2010 Tour of Oman

Teams

Sixteen teams competed. These included ten UCI ProTour teams, five UCI Professional Continental teams, and one Continental team. Each team entered a squad of eight riders, giving the Tour a peloton of 128 riders.

The teams that participated in the race were:{{cite web

• Trek-Livestrong U23

Stages

Stage 1

;14 February 2010 – Muscat Corniche, 61 km

The Frenchman Jimmy Casper outsprinted the peloton.

The first stage was a night time stage along a 16 lap course in Muscat Corniche. This night racing made the first couple of laps cautious because the riders had to race without headlights and did not want to risk an accident.{{cite web

|| | General Classification after Stage 1

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Stage 2

;15 February 2010 – Nizwa to Samail, 148.5 km

Daniele Bennati won the stage in a sprint finish. It was his first victory since February 28, 2009. He outsprinted American sprinter Tyler Farrar and Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen to get the victory. He dedicated the race to Franco Ballerini, an Italian cyclist who died February 7, 2010.{{cite web

In the Tour of Qatar Daniele Bennati helped out his teammate Francesco Chicchi but this race was the reverse. With no one making a move with 300m to go, Bennati jumped and had enough speed to hold off the other sprinters. He credited his teammates Francesco Chicchi and Daniel Oss for giving him a great lead out. This victory put Bennati in a comfortable 3rd position overall with the same time as the leader.

The three riders tied for first were (in order) Hagen, Casper, and Bennati.{{cite web

|| | General Classification after Stage 2

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Stage 3

;16 February 2010 – Saifat Ash Shiekh to Qurayyat, 124 km 's Hagen confirmed that he was the big favourite to win the first edition of the Tour of Oman by winning Tuesday's third stage to Qurayyat and extending his overall lead.

The 22-year-old Norwegian got a perfect leadout from his teammates, responded to a late surge by the team and then accelerated to the line to win with his arms waving in celebration. 's Danilo Napolitano was 2nd and Tyler Farrar was 3rd.

The 10 second time bonus won in the stage put him 10 seconds ahead of Tyler Farrar. who was in 2nd place.{{cite web

|| | General Classification after Stage 3

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Stage 4

;17 February 2010 – Ibri to Nakhal, 187 km

The Tour of Oman exploded during the toughest stage of the race on Wednesday as and the rest of the peloton swapped below the belt punches during the race and then accusations on unfair play after the finish. Australia's Leigh Howard won the stage with a fine sprint on the slightly uphill finish.

riders let a six-rider break gain almost seven minutes in the first hour and then were angry when no other teams were willing to help them chase the break.

Several riders claimed that the riders vented their anger on the peloton by blasting through the feed zone and then put the peloton in the gutter by riding a half-road echelon when the wind changed direction.

That especially angered , who retaliated by splitting the race when Hagen stopped to urinate 55 km from the finish. Because he was race leader, Hagen had perhaps thought the peloton would wait for him, but in the heat of battle, nobody did and 41 riders group quickly formed an echelon and accelerated up the road. Hagen never caught up to the peloton and as a result finished 1'05" behind Leigh Howard in 34th position.{{cite web

|| | General Classification after Stage 4

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Stage 5

;18 February 2010 – Wattayat to Sultan Qaboos Stadium, 146 km

's Tom Boonen took his third win in 11 days of racing in the Gulf, winning a hectic sprint at the end of stage five of the Tour of Oman. Boonen won two stages in the Tour of Qatar and seemed back to his very best.

Boonen got an excellent leadout from his teammates and then dug deep to find an extra bit of speed to beat 's Juan Jose Haedo.

The win put Boonen 2 seconds behind the overall leader Bennati.

After five days of racing, 26 riders were within 16 seconds in the overall standings and so Friday's 18.5 km time trial decided the winner.{{cite web

|| | General Classification after Stage 5

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Stage 6

;19 February 2010 – Al Jissah to Muscat Corniche, 18.6 km (ITT) Hagen of won the 6th and final stage in the Tour of Oman, but time trialist Fabian Cancellara placed 2nd on the stage (17 seconds behind Edvald Boasson Hagen) which gave him the overall victory.

The win made Hagen the youth classifications winner, as well as the green jersey for the overall points winner. Hagen hit speeds of almost 100 km/h 100 km/h on the fast downhill section following the second climb and swept up the riders in front of him throughout his ride.

Cancellara revealed he would not race again until the Eroica in Tuscany in early March. His winter training was disrupted by illness in January but he afterward he was satisfied that he was back on schedule.

He was still some way from the Cancellara who could dominate Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix and beat everyone in the big time trials, but his overall victory showed his class and experience. He was always in the right place during the decisive moments of the race and then used his time trialing skills and ability to hurt himself and come out on top. Cancellera was satisfied with his victory but admitted he was hurting very much and that there was a lot of room for improvement for the big races later in the season.

|| | Final General Classification

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Classification leadership

For Stage 2, Kenny De Haes wore the green jersey.

For Stages 3 and 4, Tyler Farrar wore the green jersey, and Kristof Vandewalle wore the white jersey.

For Stage 5, Leigh Howard wore the white jersey.

References

References

1. "Tour of Oman - 2010". Tour of Oman.
2. "Tour of Oman - 2010". Tour of Oman.
3. "Tour of Oman - 2010". Tour of Oman.
4. "Tour of Oman - 2010". Tour of Oman.
5. "Tour of Oman - 2010". Tour of Oman.
6. (2010-02-19). "Boasson Hagen blasts to time trial win". Cycling News.