Marcel Kittel collects stage 3 in Tour of Oman

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Marcel Kittel (Project 1t4i) confirmed his place at sprinting's top table with a competent victory on stage three of the Tour of Oman ahead of a roll call of the fastest riders in the peloton. The young German combined guile with power to take what was his second win of the season, but his first in such exalted company.

A fast-finishing André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) proved to be his closest rival on the day, but he was unable to close the gap on his fellow countryman in the final 50 metres, and had to settle for the red jersey of race leader as consolation. Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-Big Mat) gave another indication of his potential with third, and beating the likes of Peter Sagan (5th), Tom Boonen (6th) and Mark Cavendish (8th) will be a further boon to his confidence.

The day belonged to the prodigious Kittel, however, who couldn't hide his delight at seeing off so many big names. Already a stage winner at the Vuelta a España last season, this victory was arguably of even greater significance considering the depth of sprinting talent in the field.

"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," said Kittel at the finish. "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."

Kittel launched his sprint from a distance after being forced to fend for himself inside a chaotic final kilometre. The 23-year-old German's effort was all the more impressive considering the light breeze that he faced, and when he shot past, both Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda) and Greipel were attracted to his rear wheel like moths to light.

Try as they might, nobody could come past Kittel, and with Cavendish seemingly penned in a little further back, the big German was able to power his way clear to take the win. "With one kilometre to go, I was alone and I had to fight for myself, but that's ok, the boys did a great job before that," he smiled. "In end, I was lucky to find a good spot in the final 500 metres and I could do a good sprint."

Kittel's victory comes on the back of a turbulent start to his campaign. A German television report linked him to a blood doping investigation at the end of January, and though his team quickly confirmed that Kittel is not a suspect in the inquiry, he admitted that it was a difficult period.

"When I saw my name on German television it was really a shock and it was definitely one of the hardest days of my life," he said. "The whole week and still here again I think a lot about that."

Team support

Robustly supported by his Project 1t4i team off the bike, Kittel enjoyed a similar vote of confidence on the road during stage 3. When the day's early escapees Vladimir Isaichev (Katusha), Kevin Hulsmans (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), William Clarke (Champion System) and Alexandre Lemair (Bridgestone Anchor) entered the final 60km with three minutes in hand on the peloton, it was the green and white jerseys of 1t4i that massed at the front to lend a hand to Team Sky's pursuit.

It was some measure of the team's belief in Kittel's talents that they were willing to seize the initiative on behalf of the youngster even though he was faced with rivals of the calibre of Mark Cavendish, and their confidence was repaid in full in the finale.

For their part, Sky endured a frustrating end to a stage that they initially appeared to have under control. After Ian Stannard had spent much of the day on the front of the bunch keeping the break's lead in check, Cavendish was marshalled in the finale by CJ Sutton, Matt Hayman and Jeremy Hunt. As the roads became more technical in the final 20 kilometres, however, it became increasingly difficult to form any kind of cohesive sprint train.

"It was pretty scrappy in the last 15k," Sutton said afterwards. "It went from a big wide open highway on two lanes to being a bit narrow. I was just trying to keep Cav out of trouble. It was all going perfect and we just got lost a couple of times. You have a plan and you try to execute it but sometimes it doesn't always go to plan."

Even so, Cavendish was still in contention for the win inside the final kilometre, but the world champion's hopes were extinguished definitively in the finishing straight and he rolled in a frustrated 8th.

"He said one of the French guys just chopped him and he said he couldn't do anything about it, he just had to freewheel the last 50 metres," Sutton said.

Another disappointed man at the finish was André Greipel, who acknowledged that he lacked Kittel's momentum as the sprint opened in earnest. "Kittel came pretty fast from the back and he was much faster than me when I started the sprint," Greipel said. "I tried to jump on his wheel, but Farrar was there too, so I was on his wheel, and the finish line just came a bit too soon."

The time bonus for second place was enough for Greipel to leapfrog back over Peter Sagan and into the red jersey of overall leader. Both men will aim to be in the mix on Friday's stage, which features another slightly uphill finishing straight at the end of a tricky finishing circuit at Al Wadi Al Kabir.

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