Not much talk about it but it should be more interesting then the tour of Qatar as Oman actually has a few hills, the final tt should be decisive. Other stages have very steep sections (20%+) although short hills they could separate the group.
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Anyone care about the tour of Oman?
- Thread starter St. Elia
- Start date
Stages 3 and 4 could become interesting, depending on how hard those hills are. On paper it looks to be much better than Quatar, which is like watching paint dry. Annoying that letour.fr doesn't have any stage profiles.
When these early season races contain some hills, I think they become very interesting because they are unpredictable. Too bad that live or recorded video coverage is usually impossible to find.
When these early season races contain some hills, I think they become very interesting because they are unpredictable. Too bad that live or recorded video coverage is usually impossible to find.
Looking really forward to it actually. It got a pretty impressive list of riders, and the course is fairly interesting.
EBH will win overall.
EBH will win overall.
A Tour of Yemen would be a genuinely very interesting prospect on the Arabian peninsula, much moreso than Oman or cursed Qatar. Could be a bit dangerous, though, so Oman's probably a safer bet.
The Sky team might do something as they seem to have turned up with some decent riders.
but I still dont understand why they went into the current race Bessages without a sprinter.
but I still dont understand why they went into the current race Bessages without a sprinter.
Hibbles said:
Wait, so now it has 2 websites, the ASO set one up for it: http://www.letour.fr/2010/TOO/COURSE/en/oman.html
Unfortunately they have deiced not to have any mountain stages, which they could easily do! They could also have done a couple of stages in Salalah which has some nice hills. To be honest I think the mountains are too difficult for these guys at this point in the season.
I think the idea is to promote the country as a tourist destination and show some of its beauty but with out TV coverage thats not going to happen.
There are some interesting hills on the last stage and the 3rd? stage I think it is.
I think the idea is to promote the country as a tourist destination and show some of its beauty but with out TV coverage thats not going to happen.
There are some interesting hills on the last stage and the 3rd? stage I think it is.
I'm stuck in my house with freezing temperatures and nearly 2 feet of snow on the ground, so any race looks interesting at this point regardless of what kind of course they come up with.
sublimit said:
You could say that for all the pro tour teams..
Its been a training session and a chance for smaller teams to get noticed.. thats all..
Im wondering...
Tour Of Qatar, two day break, then new New tour Of Oman (both run by the ASO), how long before a third race appears and we see the formation of a 3 week "grand" tour?
Tour Of Qatar, two day break, then new New tour Of Oman (both run by the ASO), how long before a third race appears and we see the formation of a 3 week "grand" tour?
dimspace said:
Following that coast that would be the tour of Yemen, then? I really look forward to the tour of Yemen for women. In burka. Here's a photo of the peloton in the 2011 inaugural TOY for women....
hektoren said:Following that coast that would be the tour of Yemen, then? I really look forward to the tour of Yemen for women. In burka. Here's a photo of the peloton in the 2011 inaugural TOY for women....
The perfect race for Tammy Thomas.
hektoren said:
Yemen, or in between the two the Emirates.
There is obviously finance in the area. Those countries are already making strides into other sports, f1, sponsorship of football etc.
Would not surprise me in the slightest to see another gulf tour spring up (is it me or has qatar moved slightly - in time/date, not geographically)
dimspace said:
It's probably you. I get a distinct Cuba-pre-Castro-era feeling just reading about Qatar, knowing a teensy bit about the neighborhood and leaning heavily on knowledge gleaned from Wikipedia. Qatar has about a third of the world's gas reserves, and since 1995, Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has ruled Qatar, seizing control of the country from his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani while the latter vacationed in Switzerland.
A few things sort of doesn't go down well with me here. First of all, a history as a former british colony (in itself, a feature that usually doesn't bode well for the future), secondly, huge wealth from natural resources under the sole ownership of one person that's bound to attract hoards of british and american riff-raff, and thirdly, a connection to Switzerland.
Switzerland? What's wrong with Switzerland?
Well, take Italy, a country with two millennias worth of bloodshed, revenge, omertà, civil war, wars, mob assassinations, Red Brigades, bloodshed, Mussolini, Spartacus trials and Berlusconi combovers. Yet they've produced Michelangelo, daVinci, Corelli, Vivaldi, Botticelli, Ferrari, Maserati, Parma ham, mozzarella, Pinarello, Battaglin etc. etc.
What has Switzerland, with its corresponding two millennia's worth of peace, love and brotherhood and isolation produced? The cuckoo-clock? (Sorry, all readers from Schwartzwald, I know it's you who really left us with that legacy of true ingenuity, and not the Swiss, whose only claim to fame really is a pocketknife and an oversweetened chocolate as well as getting rich from eradicated jews)
No, I don't see a great future on the arabian peninsula for what is, in effect, a european sport. I'd rather see a "Tour d'Europe" with stages in most of the european countries (we could forget Denmark, unless it's the TT-stage).
It'd be a great vehicle for showing off our common cultural heritage, local food, great sport and fantastic landscapes.
dimspace said:
hopefully not. three weeks of sand and straight, flat roads, doesn't seem particularly grand to me.
hektoren said:
Tour de l'Europe, sorry. Not Tour d'europe. Pardon my french, it's not what it used to be. ****oire, odeur, dans ton cul, etc. etc. It's a great idea, though. One stage per country, bit like the WRC. Great way to generate interest, show off local cuisine, nature etc. etc.
zapata said:
Doesn't have to be, lots of mountains in Oman and other interesting features like coast line. Yemen, I can't see.... too many security issues to say the least.
I have lots of danish friends in Oman and some of them are cyclists, they have no problems. Omanis are pretty laid back.
eventually Qatar and the rest of the gulf will run out of oil, i think when that happens we will have bigger issues to worry about then bike races in the area! To be honest Oman is trying to develop its tourism industry so that they will have other industry other then oil and that is why they are holding this race.
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