Preview Tour of Oman 2026 stage 3 - Adam Yates looking to bring UAE more success

From the 7th to the 11th of February the peloton takes on the Tour of Oman, the continuation of the Middle Eastern calendar, with a stage-race that features sprints, explosive days and steep mountains. We preview stage 3, which is estimated to start and finish at 07:10 and 11:50CET.

Meanwhile the Tour of Oman has grown since its debut in 2010 into one of the most respected early-season stage races outside Europe. Organized by (ASO), the race became a regular fixture on the UCI calendar, first as part of the UCI Asia Tour and, more recently, in the UCI ProSeries—a status it retains in 2026. It is a traditional early-season race for many years now, chosen by the riders due to the warm weather conditions, variety of stage profiles and also proper climbing tests early in the year.

The race has a list of winners that is to say the least enviable. Fabian Cancellara won its first edition back in 2010, whilst over the years Chris Froome has used the race twice and won the overall classification - one against Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans; Vincenzo Nibali won it back in 2016 before conquering the Giro d'Italia; and other top riders such as Matteo Jorgenson and Adam Yates have now won the most recent editions in the 2020's. In 2025 Yates defended his title successfully, having consistency in the race's climbs to bring UAE a top victory.

Stage 3 of the race presents a solid mix between the puncheurs and the climbers when it comes to the fight for the stage win. It is, as the Spanish call, a 'unipuerto' stage, where you have got no climbing throughout the day, followed by a summit finish.

The climb of Eastern Mountain is 3.5 kilometers long at 7.6%, long enough that it is a rather constant effort, but nevertheless a mostly anaerobic effort where explosivity and the raw watts are also required. This will be an important day for the overall classification, even if the queen stage lies ahead.

*** Adam Yates, Mauro Schmid
** Valentin Paret-Peintre, Christian Scaroni
* Luke Plapp, Diego Pescador, Bart Lemmen, Henok Mulubrhan, Lorenzo Fortunato, Paul Double

Pick: Adam Yates

How: The UAE riders' form is impressive and I think he'll be able to climb well enough for no-one to be able to keep up before the final meters.