Final KM: Oman St3, Volta Algarve St2, Ruta del Sol St2

Desert King Kristoff, Lotto Jumbo bees on the podium, and a whiff of controversy in Spain – it’s all in your FINAL KILOMETRE round up.

Tour of Oman, Stage 3, Al Sawadi Beach to Naseem Park, 176.5km

A flat stage with a lump in the middle was always going to end in a bunch sprint, and the odds-on favourite Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) did not disappoint. On a wet and windy day for the peloton, the strong Norwegian engaged cruise control and surged across the line for win number four ahead of Moreno Hofland (LottoNL-Jumbo) with Roy Jans from Wanty-Groupe Gobert in third. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) finished tenth and retains both the overall and the point jerseys. The GC will shift again after today’s decisive Green Mountain stage.

Daniel Oss (BMC) #rockgod

It is for these occasions that I keep long hair! Rock to the start #rockthecasbah @bmcproteam ! With @manuelquinziato @joeyrosskopf and the legend of happiness Gunther!!

A video posted by daniel oss (@daniel87oss) on Feb 18, 2016 at 6:48am PST

Well led out by his teammates, @Kristoff87 flew to the line. Watch the final kilometers of the 3rd stage! #TOO2016 https://t.co/iakWHxGd0W

— Tour of Oman (@tourofoman) February 18, 2016

Volta ao Algarve, Stage 2, Lagoa to Alto da Fóia, 198.6km

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) attacked in the final kilometre of the summit finish at Alto da Foia to claim the stage win and and most of the available jersey’s. Geraint Thomas (Sky) finished second, and Slovenian ski-jumper-turned-pro-cyclist Primož Roglič (LottoNL-Jumbo) third. LuLu has a 5sec advantage on Thomas going into to the time trial on stage 3.

The moment of the winning attack by @LLEONSANCHEZ today at @VAlgarve2016 @bettiniphoto pic.twitter.com/01XL0qYcu1

— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) February 18, 2016

Ruta del Sol, Stage 2, Palomares del Rio to Cordoba, 186.3km

Cofidis may have got it all wrong yesterday, but they were just about flawless today. Coming into the finish after the late climb, the red train launched Nacer Bouhanni off the front of the group to take his long-awaited first win of season. Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo) placed second with Sky’s Ben Swift rounding out the podium. With no bonus seconds available, the win was enough for the Frenchman to claim the leader’s jersey on count back.

Bouhanni victories have a habit of courting controvery: this one will run