(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) World No 1 rider Greg Van Avermaet of the BMC Racing Team, 2014 Tour de France winner and former Tour of Oman champion Vincenzo Nibali of Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team, last year's runner-up Rui Costa of UAE-Team Emirates headline a strong list of top-class riders at the forthcoming 2018 Tour of Oman that will be held fromFebruary 13-18.
The 32 year old Belgian Avermaet, a 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist in the individual road race, is considered to be one of the most versatile riders in modern cycling, winning two individual stage wins at the Tour de France and a stage win in the Vuelta a Espana, finishing on top in the Paris-Roubaix, among many notable achievements.
The 33 year old Nibali from Italy is arguably one of the strongest stage race riders and has won five individual stages at the gruelling Tour de France and is also a two-time winner of the Giro d'Italia.
Costa, the 31 year old Portuguese, is a former road world champion and has also won three stages of Tour de France. He finished behind 2017 Tour of Oman winner Ben Hermans and is a strong contender for the general classification honours.
In his remarks toMuscat Daily
, Salim al Hassani, chairman of the Tour of Oman organising committee, said, 'We are expecting a star-studded line-up. The final roster of the 18 teams will be released soon but we have received the confirmation of some top riders like Greg Van Amermaet, Vincenzo Nibali and Rui Costa.
'The six-stage route will also be announced soon. We are working hard to make the event a grand success as it is one of the top-most sports event in the sultanate's calendar annually and has a massive following.'
Hermans will not be defending his title after he left BMC Racing in September last to sign for Israel Cycling Academy.
The ninth edition of the Tour of Oman, classified as 2.HC race, will have a total of nine WorldTour teams.
Besides the BMC, the other WorldTour teams are Astana, Bahrain-Merida, Dimension Data, Quick-Step Floors, Katusha-Alpecin, Team Sunweb, UAE Team Emirates and Trek-Segafredo.
The only change in the WorldTour teams line-up from last year is the inclusion of Trek-Segafredo in place of AG2R La Mondiale.
Rally Cycling is one of the nine remaining professional continental teams that will make its debut along with French team Vital Concept and Spanish outfit Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.
Fortuneo-Samsic and Roompot Oranje return after missing last year's race, while Cofidis come back following a two-year break. Aqua Blue Sport, Wanty-Groupe Gobert and Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise are the only three professional continental teams to return this year.
The race has been organised by the Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), which also organises Tour de France, and Belgian
cycling legend Eddy Merckx in cooperation with Muscat Municipality, over the past eight years. However, following a dispute between ASO and Merckx last year, the latter is no longer involved.
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