2016 Tour of Oman Preview

THE ROUTE

1: Oman Exhibition Centre-Al Bustan

A difficult stage to predict on paper with the Al Jissah climb coming just before the end, it should nonetheless end in a bunch sprint containing all the big names, as it did in 2014. However the hill will certainly weight some riders legs and so a surprise win from Ciolek, Boasson Hagen or van Avermaet could steal it from Kristoff, Bennett and Guardini.

2: Omantel Head Office-Quriyat

All about the finishing climb, which appear to be 6–7% over 3kms, this will be one for the punchers or an on form GC rider. Dan Martin will be the red hot favourite, however Porte, Bardet, Pozzovivo, Nibali and Dumoulin make up an impressive list or alternate winners.

3: Al Sawadi Beach-Naseem Park

Very flat and very boring, without much chance of crosswinds we should see a set piece sprint between Guardini, Kristoff and Bennett with Kump, Boasson Hagen and Ciolek the outsiders.

4: Knowledge Oasis Muscat-Jabal Al Akhdar (Green Mountain)

A rework of an old classic, this year the race finishes 200 vertical metres higher up the mountain, increasing the challenge and hopefully the excitement. The obvious queen stage despite being one climb, Porte, Nibali, Pozzovivo and Costa and other big names will be the major players, while riders like Gasparotto, Van den Broeck and Sepulveda could steal the limelight as Rafael Valls managed to last year.

5: Yiti (Al Sifah)-Ministry of Tourism

Another staple of the Tour of Oman, three difficult climbs of Bousher Al Amarat precede a descent and flat run into the finish. If GC is close then expect a chaotic day, and if not the hill specialists will come to the fore on the last climb and create a reduced bunch sprint. At this point it is near impossible to predict who will win

6: The Wave Muscat-Matrah Corniche

Not dead flat but sure to produce a sprint, look for the riders for shined in stages 1 and 3 to come back again.

FAVOURITES

Overall there are many possibilities for victory. Porte will want to assert his one week and team dominance in the first truly mountainous tests of the year, while Nibali, Pozzovivo and Dan Martin should be in better form as they target the Giro and Ardennes classics. Costa, Sepulveda and many others are outside chances, as the majority of riders haven’t shown anything in the mountains this year.

***** -

**** Porte, D. Martin

*** Nibali

** Pozzovivo, Costa

* Sepulveda, Van den Broeck, Other

KEY POINTS

Heat will play a big factor again, as it did when it cancelled a stage last year.

While Green Mountain is a longer climb now, if the riders soft pedal it will make no difference.

The finish in Quriyat has never been used before, so some riders will mistime their attacks and blow up before the end.

* This could be the last Tour of Oman, so a good race and high viewing figures are essential to keep what I believe to be the best middle eastern race running.

ONWARDS

Along with tours in Andalucia and Algarve, a lot of riders have their first real and difficult stage races of the year. We’ll see who has form and who doesn’t, and see the potential winners of Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico much more clearly than before.