Tour of Oman: Bardet and Aru start favourites

Sports Monday 13/February/2017 22:20 PM
By: Times News Service
Tour of Oman: Bardet and Aru start favourites

Muscat: The 8th edition of the Tour of Oman gets underway on Tuesday for six stages in and around Muscat. After the likes of Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali, Frenchman Romain Bardet and Italian Fabio Aru look to be the favourites of the event and will be hoping to add their name to the winner’s list.
Six days of racing, close to 900kms to be covered, sprints, hills and mountain top finishes: the 2017 Tour of Oman should prove to be just as exciting as the previous years.
In ideal conditions, some like multiple Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders winner Tom Boonen (QST) will be focused on fine-tuning their shape and gaining confidence before the all-important spring classics.
In his final season as a pro rider, the Belgian will face a very strong opposition when it comes to sprinting including Alexander Kristoff (KAT), winner of four stages already in Oman but also Olympic Champion Greg Van Avermaet (BMC).
The ‘Fabulous Three’ who will be among the favourites once in Belgian and Northern France will face sprinters such as Sacha Modolo (UAE), British Champion Adam Blythe (ABS) and Sonny Colbrelli (BRN) as soon as stage one finishes at Naseem Park.
While some will focus on the flat stages, the path to overall glory will be a long and demanding one. As soon as stage two, one will have to be well placed in the battle for the Red Jersey.
A runner-up last year, Romain Bardet knows just that. While he probably won’t win the race in the first four days, he’ll need to be among those fighting for stage victories.
The Frenchman who finished second of last year’s stage finishing at Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) will be looking for revenge. After battling it out with Vincenzo Nibali in 2016, the AG2R-La Mondiale leader will face another Italian, Fabio Aru (AST) who needs to hit back after a rather disappointing last season that followed his triumph at the 2015 Vuelta a Espana.
2014 World Champion Rui Costa (UAE) and Olympic Silver Medallist Jakob Fuglsang should also be fighting for the GC while good surprises could come from promising riders like Bob Jungels (QST), Merhawi Kudus (DDD) or Guillaume Martin (WGG).
Bob Jungels said: “I have a great memory of my week in Oman last year. I know my shape is rather good but I’ll need to see how my legs respond. I’m pretty sure the race will be decided on Green Mountain and I’ll do my best to be at the front there and fight for the GC.”
BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet, meanwhile said: “I had a hard winter and I want to be ready for the classics. The Tour of Oman is always part of my preparation.”