The 7th edition of the Tour of Oman gets underway on Tuesday the 16th of February. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka will be at the start of this UCI 2.HC event once again with numerous goals set for the 6-stage event.

After already having competed in the Middle East for the past two weeks, at the Dubai Tour and Tour of Qatar, the Tour of Oman offers up something slightly different as it is won't be a sprint fest like the last two events have been. Oman attracts a number of general classification tour riders as it includes 4 undulating stages, a summit finish up Green Mountain and a single flat stage for the pure sprinters.

Last year’s edition of the race was a successful outing for the African Team as they secured 5th and 6th on the GC as well as won the youth classification with Louis Meintjes and Jacques Janse van Rensburg. This year's squad will hope to build on last year’s performance, being led by the in-form Edvald Boasson Hagen. The Norwegian champion will be joined by Serge Pauwels, Jacques Janse van Rensburg, Merhawi Kudus, Daniel Teklehaimanot, Youcef Reguigui, Nathan Haas and Tyler Farrar to complete a strong Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka line-up.

"I am looking forward to the Tour of Oman as it will be my first stage race of the year," Pauwels said. "It is a beautiful race with a hard uphill finish at Green Mountain. There are plenty of opportunities for us as a team. We obviously have Edvald who is in great shape but also other riders like Merhawi, Jacques and myself who want to do well on the hilly stages."

"After a successful campaign in Qatar we are looking forward to continuing that momentum here in Oman," sports director Roger Hammond said. "A completely different terrain, Oman offers our climbers several opportunities to shine and test themselves against the best in the world. With the team we have here, both stage wins and a top result on GC are realistic."