Adam Yates chasing twin victories
January 31 st 2025 - 14:00 [GMT + 4]
The fourteenth edition of the Tour of Oman, scheduled for 8 to 12 February, will be one of the first races of the season in which the peloton tackles a mosaic of terrains. A bevy of challengers such as David Gaudu, Diego Ulissi, Cian Uijtdebroeks and Mauri Vansevenant will seek to wrest the crown from the reigning champion, Adam Yates, in the two mountain stages likely to decide the title.
Fast men will also eat their fill at the Omani event, with Olav Kooij going head to head with Fernando Gaviria, Giacomo Nizzolo and Pavel Brittner in the mad dash to the line.
As the preamble to the Tour of Oman, the big guns will fire the opening salvo in the third edition of the Muscat Classic on 7 February. Expect puncheurs to unleash a rolling barrage of attacks on the 170.3 km course leading to Al Bustan, a village on the outskirts of the capital.
Going into its third edition, the first race on the programme of the international peloton in Oman is coming into its own as a classic. In 2024, Finn Fisher-Black proved strongest on the jagged course of the Muscat Classic to claim the win in Al Bustan. There will be no shortage of puncheurs of similar calibre eager to roll the dice in the finale, from Valentin Madouas (Groupama–FDJ) and Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) to Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal–Quick-Step), to name but a few riders who never fail to light the fireworks.
A new challenge will begin the following day, opening up new scenarios for the Tour of Oman GC and dangling the prospect of stage victories in front of all sorts of stage hunters. Sprinters, puncheurs and climbers will all get their day —or, should we say, week— in the sun. The super-speedsters are already licking their chops at the finish line of stage 1 in Bimmah Sink Hole, which comes at the end of a pancake-flat home straight and marks the first appearance of this site in the race. Olav Kooij (Visma–Lease a Bike), the man to beat, he will face stiff competition from the likes of Giacomo Nizzolo (Q36.5) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), who have both tasted glory at this event before. The speed demons will be up for a rematch three days later when stage 4 comes to a head opposite the Oman Convention Center.
Puncheurs will get another shot at success when stage 2 takes the pack to the Yiti Hills, but the stage 3 finish on the much steeper slopes of Eastern Mountain will crown one of the climbers in the running for GC. Adam Yates (UAE Emirates-XRG) will be flying all the way to Oman to defend his title, but there are plenty of mountain maniacs eager to topple him from the throne. Mauri Vansevenant and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal–Quick-Step) will stir up double trouble, while Ulissi will have Wout Poels (XDS Astana) as his wingman and David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ) will have Rudy Molard as his trusted lieutenant. The Visma–Lease a Bike duo of Steven Kruijswijk and Cian Uijtdebroeks also have more than enough firepower to make their presence felt in this two-part confrontation. After Eastern Mountain, the even more punishing slopes of Jabal Al Akhdar–Green Mountain (5.7 km at an average gradient of 10.5%) will reveal the name of the winner of the fourteenth edition at the end of stage 5.
18 TEAMS, MAIN CONTENDERS:
Australia
Team Jayco–AlUla: Harper (AUS) and Bouwman (NED)
Belgium
Soudal–Quick-Step: Vansevenant (BEL), Hayter (GBR) and Paret-Peintre (FRA)
France
Arkéa–B&B Hotels: Gesbert (FRA) and Capiot (BEL)
Groupama–FDJ: Gaudu, Madouas and Molard (FRA)
TotalEnergies: Turgis (FRA) and Cras (BEL)
Japan
JCL Team Ukyo: Masuda (JAP) and Fancellu (ITA)
Kazakhstan
XDS Astana Team: Ulissi (ITA), Charmig (DEN) and Poels (NED)
Malaysia
Terengganu Cycling Team: Eyob (ERI) and Budyak (UKR)
Norway
Uno-X Mobility: Kulsett (NOR) and Wallin (DEN)
Oman
Oman National Team: Al Wahibi and Al Rahbi (OMA)
Netherlands
Team Picnic PostNL: Barguil (FRA) and Bittner (CZE)
Team Visma–Lease a Bike: Kooij, Kruijswijk (NED) and Uijtdebroeks (Bel)
Spain
Movistar Team: García Cortina (ESP), Gaviria (COL) and Formolo (ITA)
Burgos Burpellet BH: Kudus (ERI) and Aparicio (ESP)
Switzerland
Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team: De la Cruz (ESP) and Nizzolo (ITA)
Tudor Pro Cycling Team: Warbasse (USA), Eriksson (SWE) and Brenner (GER)
Thailand
Roojai Insurance: Miltiadis (CYP) and Bettles (AUS)
United Arab Emirates
UAE Emirates-XRG: A. Yates (GBR), Majka (POL) and Vine (AUS)
