Ben Hermans wins Tour of Oman stage two
BMC rider powers away in finale of a hilly stage
Ben Hermans (BMC) has won stage two of the Tour of Oman, distancing Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Rui Costa (UAE-Abu Dhabi) in a final sprint to the line after a testing hilly stage. The win also puts Hermans into the leader's jersey.
15 riders escaped early on, from which Mark Christian (AquaBlue) and Preben van Hecke (Vlaanderen-Baloise) broke away and gained a lead of almost 6 minutes. Some steep climbs peppered the profile of the second half of the race, and the gap duly dropped as AG2r, Dimension Data and Astana set the pace in the bunch.
Once Christian and Van Hecke were caught on the final climb of AL Jissah some counter moves went clear of the peloton, but these were shut down by BMC. An uphill sprint from a reduced peloton eventually decided the race in Al Bustan, and it was Hermans who emerged as the strongest.
Hermans has won the Brabantse Pijl in the past before, and if the Belgian is targetting the Ardennes Classics again this year then his form looks to be heading in the right direction.
