A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 2015 UCI Asia Tour, race 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | 17–22 February 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 837 km (520.1 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 21h 09' 31" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2015 Tour of Oman was the sixth edition of the Tour of Oman cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.HC event on the 2015 UCI Asia Tour, and was held from 17 to 22 February 2015, in Oman.[1] The race was organised by the municipality of Muscat, in collaboration with ASO (the organisers of the Tour de France) and Paumer.[2] Chris Froome, the defending champion from 2013 and 2014, was not present to defend his title.
The decisive stage in this as in past editions was the climb of Jebel Akhdar.[3] That stage was won by Rafael Valls of Lampre–Merida, who went on to defend his overall race lead to the finish in Muscat. This was aided by the controversial events of stage 5, which was eventually abandoned due to extreme weather conditions. Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) finished second (as he had in 2014) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) finished third.
The points competition was won by Andrea Guardini (Astana), who won the first stage of the race. Louis Meintjes (MTN–Qhubeka) was the best young rider, while Jef Van Meirhaeghe (Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise) won the combativity prize after participating in the breakaway on every stage of the race. BMC Racing Team was the winner of the teams classification.
Teams
18 teams were selected to take part in the event, including 12 UCI WorldTeams.[4]
Pre-race favourites
The Tour of Oman was the third of a trio of stage races in the Middle East that come early in the road cycling season, following the Dubai Tour and the Tour of Qatar, in 2015 won by Mark Cavendish and Niki Terpstra respectively.[3] The distinctive feature of the Tour of Oman was the annual inclusion of the climb of Jebel Akhdar, the Green Mountain, which meant the general classification was generally won by climbing specialists. Many Grand Tour contenders started their seasons racing in Oman for this reason.[5]
In 2013 and 2014, the race was won by Chris Froome (Team Sky) as the beginning of his preparation for the Tour de France. In 2015, however, Froome opted to begin his season at the Vuelta a Andalucía and so missed the Tour of Oman.[6] The race was therefore expected to be contested between other Grand Tour riders, such as Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Rafał Majka (Tinkoff–Saxo), Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha), Rigoberto Urán (Etixx–Quick-Step) and Leopold König (Team Sky).[3][5][6][7]
Although the general classification was expected to be contested by climbers, many riders rode the Tour of Oman with other aims. Spring classics riders used the race as a last block of racing before the European classics season started with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, while sprinters aimed to win stages.[3] Notable sprinters at the 2015 race included Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha), who won three stages in the 2014 Tour of Qatar, Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff–Saxo).[6] Stages 1, 3 and 6 were predicted to be suited for the pure sprinters, while stages 2 and 5 were expected to suit riders who could cope with some climbing.[3]
Route
The 2015 event was scheduled to have six stages, including four flat stages, one medium-mountain stage and one mountain stage.[8]
| Stage | Date | Course | Type | Distance | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 February | Bayt Al Naman Castle to Wutayyah |  |
Flat stage | 161 km (100.0 mi) |  Andrea Guardini (ITA)
|
| 2 | 18 February | Al Hazm Castle to Al Bustan | |
Flat stage | 195 km (121.2 mi) |  Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
|
| 3 | 19 February | Al-Musannah Sports City to Al-Musannah Sports City | |
Flat stage | 158.5 km (98.5 mi) |  Alexander Kristoff (NOR)
|
| 4 | 20 February | Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque to Jebel Akhdar |  |
Mountain stage | 189 km (117.4 mi) |  Rafael Valls (ESP)
|
| 5 | 21 February | Al Sawadi Beach to Ministry of Housing |  |
Intermediate stage | 151.5 km (94.1 mi) | No winner |
| 6 | 22 February | Oman Air to Muttrah Promenade | |
Flat stage | 133.5 km (83.0 mi) |  Matthias Brändle (AUT)
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Stages
Stage 1
- 17 February 2015 — Bayt Al Naman Castle to Wutayyah, 161 km (100.0 mi)
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The first stage was a 161-kilometre (100-mile) route from Bayt al Naman Castle to Wutayyah on the outskirts of Muscat. It was a fairly flat course, with an uphill finish.[9] Temperatures exceeded 30 °C (86 °F).[10]
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The early breakaway was formed by Johann van Zyl (MTN–Qhubeka), Patrick Konrad (Bora–Argon 18), Simone Andreetta (Bardiani–CSF) and Jef Van Meirhaeghe (Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise), who built a lead of up to five minutes. The chasing peloton was led for most of the day by Team Katusha, in support of their leader Alexander Kristoff, for whom the uphill finish was ideal. Movistar Team and Trek Factory Racing aided in the chase.[10]
