Aware of having a very crucial year ahead of him, Greg Van Avermaet aims to claim season's first stage victory in Oman following his very consistent performances at the Tour of Qatar last week.

Considered one of the strongest and most versatile classics specialists of the professional peloton, Van Avermaet is yet to prove his ability to be a worthy BMC Racing leader, capable of turning his nearly countless runner-up spots into victories. Knowing that, the 29-year old cyclist wants to boost his confidence before the Belgian season kicks off in less than two weeks, claiming his first stage win in Oman.

“The most important thing is the GC with Tejay [van Garderen] and then for me I will try to go for a stage win,” he told Cyclingnews at the start of stage 1 of the Tour of Oman. “It will be good to get a win before it really starts. Then it is just building up, making the most out of here and then I will be ready for the most important races starting from Het Nieuwsblad up to Amstel.”

Today's stage of the Omani race was the first red-circled by Van Avermaet, along with the one to be held on Saturday. In line with his expectations the hilly finish suited the 29-year old classics specialist down to the ground, but he had to accept a supremacy of one of his greatest rivals in weeks to come, Fabian Cancellara, and always competitive Alejandro Valverde.

“I think that the second stage will be pretty good for me,” he explained. “It is pretty hard at the end and short climbs. I think that it suits me best. Also stage 5, if I can survive for a sprint in a small group then this would be a stage that suits me.”