Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) was expected to be André Greipel's fiercest rival in the opening stage of the Tour of Oman but despite hard chase work from his teammates, he could only manage 4th. The team is confident that they will have time to get their lead-out train working after a black day that saw team captain Thibaut Pinot not take the start due to illness.

Nacer Bouhanni got his 2014 season off to an excellent start when he won the second stage of the Etoile de Besseges, setting a new personal record of 1500 watts in the sprint. The kind of speed he had put on show in France had put him right on the top of the list of favourites for the opening stage of the Tour of Oman where he was expected to go head to head with Andre Greipel.

His team combined forces with Lotto Belisol and Omega Pharma-Quick Step to reel in the early break and Bouhanni safely negotiated the dangerous crosswind that at one point split the peloton in three groups. In the sprint, however, he had to settle for 4th, leading to disappointment in the FDJ camp.

"In Qatar, it took us six days to find the right set-up for the sprint," sports director Martial Gayant told the team's website. "Today, Nacer needed to find the right cooperation with Sebastien Chavanel and William Bonnet but it will come."

The disappointing sprint result came at the end of a bad day for FDJ. Team captain Thibaut Pinot had been unable to take the start, having suffered from illness since Saturday.

"He suffers from a throat infection," team doctor Catherine Guyot said. "Thibaut has a fever of more than 39 degrees. It would not be reasonable to let him race in the heat. We don't take any chances."

Pinot was extremely disappointed to miss out on an opportunity to test his condition against the world's best climbers. He will return to France tomorrow and will take six days of rest before resuming his training.

"This is the second time in my life that I have a throat infection," he said. "The first time was in the Tour where I had to abandon. When I think about my perfect winter where I never nad a cold, it is frustrating. It is a shame not to compete against the big riders that are here. I talked with Martial about changing my program. It is possible that I will do Tirreno-Adriatico before the Volta a Catalunya."

In the absence of Pinot, Kenny Elissonde is now FDJ's captain in the race. The tiny climber had a scare in today's stage where he was caught out in the crosswinds but things came back together for Elissonde to finish in the same time as Greipel.

Tomorrow will again be a day for the sprinters, offering Bouhanni a chance to make amends.

You can read our preview of the race here.