The History
The Tour of Oman is an even newer race than the Tour of Qatar. First run in 2010 it attracted big teams from the off, who were enticed by the prospect of getting another early-season stage race under their belts, and to avoid a three week gap between the Tour of Qatar and Paris-Nice. However, like the Tour of Qatar, the Tour of Oman was quick to get Tour de France organisers on board to ensure a well-run and, more importantly, a well-publicised race.
The Race
Stage 1: Al Musannah => Sultan Qaboos University (162km)
Stage 2: Fanja in Bidbid => Al Bustan (146km)
Stage 3: Nakhal Fort => Wadi Dayqah Dam (190km)
Stage 4: Al Satiyah in Samail => Jabal Al Akhdar (Green Mountain) (152km)
Stage 5: Al Alam Palace => Ministry of Housing in Boshar (144km)
Stage 6: Hawit Nagam Park => Matrah Corniche (144km)
Because it is in the same part of the world, you may have images of the Tour of Oman being a pretty similar race to the Tour of Qatar, with pan-flat stages and dull desert landscape. However, that would be like expecting Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France to be similar races because they take place in the same country.
Instead, the Tour of Oman is much more of an ‘all-round’ stage race and should have something to offer every type of rider. This is reflected in the start list, where sprinters such as Andrea Guardini and Mark Cavendish are replaced by climbers such as Vincenzo Nibali and Peter Velits. This year’s race also goes the same way as last year’s edition, ditching the time trial which proved decisive in 2010 and 2011.
Stage 1
Stage one, which skirts briefly along the edge of Al Hajar moutons that dominate much of the north of Oman, and which we will revisit on stage four, is one of the three stages which should be nailed on for the sprinters, while the tiny climb at Rustaq could promote excitement in the breakaway if any of them decide to fight for the non-existent KOM jersey.
Stage 2
A lumpy final 20km could put many of the sprinters in trouble on stage two. The two climbs at Al Hamriya and Al Jissah may look like molehills, but both have sections at over 15%. The climb at Al Jissah looks particularly problematic, coming with under 7km to go and topping out at over 20%. The descent is also as untechnical as they come, with the final couple of kilometres being on dual-carriageway.
The Contenders
This race will surely be decided on the only summit finish on stage 5, so look towards a climber to secure the overall title. Alberto Contador looked in superb form in the Tour de San Luis must be the outright favourite ahead of the likes of Nibali, Evans, and Wiggins. However, with such an early season race, good form may not be a given, so perhaps a rider such as Arnold Jeannesson, Rinaldo Nocentini, or Sergey Lagutin could surprise the big names. As far as sprinters go John Degenkolb, Marcel Kittel , Matt Goss and Peter Sagan are the star attractions, with the latter also likely to be battling the likes of Philippe Gilbert, Tom Boonen, and Gianni Meersman on the lumpier stages.
The Teams
AG2R La Mondiale
Davide Appolonio
Domenico Pozzovivo
Gediminas Bagdonas
Maxime Bouet
Rinaldo Nocentini
Sebastien Minard
Steve Chainel
Valentin Iglinsky
Domenico Pozzovivo and Rinaldo Nocentini both join the squad for this race after missing the Tour of Qatar, and both should be capable of challenging on the Green Mountain. However Pozzovivo was anonymous at the Etoile de Bessèges and Nocentini likewise at the Tour de San Luis, so perhaps there are questions over their early season. Elsewhere Davide Appolonio will be hoping to be given more opportunities in the sprints in the absence of Yauheni Hutarovich, while Maxime Bouet might be looking to take his chance in a breakaway.
Argos-Shimano
Nikias Arndt
Roy Curvers
John Degenkolb
Marcel Kittel
Luka Mezgec
Ramon Sinkeldem
Tom Stamsnijder
Tom Veelers
As is going to become common this year, Argos-Shimano are putting a sprinter-heavy squad. Having John Degenkolb and Marcel Kittel both riding seems a touch greedy and it will be interesting to see how they divide opportunities between them. Neither has been in good form in the opening races of the season so it remains to see how they will get on. Just don’t expect this team to be prominent when the race hits the hills.
Astana
Borut Bozic
Andriy Grivko
Dmitry Gruzdev
Jacopo Guarnieri
Arman Kamyshev
Alexey Lutseko
Dmitry Murayev
Vincenzo Nibali
With Vincenzo Nibali coming in to replace Andrea Guardini it’s clear where the Kazakh squad’s focus lies in this race. Nibali will be looking to repeat last year’s win on the Green Mountain, and perhaps top this off with the overall title. A squad of rouleurs should be able to guide him safely through the other stages, while Borut Bozic will likely be left to his own devices in the sprints.
