Boasson Hagen Powers to Win

Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen underlined his superb early-season form as he sprinted to victory in the third stage of the Tour of Oman.

The Norwegian already held the leader's red jersey after podium finishes in the opening two stages and he claimed a deserved win after another great team effort from Team Sky during the 124km route from Saifat Ash Shiekh to Qurayyat.

Team Sky first of all worked superbly together to reel in a breakaway, which held a lead of just under three minutes at one point, and the lead-out train then teed up Boasson Hagen for the sprint finish.

He rounded things off in style as he got the better of Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions).
Hard work pays off

"I'm really happy with the win," a delighted Boasson Hagen told www.teamsky.com. "The guys have made good lead outs on every stage so far and to finish it off today is a great feeling."

And that was echoed by Geraint Thomas who, along with the rest of Team Sky's squad, kept Boasson Hagen in pole position through the race.

Thomas explained: "We looked to control the race from the start with having Edvald in the [leader's] jersey. A couple of other teams came up to help us just before the climb as they wanted a bunch sprint too.

"We all got over the climb together and just set Edvald up nicely. As soon as he gets a finish like that - a dead straight road - it's perfect for him and he just used the horsepower he's got to win it well."

Boasson Hagen now has a 10-second lead over Farrar in the general classification, with most of the peloton 20 seconds adrift.