Greg Van Avermaet will lead BMC Racing Team at the Tour of Oman
Greg Van Avermaet will lead the BMC squad at the Tour of Oman, where he continue his preparation for the Spring Classics
BMC is sending a versatile team to Oman that can tackle the Classic-like finishes and sprints and even fight for the General Classification.
"We are heading to Oman with some of our Classics team, and traditionally this race is the final preparation for Van Avermaet ahead of the first Classic," said the team's Sports Director Valerio Piva. "We saw that he was looking strong in Valencia and there are some finishes that should be good for him here, so he will be our leader."
"However, we will also have Jempy Drucker on the start line as our sprinter, and then, when we look to the General Classification and the stage finish on Green Mountain, I think we will look to protect Nicolas Roche. He will be coming out of the Dubai Tour and I think he can do something there. Overall, we will have to take the race day by day, but we are taking a strong group of riders, and collectively we can look for opportunities to go for stage wins."
Van Avermaet is determined to test his condition ahead of the crucial part of his season. "The season started with a solid week of racing in Spain, and now, I'm looking forward to heading back to the start line at the Tour of Oman," said the Olympic medallist.
"It's a good race with some nice stages that should suit me so, not only will I be looking to improve my shape before the start of my Classics campaign in Belgium but I also want to take the opportunity to go for stage wins where possible."
Last year team mate Ben Hermanss won the overall title after winning the second stage and the Queen stage which finished on the summit of Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain).
The Tour of Oman starts February 13th and consists of six stages and ends on February 18th 2018.
Van Avermaet and Nibali Headline GC Lineup
The race provides an early opportunity to tackle some difficult climbs and test the riders' fitness. The race has two sprinter-friendly stages, while puncheurs – riders who thrive on rolling terrain and short, steep climbs -- will have several chances to surprise the peloton.
Most importantly for the GC, the Green Mountain summit finish comes on the eve of the final stage to Matrah Corniche, where climbers will meet their moment of truth.
It is hard to resist the siren call of the Omani mountains. Offering the first really difficult climbs of the season, the opportunity to conquer them continues to attract an increasingly wide range of riders each year.
The familiar punchy finishes on the Al Jissah climb at Al Bustan (1.4 km at 9%) and in Quriyat (2.8 km at 6.5%) are tailor-made for opportunistic attackers like Greg Van Avermaet and seasoned professionals Vincenzo Nibali and Diego Ullissi.
The showdown on these climbs will serve as the prelude to what will be the main event of the Tour of Oman: the ascent of Jabel Akhdhar (Green Mountain). In this penultimate stage, the GC contenders will meet on the slopes of this demanding climb to gauge their form and see if their dreams of overall victory will be fulfilled.
But in the Middle East climbers are not the only kings. The masters of the finishing straight, such as Marcel Kittel and Alexander Kristoff, will also have multiple opportunities to lunge for the victory. Qaboos University and Matrah Corniche will be the settings for these exciting high-speed finishes. The fast men of the peloton will put their trains to work in these two stages, seeking to polish their positioning and oil the machine in order to claim their first major win of the season.
Notable teams that are absent are Team Sky, Lotto Soudal and LottoNL-Jumbo.
Nibali, a former overall winner of the race will line up and look to secure two wins, equalling that of Chris Froome.
American Team Rally Cycling have been confirmed in the line up with a strong team including Rob Britton, Tyler Magner and Brandon McNulty to name a few.
2018 Tour of Oman Stages
Stage 1, Tue February 13 - Nizwa to Sultan Qaboos University, 162.5 km
The opening stage will give the sprinters a chance to battle it out for the leaders jersey, with a fast finish in front of Sultan Qaboos University.
Stage 2 Wed February 14 - Sultan Qaboos University to Al Bustan, 167.5 km
Stage two’s route covers hillier terrain well suited to the punchers, the stage could see a breakway or lots of attacks.
Stage 3 Thu February 15 - University of Technology to Wadi Dayqah Dam, 179.5 km
Starting from the German University of Technology to Wadi Dayqah Dam, it includes the final climb that is 800 metres high with gradients of 10 per cent
Stage 4 Fri February 16 - Jebel Sifah Resort to Ministry of Tourism, 117.5 km
A rolling short stage of 117 km which could finish in a bunch sprint or a breakawsy.
