Tour of Oman 2017 – Stage 6 Preview
By David Hunter
The Wave – Matrah Corniche 130.5km
The race ends with a fast sprint stage. The organisers have decided to stick with the final stage from 2016, it did produce an exciting finish.
The two categorised climbs are steep but too far out to really cause any damage. One climb that does have an impact on the race, is the little bump just before the finish. This climb is uncategorised and not very hard, but the riders sprint all the way up and it crests with around 3km remaining. If a sprinter losses positions on the climb, it’s hard to make the ground back up.
It is also a possible launchpad for any late escape. Stopping any late attack will be Katusha, they will be hoping for a third stage of the week for Alexander Kristoff.
Weather
There will be a strong crosswind for most of the day, some teams might want to try and split the race up. Once heading for home, the riders will face a headwind, bad news for the late attackers.
Contenders
Alexander Kristoff – the Norwegian is miles better than the other sprinters here. Not only that, but his sprint train is the best too. He has Kuznetsov, Haller and Morkov to prepare the sprints. That is a phenomenal train, at this type of race.
Kristian Sbaragli – his 2nd place in the opening stage was a great result. The Dimension Data boys have had a brilliant week, they have managed to place a rider 8th or higher in every stage so far. With the likes of Jay Robert Thomson and Nathan Haas to help, their Italian will be looking to make the podium.
Roy Jans – the Belgian was caught behind the Boonen crash on stage 1. Saying that, he did well to force his way back up the bunch and sprint to 7th. Riding for the Veranclassic team, I expect him to do better in this stage. He managed 6th in this stage in 2016.
Jempy Drucker – another rider that suffered misfortune in the opening stage. A solid sprinter, especially in a field like this, he could challenge for the podium. BMC have had a brilliant week, Drucker could just finish it off with another big result.
Sacha Modolo – the Italian has four top 10 results already in 2017. The problem for him is that he’s not done better than 5th. 2016 was a frustrating year for Modolo, he knows that he should be delivering against these sprinters.
Tom Boonen – he crashed hard in stage 1, and we haven’t seen him since. This is a short stage, so I would hope to see Boonen sprinting at the end. With Jungels, Terpstra and Lampaert they have a train capable of challenging Katusha for control of the closing kilometres.
Adam Blythe – seems to have perfected the skill of getting on a good wheel and then disappearing into thin air! Keep a close eye out for him in this finish, you might just see him vanish before your eyes.
Sonny Colbrelli – it’s been a good week for the Italian, with a 2nd and 3rd place, better than I thought he was capable of. With Bole and Bozic, he seems to have found two riders good at delivering him into position. It would take a brilliant ride to win, but he will be confident of making another podium.
Zico Waeytens – was a surprising 2nd here in 2016. As their German sprinter, Walscheid, has gone home, I would expect them to turn to the Belgian. It will be hard to match his result from last year.
Prediction Time
Win number three for Alexander Kristoff.
*Overall previewDavid HunterFollow us on @CiclismoInterJoin us on facebook: Ciclismo Internacional
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