Intro:

Fabian Cancellara won stage 2 of the Tour of Oman on Wednesday.

Script:

The second stage of the Tour of Oman saw the riders undergoing a 195.5-kilometre journey from Al Hazm Castle to Al Bustan.

The former Olympic and world champion, Fabian Cancellara, managed to keep pace with the leading group of about 20 riders until the final two minor climbs, before launching a sprint that left Spaniard Alejandro Valverde in second and Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium settling for third spot.

33-year-old Cancellara, who won eight stages on the Tour de France between 2004 and 2012 and was a regular wearer of the yellow jersey, takes the leader's red tunic, after a scorching hot day, with a four-second lead over Valverde going into Thursday's third stage.

Austrian Patrick Konrad is third, five seconds back, as the peloton now look ahead to stage three.

After the race Cancellara said he did everything he could to get home in a time of 4 hours, 36 minutes and 46 seconds.

SOUNDBITE (English) Fabian Cancellara, Tour of Oman stage 2 winner:

"I just did everything I could in the end to get the best out of this to get the win."

Stage 3 takes place on Thursday and is a 158km route that starts and ends at the Al Mussanah Sports City, bordering the Sea of Oman.