Tour of Oman Photos Feb 14 - 19

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Garmin's Alex Rasmussen chatting to the Lotto Belisol team in the shade. The eventual stage winner is obscured. All photos courtesy of Bruno Bade/Muscat Municipality	ASO's (Tour de France race director) Christian Prudhomme with Oman/Muscat dignitaries and Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx with Omani's for the kis start
The real race is underway with some local fanfare	The rollout from Muscat	The peloton heading north for a 100 km segment along the coast
Musque scenery	The crowds thinned out as the route headed inland to the finish	Andre GREIPEL (LOTTO BELISOL) wins stage 1
2nd was Denis GALIMZYANOV (KATUSHA) and 3rd on the far left was Tyler FARRAR (GARMIN-BARRACUDA)	Andre GREIPEL (LOTTO BELISOL) continues where he left off in Australia

Stage 2:  Sur → Wadi Dayqah Dam, 141 km (rolling)  Full Results and Report

Eddy Merckx and Fabian Cancellara don't seem to mind that the hydro-foil ride to the start left/arrived 1 hour late. (Eddy looks like he's had a recent bike mishap)	Rabobank's Maarten Tjallingii pinning his bib numbers	It was a 200 km boat ride to the start so there was plenty of time for a game of cards. What card game do the Aussie's (Baden Cooke, Allan Davis, Stuart O'Grady and Matt Goss) like to play?
The world champ Mark Cavendish debarking the hydro-foil which arrived one hour late	The picturesque start from Sur	The peloton heading out along the coast
100 km of coastal cycling today with oil refineries in the background		Omani fans
The main break	The main break climbing with 40 km to go	The peloton on the same climb
Race leader Andre Griepel was momentarily dropped. He would catch back on and finish 10th	The race came back together for the rolling finish at Wadi Dayqah Dam	Peter Sagan (Liquigas) won the strung out uphill sprint finish ahead of Baden Cooke (Greenedge) and 3rd Tom Jelte SLAGTER (Rabobank)
The winner hanging out with the locals waiting for the podium ceremony	Stage and new race leader, Peter Sagan (Liquigas) sharing the podium with Klaas Lodewijck (BMC Racing) who was in the break and won the two intermediate sprints

Stage 3:  Al Awabi (Al Alya) → Muscat Heights (Bank Muscat HQ), 145 km  Full Results and Report

Local kids fascinated by the pre-race routine of Marcel Kittel (Project 1t4i) who we'll see again later	Christian Prudhomme leading his orchestra at the start of start 3	Lots of good local support
Spectators here are definitely more civil but they do like their personal photos just like elsewhere	The international crowd showing their support for the ten Aussies in the field
The peloton being told the break has a 1"25" lead	The peloton lead by Team Sky	Race leader at the start of the day, Peter Sagan (Liquigas)
Entire Omani families out to cheer on the race	The three of the four men in the break	The main break
Mom's the photographer in the family	The landscape in Oman is more hilly/mountainous than other countries in the area	The field sprint in full flight. 1st Marcel Kittel (Ger) Project 1t4i 3:23:00, 2nd André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team, 3rd Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat, 4th Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Barracuda, 5th Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondal
Sprint finish close-up... illustrates how aero 3rd place Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-Big Mat) stays while sprinting out of the saddle	A different camera angle of the sprint
Your stage 3 winner, Marcel Kittel (Project 1t4i) while André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) is back in the leader's jersey...	The jersey leaders including Andre Griepel back in Yellow

Stage 4:  Bidbid (Nafa’a) → Al Wadi Al Kabir, 143 km  Full Results and Report

Inspiration for a budding cyclist	Young Nacer BOUHANNI (FDJ-BIG MAT) would have another fine result today finishing 4th giving him 3rd overall. He won the first stage of the recent Etoile de Bessèges earlier this month	Andy Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) thinks this is a mountain stage, but that's tomorrow
The peloton weaving its way through a valley on a lumpy stage	Manufactured landscape complete with waterfall
A rolling, twisty route it was	The break descending	A little bit of climbing
A little bit of descending	The hills were too much for yesterday's winner, Marcel KITTEL (PROJECT 1T4I) who was dropped and finished more than 6 minutes back	André GREIPEL (LOTTO BELISOL) edges out Peter SAGAN (Liquigas) for his second win, extending his overall lead which he'll surely lose after the mountain stage tomorrow
Stage 2 winner Peter Sagan (Liquigas) gets a close-up of the Stage 4 winner	Eddy Merckx getting ready to go on stage for the podium ceremony	The jersey leaders including Peter Sagan (best young rider) and Andre Griepel (race leader)

Stage 5:  Royal Opera House, Muscat → Jabal Al Akhdha, 158 km  Full Results and Report

Mark Cavendish was making an impression on Omani teenage women at the Royal Opera House prior to the start of stage 5	It's been hot in Oman so riders like Team Sky have been sitting on any cool surface they can find	Your race officials
The rollout from the Royal Opera House in Muscat	Who's the guy with Christian Prudhomme in the race director's car today? Answer: Paul Le Guen, a former french football player and now he is the coach of an Oman football team (Thanks for your replies)	The peloton heading inland for the mountaintop finish on Jabal Al Akhdha (Green Mountain)
Looks like the riders had the wind at their backs at this point	Not much happened early on	The peloton enjoying the scenery
	The pace was slow today. With the heat, riders seemed content to wait for the final climb	Green Mountain is green by Omani landscape standards. It's a 6 km climb with three of the final 4 kms averaging 13.5%
Vincenzo NIBALI (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) wins on Green Mountain	Peter VELITS (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) and Sandy CASAR (FDJ-BIG MAT) were 2nd and 3rd at + 10s and +25s, respectively	Arnold JEANNESSON (FDJ) and Tony GALLOPIN (Radioshack) 4th and 5th today + 30s and + 37s, respectively
Your stage 5 winner, Vincenzo NIBALI (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) celebrating his first win of the year	2nd place today and now first overall heading into the final flat stage, Peter VELITS (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) by one second over Vincenzo NIBALI (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE)	Jersey leaders panoramic

Stage 6:  Al Khawd → Matrah Corniche, 131 km  Full Results and Report

Andre Griepel and Peter Velits shaking hands for the photo-op prior to the 6th and final stage	Some good crowds again... better than Qatar anyways	The stage profile had some rolls to it after leaving the start in Al Khawd
	Early break	Race leader Pete Velits nursing a slim 1s lead
The peloton on the flats heading to Matrah Corniche
	The sprint finish won by Marcel Kittel which gives him two wins this week	Marcel Kittel celebrating his second win this week
With an easy course, Peter Velits was able to hang on to his slim 1s lead to win the overall	The final podium: 1 VELITS, Peter (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) 21h 32' 02", 2 NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 00' 01", 3 GALLOPIN, Tony (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 00' 17"	The jersey winners
RadioShack-Nissan won the team award for the best place top three riders