Tour of Oman 2016: Boasson Hagan wins hily stage 5, Nibali retains overall lead

At 119.5 kilometres, stage 5 in the Tour of Oman has three steep climbs in the second half of the race. The last peak is crested with 13.5 kilometres left. Two escapees, Weening and Jense Van Rensburg, are caught in the descent and Boasson Hagen sprints to his second victory in this year's Tour of Oman. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results stage 5 Tour of Oman

1. Edvald Boasson Hagen (nor)
2. Greg Van Avermaet (bel) s.t.
3. Marco Canola (ita) s.t.
4. Simone Ponzi (ita) s.t.
5. Gianluca Brambilla (ita) s.t.
6. Gerald Ciolek (ger) s.t.
7. Sven Erik Bystrom (nor) s.t.
8. Adam Phelan (aus) s.t.
9. Marco Marcato (ita) s.t.
10. Nathan Haas (aus) s.t.

GC after stage 5
1. Vincenzo Nibali (ita)
2. Romain Bardet (fra) + 0.15
3. Jakob Fuglsang (den) + 0.24
4. Tom Dumoulin (nld) + 0.40
5. Rui Costa (por) + 0.54
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen (nor) + 1.06
7. Canty Bredan (aus) + 1.31
8. Domenico Pozzovivo (ita) + 1.38
9. Merhavi Kudus (eri) + 1.41
10. Gianluca Brambilla (ita) + 1.59

Race report
Early in the race Jacques Janse Van Rensburg, Hugo Houle and Pieter Weening escape and they race to a maximum lead of over 6 minutes.

While climbing Bousher Al Amerat for the second time - out of three - Houle is dropped. He is accompanied by Jungels and Oss, who have left the bunch, but nof for long as the trio is gobbed up in no time.

Bardet attacks at the closing climb but Nibali reacts and doesn't give him space. The leaders crest the top with a 0'40" lead over the decimated pack.

In the last kms Van Avermaet and Dan Martin head for the front of the race and they manage to bridge the gap. But they are not the only ones. Boasson Hagen outsprints the decimated pack and takes his second win in Oman 2016.