PREVIEW | Tour of Oman 2025 - Can Adam Yates bring in another GC win for UAE?
Cycling
From the 8th to 12th of February the peloton takes on another stage-race in the Middle East, the classic Tour of Oman. A race that provides days for the climbers and sprinters above all, it's always a race that attracts big riders early in the year due to the good weather away from Europe. We preview the race ahead.
The race starts off immediately with a hard climb actually, but stage 1 is one guided towards the sprinters. The wind can blow hard and be a big threat in this day, but a sprint should be inevitable in the pan-flat finale with a finale next to tourist attraction of the Bimmah Sink Hole.
Stage 2 will be the day best suited to the puncheurs, and also the longest of the race with over 200 kilometers. The finale features a few climbs but they are short and explosive. The final ascent to Yitti Hills will have a fast approach and the climb itself is 1.7 kilometers at 5.9%, steepest at the bottom. We could see a reduced group sprint.
Stage 3 is almost completely flat but with a summit finish at Eastern Mountain. It's a climb hard enough for the pure climbers to make the difference, but potentially short enough that some puncheurs can still hold on. The ascent is 4.7 kilometers at 7.6%, it will be a very explosive finale.
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Stage 4 will be another day for the sprinters without a doubt, there are not climbs to bother the fast men on this day and we will have a furious finale in the Oman Convention center.
The queen stage of the race is, as usual, the final day where the riders will head towards the ironically named 'Green Mountain'. It is a short day on the bike with nothing to note until the final ascent, a wide-road ultra-steep climb in the middle of the desert where differences are usually very high and the overall classification should be decided.
Prediction Tour of Oman 2025 overall classification:
*** Adam Yates
** Ruben Guerreiro, David Gaudu, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Chris Harper
* Jay Vine, Rafal Majka, Mauri Vansevenant, Diego Ulissi, Wout Poels, Valentin Madouas, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Jorgen Nordhagen, Warren Barguil, Steff Cras, Damien Howson, David de la Cruz
Pick: Adam Yates
Original: Rúben Silva
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🤩 3️⃣ days to go before the #TourofOman 2025 kicks off! pic.twitter.com/rUHgvQjlqy
— Tour of Oman (@tourofoman) February 5, 2025
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- For a moment there my brain registered Patrick L.Mistermaumau16-04-2025
- Tadej, STUPOR MUNDI.
maria2024202416-04-2025 - Why the random and unnecessary disrespect to Cadel? At least he didn't cheat like Contador.Pogboom16-04-2025
- If we're playing the "what if" game - I'd go further back to Mads getting a puncture and possibly being a favourite to win the race. He would have likely beat Tadej and MVDP in a sprint at the Velodrome. He appeared to be one of the stronger riders who faced some bad luck. But, that's just cycling. Wout could have very well won Paris-Roubaix in 2023 if he hadn't punctured in the last 10km. I wish Tadej hadn't crashed or would've caught up so all these stories of how Tadej should have won wouldn't exist, I think MVDP was the stronger rider in this particular race.JBlake16-04-2025
- There might be some truth to Visma's psychology being hurt by last year's crashes. But, definitely - Itzulia was a boycott because of the Organizer's and comments made by them this year again proves it is necessary. The crash profoundly changed the course of the season for several of the top riders, yet they got blamed for not being careful, going too fast, or. not knowing the roads enough.JBlake16-04-2025
- Someone else may be able to give better local context, but I don't think these type of incidents only happen to MVDP - although, it does seem to happen more often to him. Eli Iserbyt had beer thrown at him earlier this year, or Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard had chips thrown in their face during last year's Tour de France. The common theme is alcohol between most incidents, combined with being outdoors for a prolonged period of time. MVDP is also not very well-liked by many Belgian fans for his success, particularly against a rider like Wout. It's likely a combination of today's society, alcohol, some dislike towards the rider, and just being stupid. Hopefully real consequences might dissuade others from doing similar things.JBlake16-04-2025
- Yeah, but MVDP actually isn't. If Pog goes up the road, it is his responsibility to run it down, and everyone knows he has the most to lose. It's just rare that anyone calls him on it.acem8216-04-2025
- In almost any other sport the culprit would be banished and banned from the event venue, either temporarily or permanently.. Giving the perpetrators of this terrible behavior a mere verbal warning accomplishes absolutely nothing, and is insulting to the riders subjected to these type of abuses as well.
santiagobenites16-04-2025 - Itzulia? Are you sure it wasn’t more a boycott? Didn’t see many others going who crashed last year, out of the dozen of the crash only Cras I think.Mistermaumau16-04-2025
- MVDP also had a late bike change, so in theory a chance for Pogi to reel some time back. But by that point MvdP was strongermobk16-04-2025