Preview Tour of Oman 2026 stage 5 - Can Adam Yates take back enough time to win GC on the mythical Green Mountain?
Cycling
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 5, which is estimated to start and finish at 07:15 and 11:00CET.
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.
Read also
Profile: Nizwa - Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain)

Stage 5: Nizwa - Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain), 155 kilometers
The queen stage of the race, and another 'unipuerto' day. If the wind doesn't blow, the riders will go into the climb of Green Mountain very fresh and ready to deploy massive power outputs, as if they were doing a time trial.
The climb is 5.8 kilometers long at 10%, but even though this is a brutal description of it, the climb is made even harder by the fact that it's on an exposed desert road; and the for the fact that the road is incredibly wide, like a highway.
The riders will be incredibly exposed to the elements and resisting them will be just as important as having the legs in this W/Kg test, even more so because there will be no crowds cheering on the riders in its gruesome slopes which start off at 14% right from the very bottom.
Prediction Tour of Oman 2026 stage 5:
*** Adam Yates, Valentin Paret-Peintre
** Diego Pescador, Sebastian Berwick
* William Lecerf Junior, Chris Harper, Christian Scaroni, Harold Martín López, Lorenzo Fortunato, Luke Plapp, Mauro Schmid, Martin Tjotta, Nairo Quintana, Rémyu Rochas
** Diego Pescador, Sebastian Berwick
* William Lecerf Junior, Chris Harper, Christian Scaroni, Harold Martín López, Lorenzo Fortunato, Luke Plapp, Mauro Schmid, Martin Tjotta, Nairo Quintana, Rémyu Rochas
Pick: Adam Yates
How: Solo win, not followed by Valentin Paret-Peintre this time around.
Original: Rúben Silva

Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- This is a phenomenal course design. I do wish that they'd stretch these tours for the women to at least 2 weeks.RidesHills03-11-2026
- This is an amazing route, honestly. Let's hope that it attracts riders to make it a compelling and competitive race. Side bar amusement: going to Slovenia and passing pretty close to Pogačar's house. I wonder if they were tempting him to get all 3 jerseys at once after winning the Tour and Vuelta. After all, only a very few have ever had all three at the same time (Froome being the last).RidesHills03-11-2026
- He was a child two years ago
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route aswell. Col d'Arpy is a toughie
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - Let Torito have a shot at it
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route, much more exciting than the Tour de France. Monte Livata is an interesting one, because they experimented with it at the 2026 Baby Giro, and it was fantastic. 4 km at 10%, then 10 km at 6.5% made for a great spectacle. The stage 16 is horrible. Montaner is also used in the U23s, in Giro del Belvedere
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - I remember when Mark went through that. He was really experiencing lows and thought about quiting many times. It took him a long time to recover. I, like many others were overjoyed when he came back. I hope Lafay has been tested. I wish him the best.Paggss03-11-2026
- That sucks for him. I've always wondered what guys like him do after retiring from cycling - go back to uni? He's still a very young manCrashjames03-11-2026
- Good Point, I wonder if he's been testedmhfrvz03-11-2026
- A busy boy!Lozza03-11-2026
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