Hot on the heels of a breakout performance at the Dubai Tour, Rally Cycling heads east to race the 900 km Tour of Oman. Starting on February 13th, all six stages run near the capital city of Muskat and include two flat days along the Persian Gulf, three days in the hills to the south, and a stage five summit finish to Jabal Al Akhdhar.
Due to the punchy course profiles in Oman, many teams have opted to send teams focused around climbing. Rally Cycling has taken a different approach to contest finishes.
“Most teams in Oman are a little light on sprinters,” said Team Director Eric Wohlberg. “We are not. We hope to take control of the race with our leadout train, and set them up as best we can while still having cards to play in the mountains.”
After a seventh place finish in the opening sprint of the Dubai Tour, Rally Cycling’s leadout train is off to a fast start. Once again the trio of Eric Young, Ty Magner, and Brad Huff will contest the expected sprints on stages one and six. With climbing points and stage honors up for grabs in the middle stages, Robin Carpenter will look to build on his impressive breakaway performance from last week. With the support of team captain Danny Pate and following his special “Doesn’t Crack Under Pressure” award at the Dubai Tour, Brandon McNulty will set his sights on the general classification showdown on Jabal Al Akhdhar.
Adam de Vos will replace Jesse Anthony for Oman after Anthony took a hard fall in stage one of the Dubai Tour, resulting in a broken humerus. Anthony is home in Newbury Park, CA will he is recovering with four to six weeks of riding on his Kinetic Road Machine Smart Trainer.
“I’m excited to get racing,” said Adam de Vos. “The guys put on a good show last week in Dubai, and I think the courses suit the team even better in Oman. It looks like the leadout is getting dialed so I’ll help there and hopefully jump into some breakaways and fight for a jersey.”
The team will line up in Oman against some of the world’s top riders, including the 2016 overall champion Vincenzo Nibali and former world champion Mark Cavendish. With the momentum built during the first races of the season, Rally Cycling will look to solidify their position amongst the world’s best cycling teams.
Tour of Oman Roster
Robin Carpenter
Adam de Vos
Brad Huff
Ty Magner
Brandon McNulty
Danny Pate
Eric Young
Directors: Eric Wohlberg, Andy Bajadali
For updates on Oman, follow the team on Twitter.
