Tour of Oman (2.HC) 17th Feb - 22nd Feb

[lemon cheese cake]

The Tour of Oman starts on the 17th February so here is the route and start list.

Stage 1:

Stage 2:

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Stage 3:

Stage 4:

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Stage 5:

Stage 6:

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Start list:
(*) Substitutes

ASTANA PRO TEAM / KAZ :
NIBALI Vincenzo
BOZIC Borut
CATALDO Dario
FUGLSANG Jakob
GRIVKO Andriy
GUARDINI Andrea
LUTSENKO Alexey
WESTRA Lieuwe
AGNOLI Valerio *
GRUZDEV Dmitriy *
TAARAM?E Rein *
TLEUBAYEV Ruslan *

BMC RACING TEAM / USA :
VAN GARDEREN Tejay
CARUSO Damiano
DE MARCHI Alessandro
HERMANS Ben
SCH?R Michael
TEUNS Dylan
VAN AVERMAET Greg
VELITS Peter
ATAPUMA John Darwin *
BOOKWALTER Brent *
FLAKEMORE Campbell *
ZABEL Rick *

TINKOFF-SAXO / RUS :
SAGAN Peter
BELTRAN Edward
BENNATI Daniele
BRESCHEL Matti
KREUZIGER Roman
MAJKA Rafal
POLJANSKI Pawel
ROVNY Ivan
HANSEN Jesper *
TRUSOV Nikolay *

TEAM KATUSHA / RUS:
RODRIGUEZ Joaquim
GUARNIERI Jacopo
HALLER Marco
ISAYCHEV Vladimir
KRISTOFF Alexander
MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel
PAOLINI Luca
SMUKULIS Gatis
BYSTR?M Sven Erik *
KOZONTCHUK Dmitry *
KUZNETSOV Viacheslav *
LAGUTIN Sergey *

MOVISTAR TEAM / ESP :
VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
AMADOR Andrey
ERVITI OLLO Imanol
ROJAS GIL Jos? Joaquin
SANZ UNZUE Enrique
SUTHERLAND Rory
S?TTERLIN Jasha
VENTOSO Francisco
LASTRAS GARCIA Pablo *

FDJ / FRA :
PINOT Thibaut
BONNET William
CHAVANEL S?bastien
DELAGE Micka?l
DEMARE Arnaud
FISCHER Murilo Antonio
JEANNESSON Arnold
MORABITO Steve
BOUCHER David *
LADAGNOUS Matthieu *
LE BON Johan *
OFFREDO Yoann *

TREK FACTORY RACING / USA:
CANCELLARA Fabian
ARREDONDO MORENO Julian
IRIZAR ARRANBURU Markel
POPOVYCH Yaroslav
RAST Gregory
STEEGMANS Gert
VAN POPPEL Boy
VAN POPPEL Danny
ROULSTON Hayden *
SERGENT Jesse *

TEAM SKY / GBR:
KONIG Leopold
DEIGNAN Philip
EARLE Nathan
KNEES Christian
LOPEZ GARCIA David
PATE Danny
POELS Wouter
SUTTON Christopher
KIRYIENKA Vasili *
SIUTSOU Kanstantsin *

TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN / GER:
BARGUIL WARREN
ARNDT Nikias
DE BACKER Bert
JONES Carter
PREIDLER Georg
SINKELDAM Ramon
STAMSNIJDER Tom
VEELERS Tom
HUPOND Thierry *
KITTEL Marcel *
MEZGEC Luka *
TIMMER Albert *

ETIXX-QUICK STEP / BEL:
BOONEN Tom
KEISSE Iljo
MAES Nikolas
SERRY Pieter
TERPSTRA Niki
TRENTIN Matteo
VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume
VANDENBERGH Stijn
ALAPHILIPPE Julian *
BOUET Maxime *
BRAMBILLA Gianluca *
VELITS Martin *

COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS / FRA:
BOUHANNI Nacer
AHLSTRAND Jonas
CHAINEL Steve
LEMOINE Cyril
PETIT Adrien
ROLLIN Dominique
SENECHAL Florian
SOUPE GEOFFREY
VANBILSEN KENNETH *
ZINGLE Romain *

LAMPRE - MERIDA / ITA:
COSTA Rui Alberto
BONO Matteo
FERRARI Roberto
MODOLO Sacha
OLIVEIRA Nelson
PLAZA MOLINA Ruben
POZZATO Filippo
VALLS Rafael
CIMOLAI Davide *
COSTA Mario *
MORI Manuele *
PIBERNIK Luka *

MTN-QHUBEKA / RSA:
ZEMKE Jens
BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
BOS Th?o
GOSS Matthew Harley
JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques
MEINTJES Louis
PAUWELS Serge
STAUFF Andreas
VENTER Jacobus
SBARAGLI Kristan *
VAN ZYL Johann *

ORICA GreenEDGE / AUS:
BLYTHE Adam
DOCKER Mitchell
HOWARD Leigh
KEUKELEIRE Jens
LANCASTER Brett Daniel
MEYER Cameron
MOURIS Jens
WEENING Pieter
HAYMAN Mathew *
TUFT Svein *

IAM CYCLING / SUI:
FRANK Mathias
AREGGER Marcel
BR?NDLE Matthias
DEVENYNS Dries
ELMIGER Martin
HOLLENSTEIN Reto
PELUCCHI Matteo
VAN GENECHTEN Jonas
KLUGE Roger *
PELLAUD Simon *
SARAMOTINS Aleksejs *

TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE / BEL:
WALLAYS Jelle
CAMPENAERTS Victor
DECLERCQ Tim
SALOMEIN Jarl
VAN HECKE Preben
VAN HOECKE Gijs
VAN MEIRHAEGHE Jef
VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter
DE TIER Floris *
JACOBS Pieter *
LIETAER ELIOT *
SPRENGERS Thomas *

BORA-ARGON 18 / GER:
BENNETT Sam
DEMPSTER Zakkari
HUZARSKI Bartosz
KONRAD Patrick
MATZKA Ralf
NERZ Dominik
SALERNO Cristiano
SCHORN Daniel
ARCHBOLD Shane *
PFINGSTEN Christoph *
SCHILLINGER Andreas *
SCHWARZMANN Michael *

BARDIANI CSF / ITA:
ANDREETTA Simone
BARBIN Enrico
BONGIORNO Francesco Manuel
CHIRICO Luca
COLBRELLI Sonny
MANFREDI Andrea
TONELLI Alessandro
ZARDINI Edoardo
BATTAGLIN Enrico *
BOEM Nicola *
PIECHELE Andrea *
RUFFONI Nicola

 

[Dr. Juice]

Stage 2 and stage 5 are nice. Especially stage 5 ...the climb seems tough.

 

[jens_attacks]

wout poels for the win here

 

[pastronef]

wout poels for the win here

yes yes yes, a win by Poels is always welcome, and from 2015 even more

 

[Jspear]

wout poels for the win here

How is his form right now?
It's hard for me to pick a winner cause it's so early. Maybe Uran...he has some racing miles in his legs.

 

[pastronef]

How is his form right now?
It's hard for me to pick a winner cause it's so early. Maybe Uran...he has some racing miles in his legs.

he was training in Mallorca end of January, and he now finished a 2 week training in South Africa with Froome
Oman will be his first race of the season

 

[jens_attacks]

the guy was sprinting uphill agains froomey and won(froomey said so). right after angliru 2011 i imagined wout in sky colours, skinny and tall and helluva cyclist. fits in. that crash ruined almost everything. i want to see him winning, really like him

 

[Rollthedice]

Nibali will smoke 'em. His wife will be with him in Oman. Green mountain a la Froome last year.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Nibali will smoke 'em. His wife will be with him in Oman. Green mountain a la Froome last year.

nah. He will start his epic troling the same way he did last year. Giving his adversaries a false hope that he might only peak for the tour this year as well.

But when TA comes he will be ready. He will show the world that he is at the pinnacle of physical condition, gonna make Froome and AC look like kids that just got their first bikes while he blows the hell away from the peloton

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Valverde or Van Garderen will take this.

 

[SafeBet]

Valverde or Van Garderen will take this.

Or Lutsenko.


Ok maybe not.

 

[Jspear]

nah. He will start his epic troling the same way he did last year. Giving his adversaries a false hope that he might only peak for the tour this year as well.

But when TA comes he will be ready. He will show the world that he is at the pinnacle of physical condition, gonna make Froome and AC look like kids that just got their first bikes while he blows the hell away from the peloton

I agree with this for the most part. Don't think he'll do much in Oman, but definitely hope he is riding strong for TA. He will make at least Froome look like a kid. Not the great one.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Or Lutsenko.


Ok maybe not.

nah. No proper competition her for him to test himself against. Lutsenko never bothers with easy victories.

 

[Beech Mtn]

nah. He will start his epic troling the same way he did last year. Giving his adversaries a false hope that he might only peak for the tour this year as well.

But when TA comes he will be ready. He will show the world that he is at the pinnacle of physical condition, gonna make Froome and AC look like kids that just got their first bikes while he blows the hell away from the peloton

You better hope not. Otherwise Vino will send out another letter, and Nibs already said he will never forget the last one as long as he lives. If this happens, those two will have a massive mafia war.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

You better hope not. Otherwise Vino will send out another letter, and Nibs already said he will never forget the last one as long as he lives. If this happens, those two will have a massive mafia war.

That is why it is trolling. He just rides Oman for the lulz, but crushes everyone in TA, making Vino a happy Kazakh warlord

 

[Beech Mtn]

That is why it is trolling. He just rides Oman for the lulz, but crushes everyone in TA, making Vino a happy Kazakh warlord

Vino needs to get tough with Cookson next, and send a letter to UCI headquarters

 

[nhowson]

Pulling for K?nig, Valverde my favourite though. Nabbing Housing stage on the line. Are there time bonuses?

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Pulling for K?nig, Valverde my favourite though. Nabbing Housing stage on the line. Are there time bonuses?

This is from the Website:

Article 8. Bonuses:
Time bonuses, applied only to the general individual classification, are awarded for all stages according to article 2.6.019 of the UCI regulations.
They concern intermediate sprints and stage finishes, and are awarded as follows:

3", 2" and 1" will be awarded to the first 3 riders in intermediate sprints.
10", 6" and 4" will be awarded to the first 3 riders at stage finishes

 

[greenedge]

JROD to win.

I like how strong most teams are as well

 

[HappyLoser]

Doesn't it look like 2014 Tour de France squad? Pretty similar...

NIBALI Vincenzo
VAN GARDEREN Tejay
MAJKA Rafal
RODRIGUEZ Joaquim
VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
PINOT Thibaut
ARREDONDO MORENO Julian
KONIG Leopold
BARGUIL WARREN
COSTA Rui Alberto

I'm looking forward to see these guys fighting for GC.

 

[ILovecycling]

Nibali will smoke 'em. His wife will be with him in Oman. Green mountain a la Froome last year.

pretty easy when he won't have any serious oponnents

 

[Bernhard]

Kreuziger for victory. Will be stripped of it after CAS ruling.