Marcel Kittel wins the third stage in Oman while Andre Greipel is back in red
Marcel Kittel shined during the third stage of the Tour of Oman as the German filled his bag with yet another win of the season.
Winner of the opening stage, Andre Greipel kept a close eye on his compatriot but Kittel proved himself as the fastest German during the third day of the race.
Greipel fell short in the final 50 kilometres and achieved the second spot while Nacer Bouhanni, Tyler Farrar and Peter Sagan grabbed the third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Marcel won the seventh stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2011 but the stage win at Oman is ranked even higher, considering the fact that he competed with some of the best sprinters to claim the top spot.
"It was a big goal for me this year to ride in the big races against the top sprinters, and of course I'm very, very happy that it worked out already at the Tour of Oman," he briefed after the race.
Kittel continued, "If you look at the start list, all of the big sprinters are here. Maybe not all in best shape, but it's the beginning of the season for everyone".
The 23-year admired the efforts by his teammates which helped him through the third stage of the race.
He asserted, "The boys did a great job before that, In end, I was lucky to find a good spot in the final 500 metres and I could do a good sprint".
Russian cyclist Vladimir Isaichev of Team Katusha dominated the first and the second sprints of the day while, Marcel bagged the third and the final sprint of the race.
Andre Greipel of Lotto Belisol Team is once again leading the stage 3 classifications with a lead of two seconds over Peter Sagan.
Nacer Bouhanni, Baden Cooke and Tom Jelte Slagter are holding the third, fourth and fifth overall spots.
Alexandre Lemair, Klaas Lodewijck and Vladimir Isaichev are leading the combativity classification with 8, 6 and 6 points in their back pockets.
Peter Sagan is dominating the young rider’s classification with a lead of six seconds over Nacer Bouhanni.
Tom Jelte Slagter, Tony Gallopin and Ramunas Navardauskas are holding the third, fourth and fifth positions after the stage 3 classifications.
Team RadioShack-Nissan, Team FDJ-Bigmat and Rabobank Cycling Team are currently leading the team’s classifications after the stage 3.
Andre Greipel is once again back in his favourite red jersey after the all-round performance during the first three stages.
He had a terrific start to his 2012 campaign and won the Cancer Council Helpline Classic, three stages at the Tour Down Under and one at the Tour of Oman already in his bag.
The German is now eyeing the 142.5 kilometre stage 4 of the race and, with three more stages to go, he is definitely a strong contender for the final general classifications.
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