Tour of Oman 2019 – Overall Preview

By David Hunter

The peloton head East for the 10th edition of the Tour of Oman, the best of the races in the region. The stages will look familiar to those who have seen the race before, I’m not surprised the organisers have stuck with a traditional format, as it does work very well.

Stage 1

We start with an easy sprint stage, but most of it is on the coast, which brings the prospect of crosswinds. This should be a battle between Greipel, Bouhanni, Bonifazio, Kristoff, Nizzolo, Colbrelli, Coquard, De Decker and Menten.

Stage 2

The traditional finish in Al Bustan. The race explodes on the final climb, Al Jissah, giving us a small uphill sprint. Previous winners of this stage are: Haas, Jungels, Cancellara, Greipel and Sagan.

Stage 3

The finish in Qurayyat is a fairly recent arrival to the race, it was introduced in 2016. The uphill grind to the line gives climbers and puncheurs a chance of success, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Soren Kragh Andersen have won this stage in the past.

The climb isn’t really long enough for the pure climbers to drop all the faster men, but they still have a chance.

Stage 4

New finish alert! This is the usual stage that finishes at the Ministry of Tourism, but now the bunch have an extra 12km from the final climb to the finish. That should mean a bigger bunch approaching the line compared to previous years.

Stage 5

The big GC day with the climb of the Green Mountain.

This is a brutal climb, 5.6km at 10.1%, and usually decides the GC. Last year saw a massive surprise, with Alexey Lutsenko managing to climb with the very best. Can he repeat this in 2019?

Stage 6

The race finishes with the usual stage to Matrah Corniche. The short kicker close to the line does give the tougher sprinters a better chance of winning, with Alexander Kristoff taking this stage in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Contenders

Alexey Lutsenko – I’m still in shock at his win in 2018. Luts is well known as a top rider, but more of an Ardennes style guy, not a Green Mountain type guy! Astana had a very strong team last year, this year not so much. To prepare for this race, Lutsenko has recently been training on Teide, producing some impressive figures. Since the race began, only Chris Froome has managed to retain his title, it would be an incredible achievement if Lutsenko managed to do the same.

Ben O’Connor – the Aussie started off the season in the Tour Down Under, but he was riding in the service of others. As this race is all about the climb of the Green Mountain, this time he’ll be the team leader. O’Connor was one of the breakthrough riders of 2018, thanks to a brilliant performance in the Giro, which even earned him a spot in my riders to watch in 2019 series, which you can read here . A lot of people are excited to see what he can do in 2019, as he genuinely looks like a rider of high quality. He shouldn’t lose any time in the tougher stages, but a lack of a sprint means it’s unlikely he’ll be challenging for bonus seconds. His overall performance in the race depends on how he climbs the Green Mountain.

Rui Costa – 10th in Valenciana was a solid start to his season. The former world champion enjoyed a good 2018, but I do find it interesting that he didn’t ride a grand tour. Costa has a history of starting the season in good form, particularly in this part of the world. UAE are always keen to perform well in this block of races and Costa is their best chance of success. He’ll be hoping to challenge in stages 2, 3 and 5 and he really should be walking away from the race with a stage win.

Jesús Herrada – the Cofidis man is another who’s clearly enjoyed a good Winter. He started off by winning Trofeo Ses Salines, before following that up with 6th place in Valenciana. Cofidis aren’t a team we often see competing for GC victories, but Herrada is good enough to do so in Oman. As the start list lacks some quality compared to previous years, he really should be targeting the top 5.

Domenico Pozzovivo – now 36 years old, the little Italian has moved into the veteran category, but this doesn’t seem to be slowing him down. 2018 was a good year for him, finishing 5th in the Giro was my highlight. The problem for Pozzovivo has always been winning, he just doesn’t do it enough considering the positions he gets into. Just three victories in the last six years isn’t good enough for a rider of his quality. Looking at this race, he’ll be confident of adding to his tally as he starts as the best climber in the race. He’ll hope to make the others suffer on the Green Mountain and take the overall victory.

Stef Cras – at the other end of his career is the young Belgian riding for Katusha – Alpecin. Just 22, Cras is still very young compared to most of his rivals. Last year was his first at this level and was all about learning and improving, we should start to see the results this year. Cras is a quality climber, he finished 5th in the 2017 Tour de l’Avenir, a result that shouldn’t be forgotten. Hopefully he starts the year off with a top 10 result and gains some confidence heading into the next few races.

Brandon McNulty – another quality youngster. The American is just 20 years old, but he’s already turned down moves to the World Tour, we shall see if this was the right decision to make. Rally have slowly grown their reputation on the big stage and have been rewarded with wildcard slots in some prestigious races, which allows their riders to compete against the very best. McNulty is a brilliant climber and I look forward to seeing him match up against the quality on show in this race. He could well be battling O’Connor and Cras for the white jersey.

Prediction Time

This year sees a significant drop in the level of GC rider at the race, which is a real shame. The competing teams also don’t seem to have a lot of depth to them, meaning this race should come down to a battle between the climbers on the Green Mountain. Astana have made a fast start to the year and I think this will continue in Oman with Alexey Lutsenko successfully defending his crown.

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David Hunter

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