Peter Velits grabbed the first overall victory, Slovakian wins the Tour of Oman 2012
Peter Velits finished the fifth stage of the race with a top overall position. He had a lead of 1 second over Vincenzo Nibali and 17 seconds lead over Tony Gallopin.
Velits started the final stage of the race with only one goal in his mind, the overall classifications and did well to maintain his lead over the main competitors.
He secured his first win of the season by claiming the overall victory at the Tour of Oman on Sunday. He finished the 130.5 kilometre chase to Matrah at the 25th position.
German cyclist Marcel Kittel won the stage with Peter Sagan, Tyler Farrar and Denis Galimzyanov claiming the second, the third and the fourth spots.
The race folded with a confusing ending and Velits was declared as the overall winner after a photo-finish.
The 26-year-old commented after crossing the finish-line, "We didn't know what was happening because we were quite sure that he had not been second and picked up a bonus".
He further added, "After a while the jury saw the pictures and it was quite clear that he (Nibali) didn't get the seconds, but for a few kilometres after the sprint it was quite tense and I was quite stressed to be honest".
The Slovakian secured his first overall victory of the season as he climbed the top podium position in Oman.
Vincenzo Nibali and Tony Gallopin achieved the second and the third positions.
Peter Sagan earned as many as 53 UCI points after the stage 6 classifications, while Andre Greipel (43 points), Marcel Kittel (37 points), Nacer Bouhanni (32 points) and Tyler Farrar (25 points) occupied the next fourth spots.
Tony Gallopin won the overall position at the young rider’s classifications, while Tom Jelte Slagter, Ramunas Navardauskas and Ian Stannard achieved the next three spots.
Team RadioShack-Nissan grabbed the top overall position after the team’s classifications.
Team FDJ-Bigmat finished second, while Rabobank Cycling Team grabbed the third spot after the final teams classifications.
It is the third overall victory for Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step in the young season.
The Belgian side claimed the Tour de San Luis, Tour of Qatar and now the Tour of Oman to have a perfect start to its 2012 campaign.
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