Though he won't be competing for a top result at the Tour of Qatar, which gets underway today, Nicolas Roche will get to test his knee in race conditions for the first time since injuring it over the winter break.
By Graham Healy
The third of the big stage races on the Arabian peninsula, the Tour of Oman starts today, Tuesday, with the Irish duo of Sam Bennett (NetApp-Endura) and Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) lining up.
Roche’s off-season has been hampered by a knee injury and while he will be under no pressure to perform in Qatar, the race will be a challenging one with some tough climbing and break-neck fast flat stages, all of which will test how his knee is recovering.
With news yesterday that Ireland’s Philip Deignan (Team Sky) has a fractured collar bone and now faces a race against time to make it to the start of the Giro d’Italia in Belfast on Friday, May 9th; Irish fans will be hoping Roche comes through this week and that he and Deignan will be fit enough to join the three-day Irish start to the sport’s second biggest race.
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The Tour of Oman starts with a 164-kilometre stage from As Suwayq Castle to Naseem Garden, with just one minor climb along the way. It should come down to a sprint which may suit Bennett if his performances at last week’s Tour of Qatar are anything to go by.
Likewise, the second stage over 139 kilometres is relatively flat and may be decided in a contest between the fast men.
Bennett once again will be able to test himself against some of the top sprinters in the world including Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol), Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr), Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), amongst others.
What may be in the Irishman’s favour this week is that the terrain is hillier than it was in Qatar. Based on his performances in the Tour of Britain last year, Bennett has shown that he is well capable of hanging in over smaller climbs where other sprinters have been dropped.
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He may have his best opportunity on Thursday’s stage to Al Bustan, which has a climb just seven kilometres from the finish; although it may not be difficult enough to see the big men dropped. Friday's stage also looks tough, with four ascents of the 355-metre climb of Bousher Alamrat in the last 60 kilometres.
The penultimate leg is the queen stage, which takes the riders to the summit of the 5.5 kilometre Green Mountain, where all the general classification contenders will come to the fore.
Amongst the favourites to take the overall win will be last year’s victor Chris Froome (Team Sky), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma – Quick Step), Jurgen van de Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).
It’s difficult to see Roche being in contention as it will be his first race of the season and he has already acknowledged he will struggle in the early part of the campaign, having injured his knee over the winter which set him back.
He had 10 weeks off the bike due to that injury and while he put in a good month-long training camp in Gran Canaria, coming out of that just last week, he told stickybottle he would be going to Oman as preparation for his goals later in the year rather than seeking a result for himself.
He will possibly work to help team mate Roman Kreuziger challenge for the win. The final stage of the race is 146 kilometres, finishing with three laps at Matrah Corniche and once again should come down to a sprint.
We will keep you informed as to how the Irish duo gets on.
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