.
Tomorrow's the final (flat) stage. Willy's form remains a question mark...
Until then,
Stijn & Willy
Wow,didn't expect from Stjin to keep in group on this climb,as i said Avermaet is doing great,he knows how to climb and how to sprint. I hope team will work for you in next stage(s) Bad news for Willy altought,seems like he can't find form right now,but it's okay,it's still start of season
It's just a regular alien 
