Following on from an encouraging season start in last month’s Santos Tour Down Under, Robert Gesink will return to a race he won in 2011 when he lines out in next week’s Tour of Oman.
The Dutch climber was sixth in the Australian WorldTour event and believes that he can perform in the ASO-organised event.
“I had a good time in Australia, but when I returned to Europe I suffered quite a bit because of the jetlag,” he explained.
“After I got through it, I quickly got back into my rhythm and trained at a high level. I'm working towards Tirreno-Adriatico, but until then, I want to race as well as possible.”
The Tour of Oman is much hillier than the nearby Tour of Qatar, and will suit his abilities well. He also enjoys the heat and will start with good morale.
“It is a beautiful race with a nice route. As a former winner, I'd like to put on a good show. The level is high, but I'm aiming for a good classification result.”
He will be joined by a solid Belkin line-up, with Jetse Bol, Lars Boom, Stef Clement, Jos van Emden, Barry Markus, Maarten Tjallingii and Robert Wagner also down to ride.
Directeur sportif Jan Boven will make the trip from Qatar to Oman, as will several of the riders. He outlines the approach the team will take.
“We’ll see how it goes day by day. With Robert, we have a strong rider. For him, it’s important that he doesn’t lose time until the fifth stage, which finishes on Green Mountain,” he said.
“That's a fair test and the strongest rider will win there.”
As for the flatter stages, he stated that Markus will take the protected sprinter slot which was occupied by Theo Bos in the Tour of Qatar.
Together the two riders will hope to secure important early-season success for the Belkin team, which is still chasing its first win of the year.
Belkin Pro Cycling line-up for the Tour of Oman (February 18 to 23):
Jetse Bol, Lars Boom, Stef Clement, Jos van Emden, Robert Gesink, Barry Markus, Maarten Tjallingii and Robert Wagner.