Van Zyl put in an attack with 85 kilometres (53 miles) remaining, leaving his breakaway companions behind. This group was soon caught by the peloton after Konrad suffered a puncture; van Zyl was caught with 32 kilometres (20 miles) remaining.[10] Team Katusha continued to lead the peloton until the final kilometres. At this point, Etixx–Quick-Step led out the sprint in support of Tom Boonen. However, they misjudged the difficulty towards the finish line: there was a 2–3% incline and a headwind.[11] This caused the team to mistime the sprint: Boonen's lead-out man Matteo Trentin was only able to support him until there were 200 metres (660 feet) remaining.[10] Andrea Guardini (Astana) was supported by his teammate Borut Božič and was then able to follow Boonen and come past him in the final 50 metres (160 feet) to take his first victory of 2015.[12] Matteo Pelucchi (Lampre–Merida) took third place.[13]
Guardini therefore took the red jersey of overall leader. Van Zyl, Konrad and Andreetta all finished on the same time as Guardini and so moved into the top ten thanks to bonus seconds won at intermediate sprints.[10]
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Stage 2
- 18 February 2015 — Al Hazm Castle to Al-Bustan, 195 km (121.2 mi)
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Stage 2 was the longest of the race, covering a 195-kilometre (121-mile) route from Al Hazm Castle to Al-Bustan. It was classified as a flat stage, but there were two notable climbs within the last 25 kilometres (16 miles), presenting the opportunity for riders to attack close to the finish.[15][16]
The early breakaway was formed by Gatis Smukulis (Team Katusha), Preben Van Hecke, Jef Van Meirhaeghe (both Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise), and Enrico Barbin (Bardiani–CSF). The chase was led by Astana, defending the red jersey of Andrea Guardini. After about 50 kilometres (31 miles), Barbin suffered a puncture; he was dropped by the remaining three riders and was then caught by the peloton.[17] As the stage progressed, Tinkoff–Saxo took control of the peloton in support of Peter Sagan. Their strong pace meant that the main group was soon catching the breakaway, but the peloton itself began to split, with riders including Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN–Qhubeka) and Arnaud Démare (FDJ) among the riders temporarily distanced from the front of the race.[16]
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The breakaway had a two-minute lead with 25 kilometres (16 miles) remaining, as they approached the climbs at the end of the stage. Smukulis attacked on the first climb, Al Hamriyah, and had a 30-second lead at the summit, with the peloton a little over a minute behind.[17] Guardini was among the riders who were dropped from the peloton, with Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) also in difficulty. Smukulis was caught soon afterwards, with 16.5 kilometres (10 miles) remaining, under continued impetus from Tinkoff–Saxo.[16][17]
On the second climb, Al Jissah, there was an attack from Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team), Julián Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing), and Louis Meintjes (MTN–Qhubeka). Pinot, Rodríguez and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) were all dropped by the peloton, now reduced to a small group. This group, made up of 14 riders, was able to catch the breakaway soon after the climb.[17] Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team), Rafał Majka (Tinkoff–Saxo) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) all made attacks in the final 5 kilometres (3 miles), but were unable to stay away and the race came down to a sprint.[16]
The Movistar Team did much of the pace-setting in support of Valverde, before BMC Racing Team attempted to set up Greg Van Avermaet for the uphill sprint at the finish. Despite these efforts, Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) was able to sprint to victory. Valverde was second, with Van Avermaet in third place.[16] This victory meant that Cancellara took over the lead of both the general classification and the points competition.[17] It was his first race victory since the 2014 Tour of Flanders the previous spring.[18]
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Stage 3
- 19 February 2015 — Al-Musannah Sports City to Al-Musannah Sports City, 158.5 km (98.5 mi)
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Stage 3 was a 158.5-kilometre (98-mile) route that started and ended at Al-Musannah Sports City. The route was mostly flat with no significant climbs and the roads at the finish were wide and straight, so the stage was likely to end in a bunch sprint.[20][21]
Jef Van Meirhaeghe (Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise) was again in the breakaway, along with his teammate Preben Van Hecke and Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani–CSF). Initially there was a lack of agreement in the peloton about who should lead the chase. Trek Factory Racing were supporting race leader Fabian Cancellara, but they wanted the sprinters' teams to support the chase. The breakaway was therefore allowed a lead that reached nine minutes, but eventually agreement between the chasing teams brought control and the lead was reduced to six minutes. The breakaway was eventually caught with 15 kilometres (9 miles) remaining.[21]
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In the final 10 kilometres (6 miles) many teams, including Astana, Movistar Team, MTN–Qhubeka and Tinkoff–Saxo, sought to lead out their sprinters. In the confusion, Matteo Trentin (Etixx–Quick-Step) crashed and was forced to abandon the race. Team Katusha moved up in the final 5 kilometres (3 miles) in support of Alexander Kristoff. Kristoff's lead out train was strong and positioned him well for the final sprint.[21][22] In the finishing straight, there was a significant headwind, and, when Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) opened his sprint too early, Kristoff was able to follow him and come round to take his fourth victory of the season, just ahead of Andrea Guardini (Astana).[23] Cancellara retained his overall lead in the race.[21]