Big names to miss Tour of Oman number of top teams down to 9
Date
12/7/2015 3:22:48 AM
Leading WorldTour cycling teamsMovistar Team Sky Tinkoff-Saxo and Trek Factory Racing - boasting of some of the biggest cycling stars like Chris Froome Fabian Cancellara Alberto Contador and Peter Sagan will not be seen in action at next year's Tour of Oman according to the official list of teams announced by the Amaury
Sport Organisation (ASO) which also runs Tour de France.
Legendary Belgian cyclist Eddie Merckx co-owns the race and runs it with ASO in cooperation with Muscat Municipality. For the 2016 Tour of Oman to be held from February 16-21 the organisers have not named the four teams on the list of invitees and have reduced the number of top-level teams from 13 to nine. It follows a similar drop in WorldTour participation in Tour of Qatar that will be held in Doha from February 8-12 next year. Although the organisers have not given any reason for the reduction in WorldTour teams last year's adverse weather conditions and the subsequent protests by riders that led to the cancellation of Stage Five may have played a role. During the last edition organisers delayed the start of Stage Five when a sandstorm swept through and moved the location to Muscat. However extreme heat caused some teams' tyres to explode on a descent in the naturalised zone. Top riders led a protest and argued with Merckx to annul the stage. Merckx was later quoted as saying 'It could cause problems. [The organisers] are very angry with a few riders and some teams may not be invited back.' Other reports suggest that the duration of the races in Qatar and Oman could also be one of the reasons. Few of the teams suggested that they have different plans for next year's calendar and instead of participating in the Tour of Qatar and the Tour of Oman they will keep busy with the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Volta ao Algarve and the Ruta del Sol stage races in Spain and Portugal. Speaking to Muscat Daily on Sunday Salim al Hasani a member of the Muscat Municipality Tour of Oman organising committee said 'We are yet to receive the official list of teams' entry for next year's edition from ASO and Merckx. Once we get it I will be in a better position to comment on the matter.' As per the official list the WorldTour teams taking part in the UCI 2.HC-ranked 2016 Tour of Oman are Ag2r La Mondiale Astana BMC Racing Dimension Data Lampre-Merida Etixx-QuickStep Giant-Alpecin Katusha and LottoNL-Jumbo. Rafael Valls won the 2015 edition of the race for Lampre-Merida but a switch of team to Lotto-Soudal over the winter means that the Spaniard will not be back to defend his title. Besides the nine WorldTour teams the other teams for 2016 Tour of Oman are Bora-Argon 18 Bretagne Seche Environnement CCC Sprandi Polkowice Cult Energy Drapac Roompot-Oranje Peloton Topsport Vlaanderen UnitedHealthcare and Wanty Groupe Gobert.