GROWING

2 ADVENTURE
OMANDAILYOBSERVER SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18 l 2017
Exhilarating
challenges
It is hard to resist
the siren call of the
Omani mountains.
climbs of the season,
the opportunity
to conquer them
continues to attract
an increasingly wide
range of riders
each year.
HARIDEV PUSHPARAJ
MUSCAT, FEB. 17
The 2017 Tour of
Oman will miss
the presence
of Vincenzo
Nibali, the 2016
winner, but
the prestigious
blue-riband event will have a new
champion this time around.
The race provides an early
opportunity to tackle some difficult
climbs and test the riders’ fitness.
The race will also offer two sprinterfriendly
stages, while puncheurs —
riders who thrive on rolling terrain
and short, steep climbs — will have
several chances to surprise the
peloton. Most importantly for the
GC, the Green Mountain summit
finish comes on the eve of the final
stage in Muscat, where climbers will
meet their moment of truth.
It is hard to resist the siren call
of the Omani mountains. Offering
the first really difficult climbs of
the season, the opportunity to
conquer them continues to attract
an increasingly wide range of riders
each year.
The familiar punchy finishes
on the Al Jissah climb at Al Bustan
and in Qurayat are tailor-made for
opportunistic attackers like Van
Avermaet and seasoned professionals
Alexis Gougeard and Niki Terpstra.
The showdowns on these climbs
will serve as the prelude to what
will be the main event of the Tour
of Oman: The ascent of Jabal Al
Akhdhar (Green Mountain). In
this penultimate stage, the GC
contenders will meet on the slopes
of this demanding climb to gauge
their form and see if their dreams of
overall victory will be fulfilled.
But in the Middle East climbers
are not the only kings. The masters
of the finishing straight, such as Tom
Boonen or Alexander Kristoff, will
also have multiple opportunities to
lunge for the victory. Naseem Park
and Muttrah Sea Road will be the
settings for these exciting high-speed
finishes. The fast men of the peloton
will put their trains to work in these
two stages, seeking to polish their
positioning and oil the machine in
order to claim their first major win of
the season.
Notable teams that are absent
are Team Sky, Lotto Soudal and
LottoNL-Jumbo.
Nibali the former overall winner
of the race will be missing in action
this time around, so will Chris
Froome, but the race will not be any
less exciting.
BUNCH FINISH EXPECTED
Organisers ASO have made full
use of the nation’s lumpier terrain
by adding meddlesome hills to
complicate what would otherwise be
straightforward sprint stages.
Stage two includes four climbs,
none longer than 4 km but all with
gradients averaging over eight per
cent; an uphill finish on stage three
plays into the hands of the puncheurs;
and the three-lap circuit that includes
the Climb of Bausher Al Amerat
should prove too challenging for the
pure sprinters.
That doesn’t leave too much for
sprinters — which explains why,
beyond Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-
Alpecin) and Sacha Modolo (UAE
Abu Dhabi), so few big names are
lining up — but both the opening
and closing stage should culminate
in a bunch finish.
GREEN MOUNTAIN ( JABAL
AL AKHDHAR )
One of the treats of the Tour of
Oman is that it boasts one of the
first proper out-and-out climbs of
the season — the Jabal Al Akhdhar,
otherwise known as the ‘Green
Mountain’.
Unlike the climbs tackled in
the likes of the Tour Down Under,
Jabal Al Akhdhar has a considerable
length (5.7 km) to match the bite of
its gradient (10.5 per cent), and it
provides a chance therefore to witness
a full-blooded climbing showdown.
That the GC will be decided on
its slopes is virtually a guarantee —
since its first inclusion in 2011, no
rider has ever managed to win the
overall classification without also
finishing in the top two of this stage.
ARU TO WATCH OUT FOR
Fabio Aru’s season is structured
around the Giro d’Italia, and last
year’s winner of that race, his exteam-mate
Vincenzo Nibali, opened
his account by sealing the overall at
the Tour of Oman.
A similar win for Aru would
install plenty of confidence in Astana
that he can adequately replace Nibali,
but may be unlikely given his usual
slow starts to the season.
BARDET HOPES FOR AN
ENCORE
Romain Bardet’s plans are more
long-term than Aru’s with his main
focus, the Tour de France, still
another five months away, but he’ll
still be hoping to make an impression
on his first race of the season.
The Frenchman generally doesn’t
take too long to get up to speed
as Aru, and tends to go well in
Oman, having finished runner-up
last year and won the young riders’
classification in 2014, but one thing
he has lacked throughout his career
is overall victories in stage races.
With no-time trial stage to deter
him, the Tour of Oman might
become the his first since the 2013
Tour de l’Ain — a win that would be
a clear indication that he’s capable of
winning the Tour come July.
5.7 km
Unlike the climbs tackled in the likes of the
Tour Down Under, Jabal Al Akhdhar has a
considerable length (5.7 km) to match the
bite of its gradient (10.5 per cent), and it
provides a chance therefore to witness a
full-blooded climbing showdown.