Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida) took a big step towards the overall victory in the Tour of Oman when the weather gods turned the Middle Eastern country into hot, windy nightmare that made bike racing impossible. After lots of discussion, the organizers were forced to cancel the stage and the riders rolled safety to the finish area where there was no podium ceremony.

After his splendid showing in yesterday’s queen stage, Rafael Valls faced one big test in his defence of his leader’s jersey. Today’s penultimate stage included four passages of the tough Bousher Alamrat climb and has had a big impact on the GC in the past.

However, Valls didn’t even have to make use of his excellent climbing skills to defend his position as there ended up being no racing at all. The riders were originally set to cover a 151.5km from Al Wazarat to the Ministry of Housing but extreme weather conditions forced the organizers to cancel the race.

The peloton woke up to a sandstorm and extremely hot conditions that made riding a bike very dangerous. The organizers quickly made the decision to bring the riders by car to the finishing circuit where they planned to do four laps, with the first half being neutralized.

Already in the neutralized section there were lots of punctures due to the extreme heat and so the decision was made to shorten the race to just two laps. However, the riders refused to go on and stopped to discuss the situation with the organizers.

After a lengthy debate, a very short stage with a hilltop finish was proposed but in the end, the decision was made to call off the stage. Instead, the riders just rolled safely back to the finishing area where the podium ceremony was also cancelled.

This means that Valls not just needs to survive one stage before he can be crowned overall winner of the race. The final day is mostly flat but includes two small, steep climbs in the second half. As it ends with two laps of the well-known finishing circuit on the Matrah Corniche in Muscat, it is expected to be a day for the sprinters.