Andre Greipel dropped down to the second overall position as Peter Sagan shined on the second day at the Tour of Oman 2012
Peter Sagan of Team Liquigas Cannondale strengthened his grip on the overall classifications at the Tour of Oman after his remarkable performance on the second stage.
He overcame Baden Cooke and Tom Jelte to claim the top podium position on the second day of racing in Oman.
Cooke was the only man who challenged the Slovakian during the 140.5 kilometre chase to Wadi Dayqah Dam but fell short and had to settle for the second spot.
The Australian was looking good but Peter stole the show with his lightening sprint during the final 200 kilometres of the race.
The 22-year-old commented after the race, "It was a good finish for me but it's never easy to win. I went quite early because it seemed that the others were already starting their sprints. After that, it came as it came".
Baden Cooke was leading Team GreenEdge after the previous leader Matt Goss decided to step down from the leadership role.
Cooke was happy with his second place finish, as he admired the tremendous efforts of Team Liquigas-Cannondale rider.
He cited, "I jumped to the front with 300 to go. I was a bit over-geared but there was no way I was going to beat Sagan. He just came straight past me at about 280 to go".
“He's freakishly talented, so it's no disgrace to be beaten by that guy. He's capable of anything", Baden concluded.
Andre Greipel, Denis Galimzyanov and Tyler Farrar were leading the overall classifications after the first stage.
The trio could not maintain their dominance and claimed the 10th, 108th and 28th positions, respectively.
Klaas Lodewijck of BMC Racing Team won the first and the second sprints of the race and bagged 6 important UCI points. Diego Caccia and Martin Kohler occupied the second and the third spots.
Sagan also won the young rider category of the race with Tom Jelte Slagter and Tony Gallopin achieving the second and the third spots respectively.
Peter Sagan, Andre Greipel and Baden Cooke are at the first, second and the third positions after the stage 2 classifications. Tom Jelte Slagter and Nacer Bouhanni are currently holding the fourth and the fifth positions.
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