Stage 5 Sat February 17 - Sama il to Jabal Al Akhdhar, 152 km
The Queen Stage of the Tour of Oman has finished with the ascent of Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) for the last seven editions, and this tradition will continue. The 5.7 km climb averages at 10.5 per cent, and the eventual winner could well be decided on it slopes.
Stage 6 Sun February 18 - The Wave Muscat to Matrah Corniche, 130.5 km
Another sprinters stage, one for the fast men, the stage finishes at Matrah Corniche.
VIDEO: 2018 Tour of Oman Teaser
2018 Teams and Riders Confirmed (so far)
ASTANA PRO TEAM – AST (KAZ)
1.Angel Miguel LOPEZ
2.Alexey LUTSENKO
3.Tanel KANGERT
4.Omar FRAILE
BAHRAIN MERIDA – TBM (BRN)
1.Vincenzo NIBALI
2.Franco PELLIZOTTI
3.Manuele BOARO
4.Antonio NIBALI
5.Gorka IZAGUIRRE
6.Kristijan KOREN
BMC RACING TEAM – BMC (USA)
1.Greg VAN AVERMAET
2.Nicholas ROCHE
3.Alberto BETTIOL
QUICK – STEP FLOORS – QST (BLG)
1.Dries DEVENYNS
2.Niki TERSPTRA
TEAM DIMENSION DATA – DDD (RSA)
1.Merhawi KUDUS
2.Lachlan MORTON
3.Ryan GIBBONS
4.Natnael BERHANE
TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN – KAT (SUI)
1.Ian BOSWELL
2.Nathan HAAS
3.Baptiste PLANCKAERT
4.Nils PILITT
5.Steff CRAS
TEAM SUNWEB – SUN (GER)
1.Soren Kragh ANDERSEN
2.Roy CURVERS
3.Michael STORER
4.Edward THEUNS
5.Albert TIMMER
6.Martijn WALSCHEID
UAE TEAM EMIRATES – UAD (UAE)
1.Alexander KRISTOFF
2.Rui FARIA DA COSTA
3.Diego ULISSI
4.Roberto FERRARI
5.Marco MARCATO
AQUA BLUE SPORT – ABS (IRL)
1.Adam BLYTHE
2.Christian MARK
3.Lawrence WARBASSE
4.Aaron GATE
5.Casper PEDERSON
6.Conor DUNE
7.Daniel PEARSON
COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS – COF (FRA)
1.Christophe LAPORTE
2.Dimitri CLAEYS
3.Anthony TURGIS
4.Anthony PEREZ
5.Mathias LE TURNIER
TEAM FORTUNEO – OSCARO – TOF (FRA)
1.Jéremy MAISON
2.Brice FEILLU
3.Anthony DELAPLACE
4.Elie GESBERT
5.Pierre-Luc PERICHON
CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA – CJR (ESP)
1.Yannis YSSAAD
2.Rafael REIS
3.Justin OIEN
4.Nick SCHULTZ
5.Fabricio FERRARI
6.Danilo CELANO
7.Joaquim SILVA
ROOMPOT – NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ – RNL (NED)
1.Pieter WEENING –
2.Nick VAN DER LIJKE –
3.Jeroen MEIJERS –
4.Taco VAN DER HOORN
SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE – SVB (BEL)
1.Piet ALLEGAERT
2.Amaury CAPIOT
3.Aimé DE GENDT
4.Benjamin DECLERCQ
5.Emiel PLANCKAERT
6.Maxime FARAZIJN
7.Jordi WARLOP
WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT – WGG (BEL)
1.Guillaume MARTIN
2.Odd EIKING
3.Fabien DOUBAY
4.Andrea PASQUALON
VITAL CONCEPT (FRA)
1.Bryan COQUARD
2.Kevin REZA
3.Quentin PACHER
4.Kris BOECKMANS
5.Bert DE BACKER
RALLY CYCLING (USA)
1.Robert BRITTON
2.Nigel ELLSAY
3.Danny PATE
4.Tyler MAGNER
5.Brandon MCNULTY
6.Kyle MURPHY
7.Eric YOUNG