Australian cyclist Nathan Haas was clearly emotional after claiming a superb victory on the second stage of the Tour of Oman.
After 167.5km of gruelling racing from Sultan Qaboos University to Al Bustan, Haas made the most of his explosive abilities to win ahead of the Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana).
It was the 28-year-old's first win since August 2016 and the first with his new team Katusha-Alpecin.
The attackers gave their all in the final part of the stage, the most demanding.
Spanish veteran Markel Irizar was caught in the climb of Al Jissah, with five km to go.
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BMC Racing and Astana were then the most active teams at the front of the pack but they couldn't fend off Haas who raised his arms after crossing the line.
"I just wanted to give myself a nice Valentines Day present," said Haas, who also leads the race's general classification.
"I've been trying to win a bike race for a while so for me to finish it off it was a big reaction. I think everyone will know if I've won because they'll hear it."
