02.15 - Tour of Oman: Stage 1

There's a new boy signing on to race with the 'pros in Oman - welcome Taylor Phinney...

BMCOMAN

Have these two lads from An Post-Sean Kelly had a falling out..? No, they're just waiting for their bikes to arrive...

AN POSTOMAN

Manuel Qunziato gives a taxi-ride to the sign-on for Luca Paolini - his Focus bike hasn't turned up either..!

FRIENDSOMAN

Team Leopard-Trek look mean, but with no bikes to ride all they can do is pose - looking mean...

POSTHUMAOMAN

Fabian Cancellara is striking a different sort of pose altogethe - is he ill..?

LEOPARDOMANINJURY

Cancellara is not ill - but he needs his chiropractor to sort out a few stiff bones...

LEOPARDOMANINJURY

The Farnese team are late to the start as well - Francesco Failli seems a bit squashed in the back of their crammed car...

FARNESEOMAN

At last - three trucks arrive with the missing bikes, so the stage will only be 45-minutes late starting...

GIANTOMAN

Pieter Serry is leading a trio of escapers away after the opening kilometres...

TOPSPORTOMAN

Welcome to Christian Vande Velde, looking skinnier and fitter than ever before..!

GARMINOMAN

And welcome too, to Edvald Boasson-Hagen, riding his first race of the new season...

SKYOMAN

Omani fans greet the peloton on its trek to the north of Muscat...

PELOTONOMANfans

Phinney seems to be enjoying his new role too much - he should have raced in Qatar!

BMCOMAN

Mark McNally is in the escape as well - they have been sitting on a six-minute lead for quite a while now...

AN POSTOMAN

The peloton heads toward some fierce-looking mountains in Oman - quite a contrast after Qatar...

PELOTONOMAN

Team Sky start the chasing, with Kurt Asle Arvesen at the head of a long line of shadows...

SKYOMAN

McNally and his trio are taking a while to get caught - they'll eventually be captured with just 15-kilometres to go...

AN POSTOMAN

Andrew Fenn has taken a nasty tumble along the way - but the British rider recovers and will finish in the main peloton today...

AN POSTOMAN

Whoops - Lars Boom and Theo Bos have got themselves into a pickle withough actually falling off together...

Cancellara is in good form here, just don't tell a commissaire what he's doing though...

LEOPARDOMANGAMES

Thor Hushovd looks happy as well - after all, this is his first race of the season..!

GARMINOMAN

Joost Posthuma is working hard for Leopard-Trek in the finale - the escape has been caught, the sprint awaits...

LEOPARDOMAN

A man dressed in orange, white and blue is leading the sprint out in Al Seeb...

It's that close - but Theo Bos has won stage one ahead of Mark Cavendish..!

RABOBANKOMAN

THEO BOS WINS STAGE ONE OF THE 2011 TOUR OF OMAN

RABOBANKOMAN