Slovak rider Peter Velits of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team won the Tour of Oman cycling race after Sunday’s sixth and final stage.

Germany’s Marcel Kittel of Project 1t4i won a sprint finish to take the honours in the final stage with a time of 3hr 11min 04 sec ahead of Slovak Peter Sagan and American Tyler Farrar.

Velits won the title ahead of Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali and France’s Tony Gallopin.

Going into the final round, Velits had a slim one-second lead on Nibali in the overall standings with France’s Tony Gallopin 17sec off the pace going into the sixth and final stage over 130km from Al Khawd to Matrah Corniche. He did not disappoint.

The final stage of the race saw the teams start from Al Khoud at noon and head back to Muscat via Bait Al Baraka and The Wave, Muscat and heading down to balmy Muttrah coastal road for six laps before finishing on the road nest to the waterfall. Besides the summit finish on Stage Six, the previous stages saw Italy’s Vicenzo Nibali of the Liquigas team win the fifth stage following a gruelling climb to the summit of Jabel Al Akhdhar, better known as the Green Mountain, on Saturday.

Germany’s Andre Greipel of the Lotto team took his second win with victory in Friday’s 142.5 km fourth stage from Bidbid Naf’a to Wadi Kabir.

Greipel won the Tour’s first stage of 159km between Al Alam Palace and Wadi Al Huwqayn on Tuesday.

Marcel Kittel of Germany won the 144.5km third stage from Alawabi and to BankMuscat headquarters in Seeb with a sprint finish ahead of fellow countryman Andre Greipel and Nacer Bouhanni of France while the 140-km second stage from Sur to Wadi Dayqah Dam was won by Slovakian Peter Sagan of the Liquigas team on Wednesday.