Chris Froome (Sky) got one step closer to the mountain stages when he finished safely in the bunch in the second stage of the Tour of Oman. There was no luck for Sky's sprinter Ben Swift who got boxed in during the sprint for the second day in a row.

Team Sky had a trouble-free run ahead of climbing tests to come after stage two at the Tour of Oman. The day ended in a mass sprint finish for the second stage in succession and saw the fast men battle it out for honours.

With a team largely focused on the overall classification Team Sky were able to keep their powder dry on the 139-kilometre run from Al Bustan to Quriyat. Ben Swift contested the sprint but again found the optimum path to the line blocked in the hectic finale.

Chris Froome encountered no issues as he finished in the main bunch, while Norway's Alexander Kristoff sprinted to victory as Leigh Howard moved into the overall lead. Kristoff (Katusha) outpaced his rivals on the run to the line, beating Howard (Orica-GreenEdge) into second place and Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) into third.

Howard had been second overall at the start of the day, four seconds behind leader Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol), but claimed six bonus seconds for his runner-up finish and now heads the general classification. Froome and the main general classification contenders sit 12 seconds back heading into Thursday.

Sports director Nicolas Portal was happy that Sky had had another day with no stress.

 “Four guys went away in the breakaway and it was a nice situation," he said. "It was a bit windy at times which led to some tension in the bunch. All the guys finished up there in the main group in the bunch.

“Swifty was a bit boxed again in the sprint on the right-hand side of the road. The left was the side to be on today into the headwind."

Tomorrow's stage includes two climbs inside the final 25k. Swift is one of the best climbers among the sprinters and Portal hopes that the harder course will suit his fast finisher.

"Tomorrow is a different stage – much harder," he said. "The final climb is three or four kilometres before the finish and it is quite a hard one on wide roads. There’s a fast descent towards the finish which could be good for Swifty. Hopefully he can do something and we just need to make sure we keep the guys up there.”

You can read our preview of the race here.