Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) got his season off to a terrible start when he crashed at his first race, the Tour of Qatar. Having struggled his way through the desert race, his feelings have started to improve and today he put it to good use when he beat some of the best sprinters in the world at the Tor of Oman

Alexander Kristoff earned his first victory of the season as well as the first for team Katusha in the 2014 racing season, pulling out a definitive sprint win in the second stage at the Tour of Oman, 139 km from Al Bustan to Quriyat. On the flat stage, the Norwegian stayed well protected by his teammates until he finally launched his impressive burst of speed.

There was a fierce headwind in the sprint but Kristoff handled the situation perfectly, avoiding the fierce fight for position by hitting the front early before slipping onto the wheel of a rival sprinter.

"In the final I started a little bit early with 500 meters to go," he said. " After a rider passed me, I took his wheel and with 200 meters I started again.  I just concentrated on myself and my feelings and I gave my all for a victory."

Second place went to Leigh Howard from Orica-GreenEdge, while Tom Boonen from Omega Pharma-Quick Step was third.

"I hit the front with five hundred metres to go and I kept going and going with my sprint," he later added to Cyclingnews. "I managed to keep the other guys behind. I'd seen it was a little bit messy, with everyone fighting for wheels into the headwind, so when I made it to the front, I decided to stay there and get the best out of it.

"I've been training a lot to stay aero in the sprints. But you also have to get the power out, so it's a difficult compromise. This time it was perfect."

The win makes up for some bad luck he suffered in his first race of the year, the Tour of Qatar.

"I am very happy with this victory today," he said. "In my first race in Qatar I missed something. I went there ready after a good winter preparation, but I had some bad luck and several crashes. Yesterday for the first time I felt well and today for the entire stage I was in great shape.

"Thanks to the good work of my team I went through the entire stage without any troubles. Today the team worked as one united collective – everything was just perfect. This victory gives me more motivation for the season. I will try to progress day by day to be 100 percent ready for the classics season.

"This is a good win. There are a lot of fast guys here and to beat them means that I know I can win other big races,"

Another Katusha rider, Rudiger Selig, also finished near the front in 13th - even on his birthday. After today’s victory Alexander Kristoff moved up to second place in general classification, at 2 seconds behind the current overall leader Leigh Howard.

 “We are all very happy," sports director Torsten Schmidt said. "This is our first victory of the season. It came early in the season and this is always good. The atmosphere in the team is a great one and this victory will give us more motivation and confidence for the next stages where we also have ambitions. We are ready to continue in the Tour of Oman.”

Kristoff will potentially get another chance tomorrow but two steeps climbs in the finale will rule out most of the fast finishers. If Kristoff fails to make the selection, Katusha will focus on keeping GC captain Joaquim Rodriguez safe.

You can read our preview of the race here.