Peter Sagan (Cannondale) got close to his first win of the season when he was only beaten by Marcel Kittel in the sprint at the end of the second stage of the Dubai Tour. The Slovakian was satisfied with the result on a stage that was more suited to the pure sprinters.

Until now, Peter Sagan has had a low-key start to the season. He started racing in the Tour de San Luis but didn't attract much attention until he decided to give it a go in the sprint on the final stage where he was beaten into 2nd by Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida).

Sagan now continues his build-up to the classics in the inaugural Dubai Tour and it appears that his form is on the rise. He finished 6th in the opening time trial and yesterday he mixed it up in the sprint, finishing second behind Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano).

The stage was completely flat and more like a criterium, meaning that it suited the pure sprinters more than a versatile athlete like Sagan. Hence, he was satisfied with the result.

"I'm happy with my sprint today," he told Cyclingnews. "There was a lot of wind today and so a lot of fighting for position, especially in the final five kilometres. I think I did a good sprint. It was a finish for Kittel, it was finish for sprinters. I had a go and I think I did pretty well considering the finish."

Sagan will have a much better chance in today's third stage which contains two late climbs.

Starting at 10.45 CET you can follow our live coverage on CyclingQuotes.com/live. You can read our preview of stage 3 here.