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

[Tournesol]

How big is the chance that Kristoff is gonna take the stage? 50%?

It is really only Bouhanni who can beat him, but Kristoff seems to be a much better shape. I don't think Sagan can beat him in a flat sprint.

With better timing Sagan would have beat him in one of the Qatar sprints, only an inch in it on the line.

 

[grizzlee]

I heard the finish is slightly uphill, so it may be a bit more interesting.

Could Bennett spring another surprise here for Bora. He said he wasn't fully flat out taking the last stage in Qatar. And he has a really good kick on an uphill finish. Will be very hard to outsprint Kristoff though.

 

[Bushman]

How big is the chance that Kristoff is gonna take the stage? 50%?

It is really only Bouhanni who can beat him, but Kristoff seems to be a much better shape. I don't think Sagan can beat him in a flat sprint.

Bennett is also there.

 

[indianfanboy]

link to the oman sport channel..they have shown glimpses of the race till now.They might show the finish

http://part.gov.om/part/english/Sport-Channal.html

 

[indianfanboy]

Katusha at the front now with Tinkoff-Saxo behind them

 

[grizzlee]

Guardini!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[indianfanboy]

Gaurdini wins !!

 

[indianfanboy]

Boonen 2nd and Pelucchi 3rd

 

[indianfanboy]

Kristoff and Bouhanni finished 4th and 6th respectively

 

[grizzlee]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-CwBgRCIAAXdUo.jpg

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Grande Guardini!

 

[metaCYCLE]

Finally Guardini??? Yay!

 

[wirral]

27 degrees Celsius. The hotter it is, the greater the chance of a Guardini victory. It is a simple formula.

 

[Carols]

Guardini has been knocking and knocking on the door, finally went on through. Good Show!

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Last year belgian rider Kristoff Goddaert was supposed to be riding. Unfortunately excatctly a year on tomorrow will be one year on from his fatal collision with a bus in Antwerp that meant he didnt start the 2014 Tour of Oman.

 

[Tournesol]

Our thoughts are with Goddaerts family at this difficult time.

Tomorrow's stage looks a bit more interesting than today.Two KOM climbs in the last 30k which may or may not get rid of some of the sprinters.Looks on paper like a stage for Sagan/Kristoff/GVA etc but others in the mix too.

What do we think of these two 'classified' climbs?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

And today's winner is.... the rider with the funny hat.

@Tournesol: agree, this could be an entertaining finish.

GVA or maybe Costa for me.

Profile reminder (stage 2):

 

[search]

What do we think of these two 'classified' climbs?

they are identical as last year and the year before. In 2014 it came down to a bunch sprint Greipel won, in 2013 it was way more selective, Contador attacked on the climb, got caught on the descent, and Sagan won solo.

This year the stage finishes at the former 1km mark though, so the distance from the summit to the finish is 5.5km instead of 6.5, and the stage itself is way longer (50km additional), which might lead to a more selective race

 

[Tournesol]

they are identical as last year and the year before. In 2014 it came down to a bunch sprint Greipel won, in 2013 it was way more selective, Contador attacked on the climb, got caught on the descent, and Sagan won solo.

This year the stage finishes at the former 1km mark though, so the distance from the summit to the finish is 5.5km instead of 6.5, and the stage itself is way longer (50km additional), which might lead to a more selective race

Thanks for the info,could be an interesting finale.Sagan will like this as previous years show but could even see Nibali have a go here,its a finish that should appeal to a broad cross section of attacking riders one would think.

Hope its not a bunch sprint.

 

[manafana]

Yeah I think a pure sprinter wont win its bit too much today, for some reason three italians came to mind as outsiders, Pozzatto, Battaglin and Colbrelli. All 3 could handle themselves here , 2 have least gone close already this season

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Twitter stuff: https://twitter.com/tourofoman

Small group up the road.

Gatis Smukulis, Preben van Hecke, Jef van Meiraeghe and Enrico Barbin with 5 minutes.

 

[SafeBet]

Yeah I think a pure sprinter wont win its bit too much today, for some reason three italians came to mind as outsiders, Pozzatto, Battaglin and Colbrelli. All 3 could handle themselves here , 2 have least gone close already this season

I guess Bardiani will ride for Sonny anyway.
This could be very selective though. Even Valverde has a chance.

 

[Lance Armstrong]

My guess is sprint of small group of 25 riders. Kristoff vs Sagan.

 

[Sinafey]

Here is a highlights of yesterday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSh6XKTyqVk

 

[Flamin]

Bouhanni still sprinting backwards it seems.