Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) took heart from his second-place performance in Al Bustan on stage 2 of the Tour of Oman, despite being denied the stage victory yet again. Van Avermaet added a fourth straight top-10 result on the uphill finish, this time beaten on the line by a late surge from Katusha-Alpecin`s Nathan Haas. While he clearly would have liked to take his first win at the Tour of Oman, the result is a sign for Van Avermaet that his form is heading in the right direction. `Every year. I`m used to getting second or third here before. Itīs a great example of my form, and we`ll try to do the best tomorrow also, and I`m pretty happy with how it has gone so far,` he said, still sweating from the effort over the final climb and up to the finish.ADVERTISEMENT `This kind of climb is a short effort, and you can see that the classics guys can get over together with the climbers. For me, it was good training and a good way to see how my form is.` Van Avermaet has targeted the Al Bustan finish on each occasion that he`s ridden the Tour of Oman because the slight drag to the finish suits his Classics capabilities. His BMC Racing team came into the final at a stinging pace to set up Van Avermaet, as did the Astana team - to thin the bunch out. They had to reel back a number of attacks, including a threatening move from Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors).
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