Stage 2 in Oman provides more of a test for the riders than yesterday. Whilst starting in similar fashion, with a gradual climb to a sprint, the end of the race sees two steep climbs that could cause problems for the more out and out sprinters.

We will aim for the break in the stage, with again St-Pierre playing the free role. The team will work for Luke on a whole, but could try something on the final climb before the finish to try and better the others.

For a while, we were convinced that we were seeing a carbon copy of yesterday's stage. Lotto and OmegaPharma set a high pace from the off, and not a single rider was allowed off the front until after the Intermediate Sprint.



When it finally did form, Henri was part of the day's break, along with Edwin �vila (Colombia) and Patrick Facchini (Androni). The trio worked well early in the formation of the lead group, but as the stage wore on, �vila attacked off on his own.



Hitting the final climb of the day, only �vila remained off the front. Adam Yates was brought to the front by Linus and without looking behind, he put in a small attack, opening a gap on the rest.



He continued to set a pace, and he bridged to �vila reaching the top of the climb. He left him for dead on the descent, as behind, only Florencio and Kristoff (both Katusha) tried to pull back the young Briton, but there was no catching him.



Yates celebrated a great win for the team on the line, with Gerdemann coming in 4th! He had followed the move by the Katusha pair, but refused to work in order to protect his Leader. Fantastic teamwork from the German. The day was truly one to remember, as Rowe sprinted for 6th in the main bunch.

1	Adam Yates	Bianchi Factory Team	3h16'04
2	Xavier Florencio	Katusha Team	s.t.
3	Alexander Kristoff	Katusha Team	s.t.
4	Linus Gerdemann	Bianchi Factory Team	+ 41
5	Peter Sagan	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 1'14

1	Adam Yates	Bianchi Factory Team	6h37'03
2	Xavier Florencio	Katusha Team	+ 10
3	Alexander Kristoff	Katusha Team	+ 12
4	Linus Gerdemann	Bianchi Factory Team	+ 57
5	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	+ 1'10

Bianchi Factory Racing are to be part of the iconic Ardennes Classics, after their Wildcard Application for the Amstel Gold Race was accepted by the Race Organisers.

The Dutch race, taking place on the 14th April, is currently pencilled in as the team's first WorldTour Race outside of Italy, and there are high hopes for acceptance for the Wildcard applications for La Flèche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Bianchi are one of 6 teams named for the race, with Vacansoleil, Orica-Greenedge, Androni Giocattoli, Accent Job-Wanty and Cofidis also having their dossiers accepted.

the_hoyle wrote:@ufo: I expect to see you at the finish in AGR

the_hoyle wrote:
@ufo: I'm sure that can be arranged

Stage 3 in Oman should suit the sprinters, so expect there to be no changes in the GC at the end of the stage. Only point to be weary of, however, is the bonus seconds on the finish line. If Kristoff finishes 2nd or higher, he will take the Leader's Jersey.

The team will work to protect Adam, and then set up Rowe for the finish.

A group of 4 created the day's break, and with on riders causing a threat to the GC and Adam's Leader Jersey, we were happy to let them go.



Lotto, Cannondale and OmegaPharma took control of the peleton, and despite offers to help from our guys, they continued to set a high pace. It was clear that today would end in a mass sprint.



With pace setting duties removed from the team, orders were given to completely look after Adam. On the day's only climb, he was looking comfortable, and enjoying his day in the Leader's Jersey.



Panic stations for Lotto, as their leader Andre Greipel punctures. The pace goes completely out of the peleton, and his entire team brings him back into the main group. How much would this take out of him in the finish?



8km to go, and the break was caught. After Griepel's puncture, there was the possibility that the break might last to the end, but to be honest, the slowing of the peleton only delayed the inevitable.



The uphill sprint had Sagan (Cannondale) written all over it, and he didn't disappoint. The Slovakian comfortably takes the win, as Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) beating Kristoff (Katusha) on the line for 2nd. Rowe looked strong, but faded on the rise to the finish, and came home in 12th.

1	Peter Sagan	Cannondale Pro Cycling	4h21'07
2	Matthew Goss	Orica - GreenEdge	s.t.
3	Alexander Kristoff	Katusha Team	s.t.
4	André Greipel	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
5	Mark Cavendish	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team	s.t.

1	Adam Yates	Bianchi Factory Team	10h58'10
2	Alexander Kristoff	Katusha Team	+ 4
3	Xavier Florencio	Katusha Team	+ 10
4	Linus Gerdemann	Bianchi Factory Team	+ 57
5	Peter Sagan	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 1'04

the_hoyle wrote:
@sutty: I had issues reloading the pages, so maybe it is to do with the server change over...

Describe as the Queen Stage in Oman, Stage 4 looks to be where the GC will be almost decided. Flat for most of the day, the final 9km climb to the summit of Green Mountain will see the favourites go head-to-head early in the season.

Adam will be the focus for the team, where he will be hoping that his 1'36 lead over the other favourites will be enough of a buffer to come away from stage in a high GC position.

A large group of 7 riders made up the break of the day, with Ludvigsson giving the team a presence and some TV time.



Cannondale, clearly working for Sagan, took up the control of the peleton early in the stage, and the high pace meant that the lead group was only allowed a maximum of 3'55" all day.



There was still 46km to go when the break was caught, and there was a sudden calming feeling within the peleton. Despite the lack of a threat to the GC and/or the stage in the break, Cannondale were never happy all day until it was brought back.


Hitting the climb, we made sure that Adam was positioned near to the front of the race. World Champion Dan Martin (Garmin) attacked first, taking Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Sagan with him.



Not wanting to go out without a fight, Adam attacked in pursuit of the leading trio. Thomas De Gendt (OmegaPharma) countered Yates with the other GC favourites looking at each other behind.



Martin was clearly in some good early season form, as the World Champion takes his first win in the Rainbow Stripes. Cousin Nicolas Roche finished second, with Vincenzo Nibali (Vodafone) attacking late for 3rd. Adam did the Leader's Jersey proud, finishing 9th and dropping to 6th on GC

1	Daniel Martin	Garmin - Sharp	3h13'48
2	Nicolas Roche	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	+ 12
3	Vincenzo Nibali	Vodafone	+ 34
4	Thomas De Gendt	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team	+ 49
5	Peter Sagan	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 1'08

1	Daniel Martin	Garmin - Sharp	14h13'14
2	Nicolas Roche	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	+ 20
3	Vincenzo Nibali	Vodafone	+ 46
4	Peter Sagan	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 56
5	Thomas De Gendt	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team	+ 1'09