Tour of Oman 2014 - Stage 4

The Tour of Oman's fourth stage was perhaps the best of the lot so far, with the race really hitting some climbs. It was 173 kilometres from Wadi Al Abiyad to the Ministry of Housing, and would show who was on the best early season form. A breakaway did go away early on the stage, featuring Evan Huffman (Astana), Yaroslav Popovych (Trek), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), who animated the race once again.

Once the finishing circuit had been reached by the peloton, the front group were brought back effectively, with Van Avermaet being the last man back into the peloton. The circuit contained the climb of Bousher Alamrat, which averaged nearly seven kilometres. 

On the final climb, Christopher Froome attempted to show his dominance, taking Rigoberto Uran with him. However, a stiff headwind allowed the peloton to catch up, when Peter Sagan and Vincenzo Nibali jumped clear, again taking Rigoberto Uran with him. They soon got rid of the peloton, gaining around twenty seconds at their best moment.

However, they lost time on the final roundabout. They went the wrong way around the roundabout, and Peter Sagan jumping a walkway was the only way that saved him from being caught. Sagan went on to win the stage, outsprinting Rigoberto Uran. Vincenzo Nibali came in later two seconds down, just infront of the peloton, who were led by Daryl Impey. 

Peter Sagan now leads the general classification with two stages remaining. He will be glad to put speculation that he is too distracted by his future to be focusing on his current season, as he has now opened his account for the year. Andy Schleck (Trek) will have been disappointed however, he was dropped as the pace was upped on the finishing circuit.