Bardiani-CSF
Marco Canola
Sonny Colbrelli
Marco Coledan
Christian Delle Stelle
Andrea Di Corrado
Filippo Fortin
Andrea Pasqualon
Another young squad from the Italians. Filippo Fortin was in very good form in Qatar and should be able to repeat this in Oman, perhaps using his ability to get over the hills to open up the possibility of a stage win. Sonny Colbrelli is also a handy sprinter should Fortin falter, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a plan beyond stage victories on the flat.
BMC
Brent Bookwalter
Steve Cummings
Yannick Eijssen
Cadel Evans
Philippe Gilbert
Taylor Phinney
Michael Schär
Greg Van Avermaet
Cadel Evans kicks off his 2013 season in Oman, a change from last year’s schedule which led to a barren season by the former world champion’s standards. BMC bring the strongest squad of any team to this race, with Philippe Gilbert, Taylor Phinney and Greg Van Avermaet all getting in more racing miles before the start of the classics and might be looking forward to stages two and five, both of which contain climbs which wouldn’t be out of place in Flanders or the Ardennes.
Cannondale
Maciej Bodnar
Guillaume Boivin
Alessandro De Marchi
Kristijan Koren
Daniele Ratto
Fabio Sabatini
Peter Sagan
Elia Viviani
After challenging for GC with Nibali last year, Cannondale seem to be looking for stage wins in this edition. Peter Sagan took a stage and the points classification in the 2012 race, and is looking for more this year. He should be able to challenge on five of the six stages, while Elia Viviani will be there to pick up the pieces should Sagan falter.
Champion System
Matt Brammeier
Chun Kai Fen
Matthias Friedemann
Chan Jae Jang
Pengda Jiao
Muhamad Othman
Bobbie Traksel
Gang Xu
The Chinese team will once again be rank outsiders in this race. Largely invisible in Qatar, the slightly lumpier parcours may allow Matt Brammeier and Bobbie Traksel to come to the fore a little more, but I doubt they will challenging for any more than top tens. Breakaways may well be the best option for this team.
FDJ
William Bonnet
David Boucher
Nacer Bouhanni
Kenny Elissonade
Murilo Fischer
Arnold Jeannesson
Matthieu Ladagnous
Dominique Rollin
Arnold Jeannesson was fifth overall here in 2012 and will be looking to repeat that performance this year. The Frenchman had a good early season last year after following up his performance in Oman with 6th in Paris-Nice, and will be hoping that a good show here will lead to a repeat of this. Elsewhere in the team, French champion Nacer Bouhanni looked like he was in good form in Qatar picking up four top ten finishes. He is an incredibly consistent sprinter, also picking up five top tens in this race last year, and will be a good pick for stage wins in the absence of Mark Cavendish.
IAM Cycling
Marco Bandiera
Martin Elmiger
Jonathan Fumeaux
Kristof Goddaert
Sebastien Hinault
Reto Hollenstein
Pirmin Lang
Johann Tschopp
With Heinrich Haussler not racing, the IAM team looks a lot weaker. His replacement, Johann Tschopp has a half decent palmarès, with top fifteen finishes in the last two editions of the Giro, and should be looking to seize the leadership opportunities given to him after two years at BMC. Martin Elmiger looked in good form in Qatar, getting himself in the successful breakaway on stage one, and may be looking towards a similar move in Oman.
Japan
Yusuke Hatanaka
Takashi Miyazawa
Kazuhiro Mori
Taji Nishitani
Junya Sano
Miyataka Shimizu
Yuzuru Suzuki
Kohel Uchima
Omega Pharma Quickstep
Tom Boonen
Gianni Meersman
Zdenek Stybar
Niki Terpstra
Matteo Trentin
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
Stijn Vandenbergh
Peter Velits
Overall victory here last year was arguably the highlight of Peter Velits’ season last year, and the Slovak time trial champion has stated his desire to have another tilt at the title this year. Whether he has the legs is another matter as he was anonymous at the Tour Down Under in January. Tom Boonen also returns form an elbow injury and will be looking to kickstart his season after missing the Tour of Qatar. Gianni Meersman is also a very good rider who should be challenging for stage wins on stages two and five, while Niki Terpstra and Zdenek Stybar also looked to have good legs in the Qatari desert.
