Tour of Oman 2024 to begin on Feb 10

MUSCAT: Tour of Oman 2024 is set to begin on Saturday from Oman Across Ages Museum to Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) with the participation of 17 teams representing well-known teams from Asia, Australia, Europe and the US. The organising committee of the race will unveil the details of the 13th edition of Tour of Oman in a press meet that is scheduled to take place on Thursday at Hormuz Grand Hotel at 12:00 pm (Oman time) in presence of domestic and international media representatives besides the race officials.

Prior to Tour of Oman 2024 start, the second edition of the Muscat Classic will kick off on Friday on a 174.3 km course finishing on a 1.1 km with an average gradient of 10% climb that is the perfect launch pad for a puncher to launch a searing attack. The one-day Muscat Classic event will be organised by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth in coordination with Oman Cycling Association (OCA) and many government and private entities. The Muscat Classic event will be starting from Al Mouj Muscat and will conclude in Al Bustan. As many as 17 teams will take part in the race on Friday including Oman International team.

Tour of Oman 2024 will witness five stages covering a total distance of 867.4 km with two bonus sprints from stage 1 to 5. The opening route on Saturday will begin from Oman Across Ages Museum until Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) with a distance of 181.5km while the following day's stage will start from As Sifah to Qurayyat covering distance of 170.4 km. The third day's route will be from Bidbid until Eastern Mountain on Monday within 169.3 km. The fourth stage of the race will start from Al Rustaq Fort to Yitti Hills with a distance of 207.5km on Tuesday. The concluding stage of the Tour is scheduled on Wednesday. The race will begin in Imty (Izki) and finish in Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) for a distance of 138.7 km.

KRISTOFF LEADS FIELD

Alexander Kristoff, the most prolific stage hunter in the history of the race, is determined to take his tally to 10 victories, but he will have to contend with rivals such as Caleb Ewan, Fabio Jakobsen, Bryan Coquard and the precocious Paul Magnier, who let his raw speed do the talking in Spain for the first race of the season. The Norwegian will have but one shot at this goal, considering that the summit finish of stage 2 to Qurayyat, a 2.6 km ascent at an average gradient of 7%, is probably more than he can handle.

The national cycling team, led by technical expert Waleed al Zamni and head coach Maher al Hasnawi and Marwan al Zinaqi, will take part in the Tour of Oman 2024 with a crew of seven riders. It will be a great chance for the domestic riders to gain the required technical experience among the world ranking riders and the international teams in the world class race.

The first edition of Tour of Oman was held in 2010 and this is the 13rd edition of the race.

Oman cycling team comprise Abdul Rahman al Yaqoobi, Mazin al Riyami, Mohammed al Wahaibi, Abdullah al Ghilani, Munther al Hasani, Said al Rahbi and Saif al Amri.