2nuksabroad: Tour of Oman

Over the past 6 days Janelle and I were lucky enough to watch some of the worlds best cyclists tackling the 3rd edition of the Tour of Oman. This tour was geared more towards the guys who specialize in the classics and as such we got to watch Mark Cavandish, Andy Schleck, Tyler Farrar, and Fabian Cancellara to name a few. There were also two Canadians racing, one of who, Svein Tuft we had a chance to actually talk to on a couple occassions.

We made it out to the finish of Stage 1 and although we got there only 15 minutes or so before the peloton arrived, we found a spot right at the finish line. All told there might have been 20 spectators, one of benefits of watching this event in the Middle East. Following an amazing sprint finish, which seeing first hand is hard to believe just how fast and close together they ride, we literally were allowed to walk down the finishing chute where all the riders were cooling down. We had no idea we would be able to get so close them, a very neat experience. The cyclists were all in amazing shape, huge legs and small upper bodies with horrible farmers tans. I even saw my first helmet strap tan.

For Stage 3 we decided to set-up camp at the feeding station to watch them go by. Again, amazing to see the speed with which the peloton rides and to see the team support vehicles handing out bags with new bottles, gels and bars for their riders. This also turned out to be a great spot to grab water bottles as they simply toss their empties to the side of the road so we scrambled out of the car and picked up just about one from each team. After the feed station we raced ahead of the tour to watch the finish and were able to get a really good video of them, quite stretched out as they headed into the wind.

Stage 4 Janelle and I drove to Bidbid to see the start of the stage and again were allowed unbelievable access to all the riders as they were preparing. Being meters away from Cavandish and Schleck and seeing their bikes was really impressive (Cavandish was shorter than I thought and Schleck much taller). Janelle was also wearing her Ironman Canada jersey as we had been cycling in the morning and because of that a Canadian couple working in Saudi Arabia came over to chat with us. While talking to them the Director of the BMC team heard us speaking english and also came over to chat so we were able to quiz him on the race and some general questions about how the team is set-up. As we walked through the start area a cyclist rode by saying "Canadian eh" and we realized it was Svein Tuft. On his way back he stopped and chatted with us, asking the first question most people not living in Oman do is "what are you doing here?" Svein was extremely generous with his time and answered all our questions. Janelle and I didn't stick around to watch the start of the stage but again raced ahead to wait at one of the two big climbs for the day, Alamrat. This racing ahead to the next spot was a common theme for us as we found that watching the tour is more like a chasing the tour as you're working hard to find the next good spot to see them go by and trying to avoid the traffic gridlock caused by the road closures. We got to the Bousher Alamrat climb ahead of the tour and decided to ride the climb ourselves and wait for the tour at the summit, 2 miles and 1000 feet of elevation gain later (plus 3 rests) we made it to the top and were the only fans there cheering on the riders.

The final stage 6 saw the tour complete 6 laps along the Matrah Corniche which allowed us to see a lot of the peloton in action. Again not many people and unbelievable access to the cyclists. The highlight of the day for me was getting not only Svein's signature after the stage, but also Tony Gallopin's from team Radioshack-Nissan (3rd overall in GC and won the white jersey) and Andy Schleck (winner of the Tour of France! - due to Contador being disqualified) Watching our first pro cycling tour was an absolute thrill and both Janelle and I are already looking at the calendar to see if there are any other races we could see. A good website for those interested to see pictures, video, stage maps and profiles is: http://www.steephill.tv/tour-of-oman/