February 7, 2026
The first 6KM of the Tour of Oman might be the hardest 6KM of any stage race this year. After only 1,500M of racing from the Ministry of Tourism at KM0, the riders have to tackle the Bushar Al Amerat, a 3.6KM climb at 9%. Once over Bushar Al Amerat, the stage mellows out to more of what we expect from the first stage a race in the Middle East. The roads are rolling but the sprinters should feature at the finish in Bimmah Sink Hole. The break will have two intermediate sprints to fight for. The first is after just 20KM but the second comes less than 25KM from the finish which might be too deep in stage to contest.
Highlighted Riders
Sprinters: Juan Sebastián Molano, Thibaud Gruel, Gerben Thijssen, Emilien Jeannière, Erlend Blikra, Steffen De Schuyteneer, Bryan Coquard, Stanisław Aniołkowski
GC: Adam Yates, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Sepp Kuss, Einer Rubio, Christian Scaroni, Alex Baudin, Mauro Schmid, Jan Castellon
Race Summary
A break formed over the top of the Bousher Al Amerat consisting of three men, Patryk Goszczurny of Visma-Lease a Bike, José Luis Faura of Burgos-Burpellet BH, and Alex Díaz of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. Goszczurny picked up all the sprint and mountains points along the way and was given most aggressive rider as well. He dropped back to the peloton and the other two were caught around 20KM to go as the sprint trains started to form.
In the sprint, Alpecin-Premier Tech's lead out took the sprinters to within the barriered section at 250M. Juan Sebastián Molano of UAE-XRG had prime position on second wheel with the barriers on his left shoulder. When he opened up, there was little doubt. Fernando Gaviria of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA rolled back the years to take second with Gerben Thijssen of Alpecin-Premier Tech in third.