Day two of the Tour of Oman saw again a very prominent Team Katusha in the front. Gatis Smukulis was all-day long in the front and in the end Dani Moreno finished eight between all the classics specialists.

"I am again really satisfied. First of all Gatis did a nice performance. He felt very well how this stage would evolve and he saw his chance to go in a long break. With a bit luck he could have made it till the end. He is in a very good mood and represented our team in a very positive way," said Team Director Torsten Schmidt.

Immediately after the start of the 195 km stage in Al Hazm Smukulis attacked and got away together with Jef Van Meirhaeghe and Preben Vanhecke (both Topsport Vlaanderen) and  Enrico Barbin (Bardiani). The break only was caught with just ten kilometers to go to the finish in Al Bustan.

On the climb of Al Jissah, with 5 km to go, the peloton split in many parts. In the end Fabian Cancellara (Trek) was the best sprinter ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC). Dani Moreno finished eight.

"It is nice to see that Dani wanted to fight with all the early season classics riders as Cancellara, Pozzato, Sagan, Van Avermaet and Valverde. It shows his nice attitude. He proves he prepared the season very well in Argentina. I am a happy team director. The sun keeps shining for Team Katusha," concluded Torsten Schmidt.

Tomorrow’s third stage with start and finish in Al Mussanah Sports City is expected to be a stage for the sprinters.