Tour de France candidate? Sebastian Berwick impresses Caja Rural at the Tour of Oman
CyclingTuesday, 10 February 2026 at 10:30
Caja Rural – Seguros RGA will make history this season by lining up at the 2026 Tour de France. The Navarrese ProTeam has been awarded a wildcard for its first-ever appearance at the Grande Boucle, and since the announcement, the message has been clear. Every race now counts as part of the selection process. Every rider in the squad is effectively under assessment, and Sebastian Berwick is making a strong case for himself.
Monday brought the first real general classification test of the 2026 Tour of Oman, and the green jerseyed team emerged encouraged. Berwick finished a solid fourth on the summit finish at Eastern Mountain, placing Caja Rural firmly in contention for the top positions after the race’s first serious mountain test.
The stage did not begin smoothly for the team. A crash on the exit of a roundabout brought down Fernando Gaviria, Stefano Oldani and Eduard Prades, all of whom had been working to protect the designated leaders, Berwick and Jan Castellon.
While Berwick and Castellon avoided the incident and were able to continue, they reached the foot of the final climb slightly further back than planned.
A statement ride on Eastern Mountain
The decisive final climb, 3.5 kilometres at an average gradient above 7%, was raced at a relentless pace, initially driven by Team Jayco AlUla in support of Mauro Schmid. When the Swiss champion launched his attack close to the finish, Berwick was able to respond and hold his position among the leading group.
He crossed the line in fourth place, a result that also moves him into fourth overall. Castellon produced a steady and controlled ascent of his own, finishing 14th, tucked in behind Adam Yates.
Berwick was the strongest Caja Rural rider on Eastern Mountain and once again underlined his growing importance within the team.
Berwick’s reaction
After the stage, Berwick reflected on a demanding day in the saddle. “To be honest, I wasn’t feeling especially good during the day. The pace was very high, and there was a lot of stress in the peloton,” he said. “But the team worked really hard to keep Jan and me well-positioned at the front through all the roundabouts before the final climb.”
He also addressed the earlier crash. “On one of them, the road was very slipper,y and that crash happened. Fortunately, both Jan and I managed to avoid it, although some of our teammates weren’t so lucky. I hope they’re all OK.”
Once the road tilted upwards, Berwick found his rhythm. “On the climb itself, I felt very good, in control, and I knew I had to be patient. It’s not the perfect climb for me, but I positioned myself well and only lost a few metres in the sprint. Finishing fourth is something I’m really happy with.”
Looking ahead, Berwick believes the team has plenty still to play for. “Now we have something to fight for over the next two days, with Gaviria tomorrow and then Jan and me on the final stage, which I think suits both of us better.”
The Tour of Oman continues on Tuesday with a stage expected to favour the sprinters, although strong winds could play a decisive role ahead of a likely bunch finish in Sohar. The general classification will be settled on Wednesday, with the brutal ascent of Green Mountain, nearly six kilometres at an average gradient of 10%, set to deliver the final verdict.
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- Back in Roger de Vlaeminck's day, things were great. Cyclists rode up mountains backwards, in the wrong gear, because forward was for cowards. Domestiques didn’t exist, and if you needed help, you simply weren’t strong enough to be there. These days riders sit in the wheels and cry because their teammate didn’t look at them nicely. They could ride Paris-Roubaix with frozen feet in -10 ºC through snow and hail, with no gloves, and with mud up to their knees, and didn't even need to hold their handlebars. Handlebars were optional and balance was genetic. With these little fellas there's drama at 5 ºC and they stop when there's rain or God forbid when there's just a little bit of wind. Back then the winds could be 500 miles per hour and they'd ride sitting upright, chatting, whistling and smoking. Now there's 'crosswinds' and suddenly there's four riders left. They could ride with broken ribs, punctured lungs, fractured arms, shattered legs and even snapped necks. Sometimes the snapped neck was from the previous race. These lot abandon races with mere bruises - back then, if you crashed you just got right back up and blood on the legs was normal. They'd barely ever crash because they knew how to ride their bikes, unlike these new lot who get taken out by potholes or even when putting on their own jackets. They would ride 400 kilometres a day and 5 classics a week and never get tired, and their rest days just meant riding slower - look at these ‘professional’ cyclists, they're exhausted after 200 kilometres. Back then, Milano-Sanremo was just a normal training ride and now the riders are absolutely finished by the end of it. And even through all that, when Roger de Vlaeminck was racing, they'd never get punctures because they were just better. These modern riders are taken out of contention by the smallest of pebble fragments, which just shows how weak they are. They didn't have brakes, which was considered cheating and power meters were witchcraft, while data was for accountants, and that was because they were just so good, but now the riders always have to check their data first… so rubbish. Back then they rode without gears, which were sacrilegeous, and