Tour of Oman - Muscat Classic 2025 , February 7-12

[Samu Cuenca]

Well, yes... but they haven't been behaving recently.

I won't give you my lungs, but you can have a cow.

Spoiler

 

[repre]

He has ridden Grand Tours before.

L'Avenir is not a GT!

 

[RedheadDane]

I won't give you my lungs, but you can have a cow.

Spoiler

That is clearly a puppy!

 

[Lequack]

Live stream

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGL52yeOwVM

 

[tobydawq]

Kongphob, that's some name.

Sounds like the king of pop.

 

[Berniece]

Olav Kooij with an easy win

 

[theyoungest]

Olav Kooij with an easy win

Too easy. This sprinters field is really poor.

 

[Berniece]

Too easy. This sprinters field is really poor.

Most of them went to Alula or stayed in Europe

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The field is apparently still much too tough for Hayter.

 

[armchairclimber]

Bittner made a mess of that one. Again no real lead out, but was left way too far back.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Most sprinters are likely to face each other in UAE Tour. Nice weather, wide roads, WT status and more important, 4 flat stages perfect for a sprint showdown.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Missed the stage, anybody could kindly inform me why ha s Ulissi abondoned???

 

[Keldergoat]

Victory 38 for Kooij who just recently turned 23. Put him on the potential contenders for 100 pro wins.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Victory 38 for Kooij who just recently turned 23. Put him on the potential contenders for 100 pro wins.

Wait a little bit. Next year he will leave Visma and will start to challenge more important races. He still needs to show he can win consistently against the best sprinters. But he is doing great right now.

 

[ingsve]

Missed the stage, anybody could kindly inform me why ha s Ulissi abondoned???

Gastroenteritis.

 

[Netserk]

Wait a little bit. Next year he will leave Visma and will start to challenge more important races. He still needs to show he can win consistently against the best sprinters. But he is doing great right now.

He mostly won on the WT last year, and he'll only do big races from now on until summer. I think it's likely that he won't race any non-WT stage races for the rest of the year.

I also think he'll win at least 3 stages in the Giro this year. If he stays on Visma, I think he'll do Giro-Vuelta next year, and he has the qualities to do so without a train.

 

[Peyroteo94]

He mostly won on the WT last year, and he'll only do big races from now on until summer. I think it's likely that he won't race any non-WT stage races for the rest of the year.

I also think he'll win at least 3 stages in the Giro this year. If he stays on Visma, I think he'll do Giro-Vuelta next year, and he has the qualities to do so without a train.

It is true but he also won "only" 8 races last year and for him to reach 100 wins it is hard specially if he is racing against world class sprinters (normally in important WT races). I agree he will win stages in the Giro, specially due to WVA's leadouts. Other than that, it will be tough for him to reach 100 unless he starts racing a lot of minor races just like Kristoff or Demare.

 

[theyoungest]

It is true but he also won "only" 8 races last year and for him to reach 100 wins it is hard specially if he is racing against world class sprinters (normally in important WT races). I agree he will win stages in the Giro, specially due to WVA's leadouts. Other than that, it will be tough for him to reach 100 unless he starts racing a lot of minor races just like Kristoff or Demare.

I'm sure the media will make that the story, "Kooij won thanks to Wout", but if anyone doesn't need a leadout it's Olav Kooij. He has a perfect sense of positioning for the sprint.

He has hardly ever had a proper leadout on Visma... except indeed a few times by Van Aert, but that was in the Tour of Britain where he would have won regardless.

 

[Berniece]

It is true but he also won "only" 8 races last year and for him to reach 100 wins it is hard specially if he is racing against world class sprinters (normally in important WT races). I agree he will win stages in the Giro, specially due to WVA's leadouts. Other than that, it will be tough for him to reach 100 unless he starts racing a lot of minor races just like Kristoff or Demare.

He dropped out early in the Giro due to illness with 4-5 more chances to sprint. Should also be taken into account.

 

[Samamba]

He mostly won on the WT last year, and he'll only do big races from now on until summer. I think it's likely that he won't race any non-WT stage races for the rest of the year.

I also think he'll win at least 3 stages in the Giro this year. If he stays on Visma, I think he'll do Giro-Vuelta next year, and he has the qualities to do so without a train.

The great Tour of Holland??????

 

[AmRacer]

He dropped out early in the Giro due to illness with 4-5 more chances to sprint. Should also be taken into account.

So, if he wins 97 races, it's okay because of the early Giro drop out 🤔

 

[Keldergoat]

Wait a little bit. Next year he will leave Visma and will start to challenge more important races. He still needs to show he can win consistently against the best sprinters. But he is doing great right now.

That's why I said 'potentially'. I think everyone realizes reaching 100 pro wins is extremely hard to attain. It's averaging 10 wins per season for a decade, which is ridicilously impressive and consistent. But Kooij is at an impressive number already, and he has shown to be able to win at WT level as well.

 

[YavorD]

It is true but he also won "only" 8 races last year and for him to reach 100 wins it is hard specially if he is racing against world class sprinters (normally in important WT races). I agree he will win stages in the Giro, specially due to WVA's leadouts. Other than that, it will be tough for him to reach 100 unless he starts racing a lot of minor races just like Kristoff or Demare.

A lot of races in February allows you to rack up 3-5 wins before even Paris-Nice. Then he only needs 6 other wins to go to 10.
Kooij is 23 and needs to average 10 wins for the next 6 years. Not an easy task but certainly very reachable. I didn't check stats but at his age Kristoff and Demare probably didn't have as many wins combined.

 

[Netserk]

The great Tour of Holland??????

True. I had only Pologne and Benelux in mind.

 

[pablohidalgo7]

In speed I already see him very much on par with Philipsen and only below the beasts of Merlier and Milan, but Kooij can beat them because I have rarely seen in my more than 20 years watching cycling a sprinter with such ease and instinct to make the right decisions in the middle of a sprint, he is also moderately versatile, has good resistance for his age and seems like a very focused and determined but realistic guy.
If injuries respect him, he has all the qualities to be a top 10 sprinter of all time and of course reach 100 victories, but not in Visma unless things change a lot, this status for a sprinter is achieved by winning in the Tour and since last year he has the level to compete and win there...