[16.02 16:13] Day three of Tour of Oman turned out to be Edvald Boasson Hagen’s (Team Sky) lucky one as he was the first rider to cross the finish line. However, it took a lot of work since his teammates were breaking the headwind for 124 kilometers between Saifat Ash Shiekh and Qurayyat to defend the Norwegian’s overall lead of the race.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) repaid his teammates’s effort by winning the stage in front of Danilo Napolitano (Team Katusha) and Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin) extending his overall lead of the race.

Team Saxo Bank have already had a number of riders in the top ten of the races in The Middle East and today Team Saxo Bank Aussie, Stuart O’Grady demonstrated good form by crossing the finish line in fifth position behind Quick Step’s Tom Boonen.

The plan was to go for Matti again today but near the finish line, they separated from each other which left Stuart with a chance to finish it off and he did that well. We are privileged to have a whole bunch of riders who can actually win a stage but at the same time it leaves us to decide who to go for everyday. Sometimes it’s just easier to have a lead-out and one single sprinter. In the overall rankings, Fabian is twenty seconds behind which is a hard gap to close, even for him, says sports director Bradley McGee.

Tomorrow, the peloton takes on the queen stage of the race over 187 kilometers from Ibri to Nakhal. The race ends Friday with an 18,5 kilometer long time trial. Team Saxo Bank’s Fabian Cancellara is twenty seconds behind the leader of the race.