The eighth edition of the Tour of Oman, due to begin at Al Sawadi Beach on the 14th February, looks set to welcome a diverse range of riders to the startline with its varied stage terrain.
An initial sprint stage on the coast will suit the likes of marquee names Tom Boonen and Alexander Kristoff, with riders like Sacha Modolo, Greg Van Avermaet, Adam Blythe, Max Walscheid and Kenny Dehaes likely battling it out for the top placings alongside.
As the race progresses it enters some medium mountain stages, which could suit any number of riders in the race. Van Avermaet again, Rui Costa, Pippo Pozzato, Nathan Haas and Gio Visconti are names on the startlist that spring to mind.
Like it has been in the past, the fifth stage to Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain), a 5.7km summit finish, will likely prove decisive for the overall, and it will be here that the race's big Grand Tour-winning names will show themselves. Fabio Aru and Romain Bardet are surely the race's biggest contenders for the overall, but competition on Green Mountain will come in the shape of Bob Jungels, who was sixth and won the young rider's jersey last year, Janier Acevedo, Julian Arredondo and Rui Costa.
After the Dubai Tour last week, won by Marcel Kittel, the Tour of Oman will mark the second of the early season Middle East calendar, before the Abu Dhabi Tour at the end of February.
The Tour of Qatar, which failed to gather sufficient funding this year, will not run, but could be due a comeback in 2018.