Even if it is only celebrating its 6th edition this year, the Tour of Oman (from 17th to 22nd February) already has its place among the stage races that count, mainly thanks to the beauty of its landscapes and the variety of its terrains, enabling it to alternate flat stages along the coast with more undulating routes that are an invitation to daring feats.

In this sense, it is especially the climb up the “Green Mountain” (Jabal Al Akhdhar) that weeds out the serious pretenders for the Tour of Oman title, with its 5.7 km at a gradient of 5%. It is a mountain that has only been tamed by great climbers since it made its bow in 2011: Robert Gesink (in 2011), Vincenzo Nibali (2012), Joachim Rodriguez (2013) and Christopher Froome (2014).

This race has become an event not to be missed at the season’s start for the big hitters of the international elite and it is not a coincidence that the last three winners of the Tour de France (Bradley Wiggins in 2012, Christopher Froome in 2013 and Vincenzo Nibali last year) all arrived in Muscat several months after their summer triumph on the Grande Boucle.

On the Tour of Oman 2015, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) will have to deal with fierce competition, led in particular by the Spanish climber Joachim Rodriguez (Katusha), his countryman Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo), the best climber on the last Tour de France, without forgetting the young French talents of Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), 3rd on the last Tour de France, and Warren Barguil (Giant Alpecin), a two times stage winner (2013) and 9th in the general classification on the Vuelta (2014).

However, the Tour of Oman also includes stages that will delight the sprinters. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Arnaud Démare (FDJ), Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), Tom Boonen (Etixx) or Théo Bos (MTN-Qhubeka) can all lay legitimate claims to success in Al Wutayyah on the first stage or on the Muttrah promenade on the last day. Stages 2 (Al Bustan) and 5 (Ministry of Housing) with their hilly profile at the finish could be more suited to an all-terrain type rider such as Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), who has already won four stages in Oman, as well as Rui Costa (Movistar), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team), Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) or Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing).

The stages in Tour of Oman 2015:

Stage 1, Tuesday 17th February: Bayt Al Naman Castle - Al Wutayyah (161 km)
Stage 2, Wednesday 18th February: Al Hazm Castle - Al Bustan (195 km)
Stage 3, Thursday 19th February: Al Mussanah Sports City - Al Mussanah Sports City (158.5 km)
Stage 4, Friday 20th February: Sultan Qaboos Grande Mosque - Jabal Al Akhdhar “Green Mountain” (189 km)
Stage 5, Saturday 21st February: Al Sawadi Beach - Ministry of Housing (151.5 km)
Stage 6, Sunday 22nd February: Oman Air - Muttrah Promenade (133.5 km)