Orica Greenedge
Fumiyuki Beppu
Sam Bewley
Baden Cooke
Matt Goss
Daryl Impey
Jens Keukeleire
Brett Lancaster
Jens Mouris
Stage wins seem to be the order of the day for Greenedge. Aidis Kruopis performed well in Qatar, picking up a couple of third places, but he is replaced by Matt Goss, who might be looking to take advantage of the relative lack of star name sprinters. The team seem to be focused on helping Goss towards stage wins, with the experience duo of Baden Cooke and Brett Lancaster taking charge of the team on the road. Jens Keukeleire may also be a name to watch if the race splits on stages two and five.
Katusha
Pavel Brutt
Marco Haller
Vladimir Isaichev
Alexander Kristoff
Aliaksandr Kuchynski
Joaquin Rodriguez
Rüdiger Selig
Gatis Smukilis
The verdict on the team’s appeal to CAS over the refusal of the UCI to grant them World Tour status should be revealed during the race, but hopefully this won’t prove too much of a distraction for the team’s riders. If their appeal fails, then this may well be Joaquin Rodriguez’s last race for the team, but the Spaniard will still be looking to put in a good performance on the Green Mountain to kick off his season after a very average show in the Tour de San Luis. Elsewhere, Alexander Kristoff has been going well in Qatar and will be looking to continue that form further south on the Arabian peninsula.
Net App-Endura
Zak Dempster
Russell Downing
Markus Eichler
Blaz Jarc
Erick Rowsell
Andreas Schillinger
Paul Voss
Alex Wetterhall
Erick Rowsell and Alex Wetterhall replace Roger Kluge and Daniel Schorn for the Tour of Oman. Rowsell, the brother of Olympic team pursuit champion Joanna Rowsell, is a promising rider who has come through the GB development programme, and will be a very good rider in the future. As for the present, Net App may have to settle for scrapping for the minor placings, although Russell Downing may look for results on the lumpier stages if the field is diminished.
Radioshack Leopard
Matthew Busche
Fabian Cancellara
Stijn Devolder
Tony Gallopin
Markel Irizar
Yaroslav Popovych
Gregory Rast
Hayden Roulsten
Cancellara won the inaugural edition of the Tour of Oman, although that was in a year with a time trial that decided the overall, so only expect him to be testing his legs for the spring, not challenge to become the first man to win the race twice. Tony Gallopin was also third here last year, and took the young riders’ classification, and may be an outsider again if the top names falter. Elsewhere Matthew Busche can climb if he wants to while Stijn Devolder will be hoping for more fortune going into this year after a turgid couple of seasons.
Saxo-Tinkoff
Daniele Bennati
Matti Breschel
Alberto Contador
Jesus Hernandez
Karsten Kroon
Marko Kump
Anders Lund
Matteo Tosatto
Sky Procycling
Dario Cataldo
Joe Dombrowski
Chris Froome
Peter Kennaugh
Vasil Kiryienka
Christian Knees
Richie Porte
Bradley Wiggins
Probably the strongest climbing squad at the Tour of Oman, Sky will have plenty of options on the Green Mountain with the likes of Froome, Wiggins and Porte. However, these riders will surely be far off top form, so perhaps look towards the likes of Dario Cataldo or Vasil Kiryienka to seize what could be a rare leadership opportunity in a strong team. The Sky management have also stated that they want to see more from Peter Kennaugh this year, so if the Manxman has been listening expect to see him up there on the lumpy finishes.
Vacansoleil
Wesley Kreder
Sergey Lagutin
Marco Marcato
Wouter Mol
Rob Ruijgh
Kenny Van Hummel
Danny Van Poppel
The Dutch team have entered a good rounded squad for Oman. Sergey Lagutin and Rob Ruijgh are the type of climbers who could thrive on stage 4 if the big names of Contador, Nibali etc. aren’t on top forms. Elsewhere, Marco Marcato, Kenny Van Hummel, and Danny Van Poppel are all decent fast men, with Marcato adept at getting over the lumps in the profile, so expect to see them all there or thereabouts in the sprints.
Coverage
All the stages are being filmed in full, but unfortunately there will be no live coverage, which is disappointing for what could be such an exciting race.
Instead you can find a half hour highlights programme at 9am (GMT) on Eurosport the day after the stage.
Student Cyclist 