Jesus Herrada did everything in his power to win the Tour of Oman's first rugged mountaintop finish, albeit a short one.

Herrada, a former Spanish champion, bent over almost twice on the side of the road, lungs heaving, head bowed, catching his breath, hugging his team staff and waving to his teammates in celebration on the sun-drenched, rocky summit of Qurayat.

Three years ago on Krayat, he lost to the final overall winner, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Kazakstan), by one second.

Thanks to being the fastest in a group of five in the peloton that completely shattered on the 2km climb, Elada now has a 4-second lead over Maxime Van Gils (Lotto-Dostny) and a 6-second lead over Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates).

Herrada, who finished third overall in 2019 and fourth overall in 2018, knows how to cope in Oman's sometimes harsh heat and relentless mountain climbing. But on Monday's climb up Jabal Hart, the gap between finishers will be much larger.

"I was already in pretty good shape at the Muscat Classic on Friday," Elada said after the race, "I knew this finish from 2019, when I finished second, and I knew that if I went into the final climb in a group, there would be few who could beat me if I was in shape.

"I went up very fast and everyone wanted to go to the front, so I didn't want to take any risks. It was a nervous finish, but on a wide road like this, you can sit on your wheels a little bit and give it your all at the end."

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For Elada, who already has two stage wins and the lead in the 2018 Vuelta a España, as well as the Spanish championship title, a stage win in Oman is probably not the biggest milestone of his career.

"It's hot, but I like it better here than the weather in Mallorca," he said with a smile.

"Every day counts," he insisted.

"One goal here was to win a stage, and I've got that now. So now I have to try to keep the jersey until the finish."