their tyres were made of stone - if your bike broke, you fixed it with a hammer. If the hammer broke, you became the hammer. They carried stones in their pockets to make it harder, and they even carried spectators on their backs up mountains. These losers need their teammates to carry their bidons for them and they throw them away like toddlers in a tantrum. And despite doing all that, they ran on gin and beer, their food was bacon sandwiches, recovery was another beer and they didn't even know what a dietitian was, unlike these weaklings who always have to weigh their food first and see how many calories it has. Roger and the rest of them were never afraid to take their medicine. Medicine was just medicine. Very strong medicine. These lot are so scared of getting caught and are always so foolishly loyal to ‘clean sport’. Sometimes they even rode without a bike and won with one leg, and at night they slept in ditches. Those were real men, and unlike now, no-one complained on Twitter or Instagram. No-one needed a sports psychologist then, and you solved all your problems on the bike. So when you hear anyone say that Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel are as good as Eddy Merckx and Roger de Vlaeminck, know that, as good ol’ Roger said, they're ‘not even fit to land Eddy's shoes’. And on that matter, the cyclists now are so miserable that they don't even have laces. Back in Roger de Vlaeminck's day, everything was better. Edit: Sounds better in Dutch
Rafionain-Glas10-02-2026 - Nairo 'trammy' Quintana 😁
leedorney10-02-2026 - I think the problem is he feels his brother wasn’t given the respect he felt he deserved. When saying can’t sprint/climb it’s obvious he’s not comparing to his brother who didn’t achieve that much on the road. In cyclocross the comparison is more nuanced. Without a broken bike Eric would have had 8 consecutively, the field back then (maybe even more so than road racing) was extremely competitive, nowadays even WVA hardly bothers anymore. Had he been free to continue it would either have increased to more than 7 (or 8) or he’d have maybe died because what Roger seems to want to stay blind to is that unlike MVDP, his brother had a substance issue. He seems to remember him as a victim of it but it obviously couldn’t have started that way. In light of the bad karma that ensued, his anger and reactions are understandable even if wrong and unnecessary. Someone should help him finish mourning in time for finding peace in peace.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- I agree but it is perfectly ordinary internet behaviour. Blaming someone for reacting like the majority is dangerously courageous ;-)Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- Not totally clear what you’re saying but Let’s not call them g. pigs, it wasn’t that organised, the « scientists » weren’t asking for precise feedback to tune their products, it was more a case of take what you want but be careful not to get caught and within that frame everyone was responsible for their own experiments. Of course indirectly, it was deduced what didn’t work line when someone got caught and that was integrated into new consumption guidelines to ensure continued sales. Too much risk of getting caught would dent them. Getting caught was WAY more likely than landing in hospital, that only happened to those trying to be smart with their « own » discoveries to eliminate the possibility of a +ve like Mauro Gianetti (you can never be +ve for something no-one is testing for). The argument that a clean 2020´s rider can’t beat a doped 90s rider is pretty weak if you incorporate what’s known from other sports that have had way less technological advancement. The only outlier being Eastern blocs women’s middle distance running in the 80/90, still not beatable due to manliness a trans athlete can only dream of outside the Enhanced games.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- not all run on the same stuff
ChillingCyclist10-02-2026 - Seems like decisions are pretty rational. Some races suit their star riders and team more than others. Maybe there’s a hint you can’t just « buy » your way to a tdf wildcard. Maybe the main sponsor is too controversial for some already worried about more fallout from nation-state ones.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- There is no answer to such a proposal, only representative voting or testing will reveal what works. Xmas is celebrated differently depending on where, for some it’s all about the evening of the 24th, for others it’s the day of 25th. Most riders have parents but not kids. Cyclocross is neither long nor a complex event organisationally so doesn’t have to take up much of the day. No-one will be forced to participate and I doubt any rider really does all races on the calendar except maybe as a personal challenge. Plenty of people don’t celebrate (or want to) with family and are bored. Ironically, plenty of amateur events are popular, also on January 1st. Other winter sports make no fuss over this, cross country, skiing, skating, etc. In fact, huge numbers take advantage of this period to get away for winter sports or to warmer climes far removed from Xmas « obligations ». I repeat, there is no answer but there is always choice.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- Helping by giving answers that contradict known information doesn’t. But thanks for the engagement. Let’s hope we’re done with this season’s injuries and everyone can build up to full strength for an exciting season.Mistermaumau10-02-2026
- douche… bagOCexile10-02-2026
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