After a very successful Tour of Qatar, most of Omega Pharma-Quick Step's riders for the cobbled classics will continue their racing in the Tour of Oman which kicks off on Tuesday. With the race being of a completely different nature and suited to climbers, they will be joined by new signing Rigoberto Uran who will be looking to finish high on the GC, lead-out man Matteo Trentin and new cyclo-cross world champion Zdenek Stybar.

It was business as usual for Omega Pharma-Quick Step in the Tour of Qatar, with the squad's roster of classics specialists again dominating the race. Nikie Terpstra and Tom Boonen finished 1st and 2nd on GC and won three of the six stages between them, Boonen won the points classification, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck took the young rider's jersey and by putting 5 riders in the final top 10, the team won the teams classification.

Terpstra, Boonen, Van Keirsbulck, Stijn Vandenbergh and Gert Steegmans will all continue their racing this week at the 6-day Tour of Oman but the team is unlikely to show the same kind of dominance in the hilly sultanate. With the race featuring three stages for the sprinters and three mountainous stages - including a mountaintop finish on the Green Mountain - the race is of a completely different nature and has prompted the team to reinforce the team.

Andrew Fenn, Nikolas Maes and Iljo Keisse will not follow their teammates to Oman and instead new signing Rigoberto Uran, lead-out man Matteo Trentin and world cyclo-cross champion Zdenek Stybar will join the team. While the classics guys will look for success in the sprints, the race will be Uran's first chance to shine for his new team, having already shown solid condition in the Challenge Mallorca.

"We have a balanced team for this race, with some riders who can complement the guys who are coming here from a successful Tour of Qatar," Sport Director Brian Holm said. "Of course, the Tour of Oman is completely another race than Tour of Qatar, so what we are able to do here is a bit different.

"But it is a strong group for sure from Tour of Qatar: Niki Terpstra, Tom Boonen, Gert Steegmans, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, and Stijn Vandenbergh. As for others we added to that group for Tour of Oman, we have guys like Rigoberto Uran Uran. He will do his best on climbing stages to try and be some type of protagonist. Zdenek Stybar will also be present, as well as Matteo Trentin. Stybar is a guy who is able to do well in support of a guy like Uran on the climbs as he proved this at La Vuelta last year. But, we will see. We will try to be there in the general classification, and maybe win a stage that suits the skills of the riders we have."
 

Uran will face stiff competition from the likes of defending champion Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Joaquim Rodriguez, the Schleck brothers, Roman Kreuziger, Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Domenico Pozzovivo, Thibaut Pinot, Robert Gesink, Sergio Henao, Tejay van Garderen and Daniel Moreno who all feature on the star-studded start list.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step for the Tour of Oman

Tom Boonen, Rigoberto Uran, Zdenek Stybar, Matteo Trentin, Niki Terpstra, Gert Steegmans, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and Stijn Vandenbergh