2012 Tour of Oman (14th - 19th of February), 2.HC

[auscyclefan94]

2012 Tour of Oman (14th - 19th of February), 2.HC

Stage 1: Al Alam Palace - Wadi al Huwqayn, 159km

Stage 2: Sur - Wadi Dayqah Dam, 140.5km
*It seems that ASO have used the same profile for both stage 1 and 2 on their website*

Stage 3: Al Alwabi - Muscat Heights, 144.5km

Stage 4: Bidbid - Al Wadi Al Kabir, 142.5km

*Note that y-axis is grossly exaggerated on this profile.*

Stage 5: Royal Opera House -Jabal al Akhdar (Green Mountain), 158km

Continued in next post...

 

[auscyclefan94]

Stage 6: Al Khawd - Matrah Corniche, 130.5km

Provisional startlist

Official Site

 

[auscyclefan94]

not a great field tbh but the gc favourites are vandevelde, pinotti, nibali, velits and fuglsang.

 

[greenedge]

Nibali to win this in my view if only because of the fact he has been to San Luis already and is the best climber out of all of them. CVV, then Fuglsng to round out the podium. I also expect Ballan/ Casr to put in a few attacks ( maybe stage 4 ). Will Clarke to also feature ( if he can ). Goss to win GEs' first sprint stage ( probably to be challenged by Farrar, Guardini, Bouhanni, Greipel, Oss/Sagan, Cav and Galimzynayov ). Rabo have a really bad team ( except for LTD ). Andy Shleck could feature here if he wanted to.

I like the sprinting depth.

I did not even notice Purito he could go well here.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

not a great field tbh but the gc favourites are vandevelde, pinotti, nibali, velits and fuglsang.

Why did you leave out Purito?

Anyway, Chavanel will probably lead OPQS judging by Boonen's comments. Velits' form isn't that great.

 

[theyoungest]

Purito seems to be the favourite. Nibali, Vande Velde, Velits, Ten Dam, Fuglsang, Pinotti... that's about it, I guess. Few climbers for a race that will be decided on a climb.

 

[jens_attacks]

luca ascani to win it

 

[theyoungest]

luca ascani to win it

Chosen by your careful selection process of "pick first ex-doper on the startlist"

 

[jens_attacks]

Chosen by your careful selection process of "pick first ex-doper on the startlist"

nah i like the guy he's a mini indurain you'll see in giro.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Not a bad startlist, just short of guys who can contend the GC, given that we have the first, serious finishing climb of the season.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Why did you leave out Purito?

Anyway, Chavanel will probably lead OPQS judging by Boonen's comments. Velits' form isn't that great.

Oops, didn't see him!

 

[will10]

Wow, for a second there I thought that stage 4 profile was from the Tour Down Under!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Nice short stages. Ideal for intense action packed racing. I seem to remember the TV coverage was rather poor last year. Will that still be the case?

 

[auscyclefan94]

There was none last year. Hopefully some this year.

 

[jens_attacks]

There was none last year. Hopefully some this year.

there were 30 minutes highlights on eurosport.just like this year
also eurosport will have algarve and catalunya live

 

[theyoungest]

There was none last year. Hopefully some this year.

There was coverage last year. Same as this year, a race summary at night.

 

[rgmerk]

Andy Shleck could feature here if he wanted to.

Andy Schleck could do many things, but most of the things he does do involve cruising around in the bunch until July, with a short perk-up in the Ardennes.

As for what he should be doing, most of them probably involve a TT bicycle and possibly a wind tunnel.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Purito could win up Jabal al-Akhdar, but he could just as likely do what he did last year, and get split off from the pack by the wind beforehand so be 2 minutes down on everyone before the start. Heavy desert winds are not ideal for 55kg climbers.

 

[movingtarget]

Katusha should not lose too much time in a short TTT so Rodriguez gets his chance. Trouble is he often loses time when you don't expect him to. Like the previous poster wrote, windy conditions won't help him. They certainly made a difference at Qatar. I thought Gesink may have returned this year. He may wait for the Tirreno.

 

[El Pistolero]

I think this race is a bit boring. Profiles don't look too great either.

 

[movingtarget]

Andy Schleck could do many things, but most of the things he does do involve cruising around in the bunch until July, with a short perk-up in the Ardennes.

As for what he should be doing, most of them probably involve a TT bicycle and possibly a wind tunnel.

I thought his mouth was the wind tunnel. All the same I hope he makes a fight of it in the TDF.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Katusha should not lose too much time in a short TTT so Rodriguez gets his chance. Trouble is he often loses time when you don't expect him to. Like the previous poster wrote, windy conditions won't help him. They certainly made a difference at Qatar. I thought Gesink may have returned this year. He may wait for the Tirreno.

Gesink doesn't ride Tirreno or P-N, either.

 

[movingtarget]

Gesink doesn't ride Tirreno or P-N, either.

He must be starting the season very late. The leg injury must have been a bad one unless there are other reasons.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

He must be starting the season very late. The leg injury must have been a bad one unless there are other reasons.

No, he does well in training and will start his season very soon in the Ruta del Sol. His spring schedule is only a bit lighter. Then again, there's the Vuelta and the Worlds later in the year, the latter of which he will target for sure. He will also co-lead the team at the Tour, if everything goes according to plan.

 

[maltiv]

Surprisingly few teams have chosen to send a single climber to this race. Neither Sky nor Garmin for example are sending anyone who can top 10 under normal circumstances. As a result there are only like 10 guys in this race who can be considered climbers, so we could get pretty interesting results on Green Mountain.

For the GC Nibali is the big favourite in my opinion, although Jrod will probably win on Green Mountain (but lose time in crosswinds).