Tour of Oman Preview

The second edition of the Tour of Oman is set to kick off and it really offers something for everyone. With at least 3 sure sprints, 1 painful summit finish, and a climber's individual time trial it should be a diverse week of racing.

Here are some of the bigger storylines this week.

Taylor Phinney

It is finally time for the long awaited pro debut of the 20 year old sensation that has taken the track cycling world by storm. Phinney will be riding with the BMC squad and it will be very interesting to see how he handles his first real test on the road. I'd expect him to probably stick with the peloton for the first 3 and perhaps struggle a bit with the climb on the 4th, but the 5th stage is an unknown. Phinney is a ITT expert, but the climbs can potentially throw him off a bit.

But let's be honest here, who expects results in their first race? A successful week for him would be to finish the week without any difficulties and gain the experience of a full professional peloton.

The Climbers

Robert Gesink and Joaquin Rodriguez headline a field of climbers that will essentially putting all their eggs into the stage 4 basket. The best case scenario for these "pure climbers" would be a few safe bunch sprints leading up to the queen stage on Friday. Then, they can bury the rest of the field on the climb and fight the GC lead among themselves in hope that they can give themselves enough of a buffer for the time trial.

Really keep an eye on Gesink, who is probably the best of these "pure climbers." His only flaw is the ITT, so he will be going all out to grab as much of an advantage as he can on stage 4. Other climbers to watch are Rodriguez, Vinokourov, and Vandevelde to name a few.

The Sprinters

Mark Cavendish is back once again and still in search for his first win of the year. He has had a rotten stretch of luck with crashes in the Tour Down Under and Qatar, but he hopes to take one of the 3/4 sprint stages available on the map. He will have a new leadout man, though, as it will be Matt Goss leading him to the line rather than Renshaw.

Heinrich Haussler also returns after a strong week in Qatar, and hopes to build up his early-season portfolio before the classics. Lampre offers a dangerous combo of Danilo Hondo and Grega Bole to potentially grab a stage or 2 as well. Qatar competitors Tom Boonen, Graeme Brown, and Daniele Bennati also will go at it once again for the stages.

But there's one that I want to classify a bit differently...

The X Factor

I'm referring to last year's runner up Edvald Boasson-Hagen. The skill set on Eddy BH is unlike just about anybody else in the sport because he can do just about everything. He is probably best known as a sprinter and a master time trialist, but sometimes his climbing abilities can be underrated. Though I don't expect him to be fighting it out with the climbers on the summit on Friday, he does have a chance if he can perform well enough to keep the gap between himself and the leaders to under a minute. He could easily make up the ground on the ITT.

Perhaps the only thing that can hold him back is form, being that this is his first event of the year.

So what about this Time Trial?

You don't see many ITTs like this. 2 rather severe climbs in a short span require not only the usual time trialist ability to ride solo but also a degree of climbing and descending. By this time the race should be narrowed down to a select few up front, so this will surely have some impact on the stage.

Though he is certainly to be mentioned, this really doesn't suit Cancellara all that well. This is great for a rider like Boasson-Hagen or perhaps someone like Lars Boom or Alexandre Vinokourov.

Another X Factor?

Well...kind of. I'd keep an eye on Cam Meyer this week. Meyer is obviously on good form this season, and he just has a knack of making good moves on the road. If a breakaway does survive on stage 2 or 3 (though I don't see it happening), there is a good chance he may be a part of it.

Stage 1

Though this week will certainly play out a bit different than last week in Qatar, this one looks like a sure-fire bunch sprint. There's a little climb early and a breakaway will probably try to get away, but there is no way they survive on a stretch this flat.