Six days of racing in the sun await the squad starting from February 9.
Following a strong outing at the AlUla Tour, our team will continue its journey in the Middle East this month, when a seven-man team will line out at the start of one of the oldest races in the region, the Tour of Oman. Just like last year, the event will be preceded by the Muscat Classic, a hilly one-day race favouring the attackers and those capable of surviving the hills and still carrying some speed at the end of the day.
Starting twenty-four hours later, the Tour of Oman will once again revolve around the Green Mountain climb, arguably one of the hardest in the sport, where Mauri Vansevenant produced an amazing display last year, taking the 900th victory in the team’s history and moving up to second on general classification. Jabal Al Akhdhar won’t be the only summit finish of the week, the Eastern Mountain – a 4.6km climb averaging 8.5% – being also set to take the riders over 1000 meters on stage three.
Soudal Quick-Step’s team for the six days in Oman will consist of Gil Gelders, former winner of the stage race Jan Hirt, Antoine Huby, Luke Lamperti, Paul Magnier – who just two weeks ago in Mallorca became the youngest Frenchman since 1953 to win a pro race – Fausto Masnada and Mauri Vansevenant.
“Muscat Classic is a nice one-day race, where we could have a lot of action before a reduced bunch sprint. Concerning the five-day race, there’s a chance for a mass gallop there, but other than that, the route will be for the climbers and puncheurs, with some hard stages and ascents. Of these, the Green Mountain promises to be again decisive in the fight for the overall standings. We’ll try to do a good GC, but our main goal is to go for a stage win, and we have a strong team capable of fighting for one”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Wilfried Peeters.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
