UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Adam Yates will return to the Tour of Oman as defending champions on Saturday, 7 February, with the British climber looking to take his third victory in succession.
Raced across five stages from the Ministry of Tourism to the fearsome Green Mountain (Jabal al Akhdhar), the Tour of Oman will celebrate its 15th edition this time round, and Yates will lead a strong squad of both youth and experience for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
The 33-year-old won the race in both 2024 and 2025, and will be looking to score his first victory of the season alongside the team’s Colombian sprinter, Sebastián Molano.
The pair will be supported by Rune Herregodts, a top-10 finisher at the recent Trofeo Calvià, Rui Oliveira and Pablo Torres. Completing the seven-rider lineup for UAE Team Emirates-XRG will be the two Gen Z athletes, Marcos Freire and Abdulla Jasim Al-Ali. Together, the team will be led from the team car by Sports Directors Marco Marcato and Yousif Mirza.
Yates: “I’m glad to be going back to Oman, it’s a race that’s been good to me in the past and hopefully we can do similar things this time around.
“Tour Down Under was a good start to the season, helping set Jay up for the win, and the sensations have been good in training. But here in Oman, it will be a different style of racing which will hopefully suit me a little bit better.”
Alongside Yates’ stage win en route to his first overall title two years back, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has also claimed six further stage victories over the years, through Alexander Kristoff, Fernando Gaviria, Diego Ulissi, and Finn Fisher-Black. The latter also snagged a memorable win at the one-day Muscat Classic in 2024, with Fisher-Black making a late attack to upset the sprinters on that occasion.
Taking place a day before the Tour of Oman, the Muscat Classic is a leg-opener for the peloton and will be eyed up by the sprinters once more this time out. UAE Team Emirates-XRG will field the same seven rider lineup for both the Muscat Classic and the subsequent Tour of Oman:
- Rune Herregodts (Bel)
- Sebastián Molano (Col)
- Rui Oliveira (Por)
- Pablo Torres (Spa)
- Adam Yates (GB)
- Marcos Freire (Spa) (Gen Z)
- Abdulla Jasim Al-Ali (UAE) (Gen Z)
After the Muscat Classic on Friday, 6 February, the Tour of Oman will begin at the Ministry of Tourism on Saturday, 7 February. The opening stage to the Bimmah Sink Hole looks well set for a bunch sprint, as does stage 2 between Al Rustaq Fort and Yitti Hills.
For the general classification contenders, stage 3 from Samail Al Fayhaa Resthouse to Eastern Mountain will mark the first real showdown, with a 3.4km to the finish averaging 7.8%. Here, the race’s top climbers will hope to test one another on slopes that reach up to 17% at their toughest.
Another likely sprint finish beckons on day four between Al Sawadi Beach and Sohar, before the race will draw to a conclusion with stage 5 on Wednesday, 11 January.
Standing at 156k.1km long, stage 5 will take the riders from Nizwa to Jabal al Akhdhar, where the Green Mountain, with its ramps of up to 20%, awaits. Stretching out for 5.6km at 10.2%, the Green Mountain provides one last battleground for the GC contenders and will ultimately come to dictate the overall winner of the 2026 Tour of Oman.
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