Tag: Tour of Oman

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Froome Wins Tour of Oman

Tour of Oman 2014

Tour of Oman 2014Team Sky�s Chris Froome has kick-started his 2014 season in magnificent style with a second successive win at the Tour of Oman. The 2013 Tour de France winner took the lead on Saturday�s penultimate stage with a summit finish and did more than enough on the final day � finishing safely in the bunch to maintain his 26-second advantage � to take overall victory, despite Andr� Greipel flying to his third stage success on the Matrah Corniche. The overall time for Froome in Oman was 22h 02� 26�; BMC Racing�s Tejay van Garderen took the second overall podium spot (+26) with Rigoberto Ur�n Ur�n (omega Pharma-Quick Step) taking third on +31 seconds.

 

Commenting after the race Froome said: �It was flat out from the gun today and really tough racing. There were GC guys attacking and sprint teams also trying to get someone in the break, which meant they didn�t have to work as hard later in the race� Even at the end it was really tricky because we knew we had to be in a good position and not risk any significant time splits, but we achieved what we set out to achieve.�

 

However, even this early in the season, Froome clearly has his sites on an historic second TdF win, commenting: �I still feel like I�ve got a lot of work to do � a lot of room for improvement � but at this stage in the season, I�m where I need to be. This has been a really good experience for me as it�s the start of my build up to the Tour de France��

 

Full details on the Tour of Oman at tourofoman.om further Team Sky news at teamsky.com and you can follow Chris Froome on Twitter @chrisfroome

 

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Chris Froome Leads in Tour of Oman

Chris Froome takes the lead in Tour of OmanChris Froome, superbly set up by his Team Sky teammates, has scored a second place on today�s Stage 4 of the Tour of Oman � the 152.5km mountainous route from Al Satiyah to Jabal Al Akhdar � to take the overall lead. With two days of action left, Froome took the second position 4seconds adrift of winner Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha, in a time of 3h 35� 00�) after an epic battle on the Tour�s trademark climb on the Green Mountain summit finish, which saw BMC Racing�s Cadel Evans finish in third. Froome, now on a total time of 16hr 35� 05�, sits reasonably comfortably 24seconds ahead of Evans in second overall and 25seconds over Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) in third; the Spaniard later tweeted �Already back to the hotel from stage 4. Today uphill finish, sensations were not the best, but I’m improving.�

 

Today�s stage � known as the �Queen Stage� � was crucial to Froome staying in contention having started it in 13th overall place after two consecutive days or victory from Cannondale Pro Cycling�s Peter Sagan left the Sky rider some 36seconds behind. If Froome, who has previously taken second place at both the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, can maintain his composure over the next two days he could take the first major stage race of his career.

 

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Wiggins and Froome: 2013 Schedule

Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome announce 2013 schedule - team skyIt has been announced that Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, who finished first and second for Team Sky at the 2012 Tour de France, will begin the 2013 seasons at the Mallorca Challenge and Tour of Oman respectively. Wiggins will surely be hoping for better weather than last year when the final day of Mallorca was cancelled due to snow, whilst Froome, who begins his campaign a week later in Oman, is expecting his teammate to join him, although this has yet to be confirmed. The likely race programmes, announced by Team Sky�s Head of Performance Support Tim Kerrison yesterday, are subject to change but should see Froome head off to tackle Tirreno-Adriatico (March 6-12), while Wiggins returns to the Volta a Catalunya, which runs March 18-24. With the details of each rider�s schedule still being refined, Froome will take advantage of further training camps before competing at the Criterium du Dauphine (June 2-9) � a race the team has won for the last two years. Both riders will line-up at the Tour de France, which begins on June 29.

 

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Greipel Takes Oman

Lotto-Belisol�s Andre Greipel has taken the 159km opening stage (Muscat to Wilayat al Rustaq) at the Tour of Oman in 3hr25`59″, holding off Denis Galimzyanov of Team Katusha for second and Garmin-Barracuda�s Tyler Farrar third. The win reinforces the German�s solid start to the season, which began with three stage wins at the Tour Down Under.

 

The Tour of Oman, which runs February 14 to 19, is now in its third year and proving a popular addition to the racing calendar. This year 127 elite cyclists have taken� to the roads of the Sultanate (the third largest country in the Arabian Peninsula) and with growing media coverage this is increasingly looking like an early-season tour to watch. Tomorrow�s Stage 2 covers the 140.5km From Bait Al Batah in Wilayat Sur to Wadi Dayqah in Wilayat Qurayyat.