Tour of Oman: Vincenzo Nibali secures overall victory

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The early-season, we are told, is a building process, and on the evidence of the Tour of Oman, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) appears to have laid robust foundations for his 2016 campaign. The Italian champion finished safely in the main peloton to secure overall victory on Sunday’s final stage, which was won by Alexander Kristoff (Katusha).

Kristoff clocked up his second win of the race and his fifth in total this season in the final bunch sprint, where his prodigious finishing effort was simply too much for the Giant-Alpecin duo of Zico Waeytens and Soren Kragh Anderson. It marked the second year running that the Norwegian has started his season with a cluster of confidence-boosting wins in the Middle East and he returns to Europe seemingly as the man to beat on the cobbles – and at Milan-San Remo – this spring.

“Last year I was really good in this part of the season and I’ve started really well now so I think I’m on the right way,” Kristoff said afterwards.

Nibali, by contrast, endured difficult openings to both his 2014 and 2015 seasons, failing to register a win until the Italian championship in June on each occasion, but this time around, he has hit the ground running.

After showing sure signs of form as last month’s Tour de San Luis progressed, Nibali exuded confidence throughout the week in Oman, and there was little surprise when he seized possession of the red jersey after winning atop Green Mountain on Friday. There was a calm assurance, too, about the way Nibali repelled Romain Bardet and AG2R-La Mondiale’s offensive on the rugged penultimate stage and he enjoyed a quiet afternoon on Matrah Corniche on Sunday.

The Sicilian finished the race 15 seconds clear of Bardet and 24 ahead of his Astana teammate Jakob Fuglsang.

“It was very important for me to try to get a win straightaway,” Nibali told the media in Oman after the podium ceremonies on Sunday. “It’s always nice to win early in the season, especially as there are important races coming up in the weeks to come.”

With Nibali’s year centred on the Giro d’Italia rather than the Tour de France, he has placed a greater emphasis on early-season form this time out, and he will line out at next month’s Tirreno-Adriatico seeking a third successive win, while Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April is another important intermediate target.

On Sunday afternoon, however, Nibali had thoughts only for the here and now.

“I’m happy with this win, especially seeing as I came very close to winning here before only to lose out by a second [to Peter Velits in 2012]” he said.

Nibali’s dauphin, Romain Bardet, declared himself pleased with his outing in what was his first stage race of the new season.

“Last year I had a good start to the season too, I was third behind Froome and Contador at the Ruta del Sol. Now I’ve come second here behind Nibali, so I’ve started the season like I was supposed to,” the Frenchman said.

Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), a dark horse for Giro d’Italia success despite his protestations to the contrary, quietly showcased his burgeoning climbing talent by riding tempo to finish fourth on Green Mountain, and he finished in the same position on general classification, 40 seconds down on Nibali. Even at this early juncture, the runes of February racing makes for fascinating reading.

Sprint finale

There was a rather festive atmosphere at the start of the Tour of Oman’s final stage at The Wave, a complex of apartments and shops on the Muscat seafront, with Nibali’s Astana guard among the teams seizing the opportunity to enjoy a coffee on the terrace of the Shakespeare and Company Café.

The speed was high once the flag dropped, at least until a group of seven riders – Sebastien Minard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Gregor Muhlberger (Bora-Argon 18), Gianni Meersman (Etixx-QuickStep), Pieter Van Speybrouck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Daniel Eaton (UnitedHealthcare), Jaroslaw Marycz (CCC-Sprandi) and Jesper Asselman (Roompot) forging clear after 20 kilometres.

After building a maximum lead of 2:30, the leaders were gradually reeled in once the bunch reached the finishing circuit on Matrah Corniche, with Katusha – understandably – the most active participant in the pursuit.

The escapees were finally caught shortly after taking the bell for the last lap, and from there, the outcome was all but a formality, as the red jerseys of Kristoff’s supporting crew dictated terms on the front. Marco Haller wound things up on the run-in and then Jacopo Guarnieri delivered a fine lead-out, before Kristoff produced a sprint to win by a proverbial street ahead of Waeytens, Andersen, Tom Van Asbroeck (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18).

“For me it was just a question of holding the speed and I saw that nobody could come past. When you are delivered with this speed in that position it’s not too difficult to win actually,” Kristoff said.

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