Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) continued his scintillating start to the 2014 season with another impressive victory in Oman to add to his season’s tally.

With two climbs featuring at the sharp end of the stage, a late attack looked the more likely – as Peter Sagan (Cannondale) had done on the same stage in 2013.

But while Sagan, Chris Froome (Team Sky), Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) launched a late assault, Lotto-Belisol kept them in check to set up a sprint finish.

But with Greipel’s form showing no signs of slowing, what did we learn from the day’s stage? Can Lotto-Belisol deliver the same service to their GC rider, Jurgen van den Broeck, now the road heads upwards?

Read our five observations over the following pages, and add your own in the RCUK Forum.