Rabobank rider Robert Gesink earned his first stage race victory of the 2011 season with a commanding performance at the February 15-20 Tour of Oman. The Dutch leader of the Rabobank team cracked open the race with an aggressive solo victory on his Giant TCR Advanced SL in the Stage 4 summit finish, then confirmed his fine form with a win in the following day’s time trial. In the end, Gesink finished 1:13 ahead of second-place finisher Edvald Boasson Hagen of the Sky team.

In the decisive Stage 4, which finished with a 5.8km climb to Jabal Akhdar, Gesink was unstoppable on the steep uphill finale. He attacked halfway up the climb and put 47 seconds on Boasson Hagen. That win netted Gesink the red leader’s jersey, which he then had to defend in the following day’s time trial.

The 18.5k Stage 5 time trial marked a career breakthrough for Gesink, as went on to win his first major pro time trial. The course in Al Jissah suited the tall 24-year-old’s strengths—instead of TT bikes, riders rode their road bikes and Gesink powered home on his TCR Advanced SL with a 16-second winning gap over Italian Giovanni Visconti. Gesink widened his lead over Boasson Hagen, and closed out the overall victory by finishing in the main group in Sunday’s final stage.

Rabobank dominated the six-day Tour of Oman, winning four of six stages. In addition to Gesink’s performance, Dutch sprinter Theo Bos won the first and third stages, showing clear progress in his goal to evolve from a world champion track racer to a top road sprinter.