After his stage win on the first day, Andrea Guardini had to settle for second for the fourth time in 2015 on stage 3 of the Tour of Oman. This time his Astana team mistimed the lead-out.

"We worked too much too early - with this heavy wind it's better to share the effort and save for the finish," Borut Bozic said after stage three at the Tour of Oman.

With Lieuwe Westra and Dario Cataldo, Bozic worked to keep a high pace at the front of the peloton on a flat, windy circuit north of Muscat. Andrea Guardini finished second in a mass sprint behind Alexander Kristoff of Norway.

Guardini has one more chance for a sprint victory in the Tour of Oman, on Sunday. Friday and Saturday are stages more suited for climbers Jakob Fuglsang, Andrei Grivko and Vincenzo Nibali.