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Tour of Middle East Discussion
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| Heine |
Posted on 08-01-2026 05:34
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Last year the preview started with a discussion if that would be the last edition of the Tour of the Middle East, but here we are again. Did someone really believe the sportswashing would stop? That someone could make a better cash offer than the sheiks? Shame on you! We are here to show of how wonderfull the middle east can be, nothing wrong ever going on here. *Hides body of dead road worker*
The race is pretty logically built up, starting in Al Aturiyah we start with 2 flat stages before the stage 3 to Qantab is a hilly test for the riders. Could someone get a lead before the decisive stage 4 up Jebel Shams? Who knows, but the race will most likely be won by the rider being best up on stage 4 unless something strange happens.
This is the 12th edition of the Tour of the Middle East. Last year the big name of the CT Matteo Jorgenson won, by 1 second! Considering that this is a C2 race now we don't expect the biggest names to have won here, but looking trough history we have Kudus who just won the Giro with 2 wins, and Pluchkin with all his history with 1 win. Other former winners include Charello in 2023, Hoem in 2022, Kuss in 2021, De la Cruz in 2016, Trent Lowe in 2015, Rodrigues in 2014 and the first edition in 2013 was won by Rohregger. A mixed bag of winners for sure
| 2024 | Matteo Jorgenson (Newton Foundation p/b Zwift) | | 2023 | William Chiarello (Crabbe-CC Chevigny) | | 2022 | Bjorn Tore Hoem (Tafjord Kraft) | | 2021 | Sepp Kuss (McCormick Pro Cycling) | | 2020 | Merhawi Kudus (Repsol - Netflix) | | 2019 | Aleksandr Pluchkin (Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff) | | 2018 | Merhawi Kudus (Repsol - Netflix) | | 2016 | David De la Cruz (Team Ticos Air Costa Rica) | | 2015 | Trent Lowe (Compal-Merida) | | 2014 | Vitor Rodrigues (Siam Cement - Lenovo) | | 2013 | Thomas Rohregger (Magna-Ryanair) |
| 1 | Matteo Jorgenson | Newton Foundation p/b Zwift | 14h07'49 | | 2 | George Bennett | Spark Team NZ | + 1 | | 3 | Richard Antonio Carapaz | Zain-Omantel | + 16 | | 4 | Sindre Skjostad Lunke | Gjensidige Pro Cycling Team | + 39 | | 5 | Dion Smith | Duvel-Tsingtao | + 48 | | 6 | Daniel Munoz | Euskadi-Murias | + 1'29 | | 7 | Pierre Paolo Penasa | Ethiopian Airlines | + 1'57 | | 8 | Mikel Iturria | Euskotren - Pays Basque | + 2'04 | | 9 | Jaka Primozic | Trans Looney Tunes | + 2'40 | | 10 | Natnael Berhane | Ethiopian Airlines | + 4'03 |
There is one clear GC favorite here, if he can handle the pressure and the heat, riding his first race this season and that is  Galta. He's had a long vacation and his team has been waiting for this day. Can he deliver? He is the strongest climber with great energy stats and a quite good puncheur in this field. He also has a strong support squad with Schultz as his main man, a top 10 candidate on his own.
The second strongest climber with an 80 mountain stat is  Seboka for Incaline. However his other stats makes it hard to believe he will be among the very best here. Still might've been the best race to send him considering the last stage, can he survive and get a good GC position?  Merchan is a similar rider with a bit better energy stats but still a rider I believe will do worse than his climbing says.
Looking at the better rounded riders we can start with  Habtemichael present for promotion seeking Kraftwerk. They've had a good season til now and he's here to continue that trend. Another rider present for a promotion chaser is  Gonzalez for Podium Ambition. A good climber with a nice hill stat making him a potential top 5 candidate. They also has Morales Ortega present, giving them a good 1-2 punch.
Parmalat - Ecopetrol has sent an interesting pair in  Cattaneo and Quintana. If one of them have good legs on stage 4 they can make it really interesting. They might be the deepest team here also sending Ciccone and Pereyra. They should be all out attacking on stage 4
 Buitrago headlines the strong puncheur-climbers here who should have a very good chance for a top 5 or even top 3 / win. If he can get time on stage 3 he will be really scary in the GC. The same can be said about Gall and Morales Ortega. Strong climbers and puncheurs who can do something
There are really many Colombians present and  Tejada is another strong one with good climbing and good energy stats, Zappes has sent Rivera together with him making them another team with 2 potential GC candidates.
 Power also deserves a mention being one of the better riders on energy stats, while the stages are not the longest they should be hard and that might propel him into a really good placement here
Ignoring the GC riders there are some big favorites for stage 3. The biggest of them is  Eriksson. He is the strongest puncheur present and should be the favorite on the stage. Budyak and  Serrano might be the stage hunters closed to him.
Will be interesting to see if Dyrnes also will attack, or if he is just a support rider for Eriksson? And what will Vogt do? Will he support Galta or be able to try for himself? Could also be that several of the GC favorites try on this stage, hopefully we get a carnage!
The first 2 stages are flat stages and several teams hope for a good performance from their fastmen. Finnish  Manninen riding for his home team Kone-Nordea is the best sprinter and the biggest favorite. He got Kiskonen as his last leadout man, a rider who is among the best sprinters present himself. His strongest competitor who comes here with some podium ambitions (see what I did there) is Norbert who is a better rounded sprinter than all the others with great flat stat and good energy stats. Can that help him?
Some of the closest competitors to them are Perera from Ethiopian Airlines, the Euskadi pair Carsi and Marin, and Glanbia sprinter  Plowright. All riders who got a great sprint and can take the stage win.
Other than these we have many good sprinters like Harrison, Ganjkhanlou,  Jimenez Retana and Frame. In this field they can all steal the win. We really expect a great fight on the flat stages!
Startlist
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| Heine |
Posted on 08-01-2026 05:38
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Finally the day I've been waiting for! It's Galta time! I really hope he can perform and live up to my expectations. He should be a clear number 1 on stage 4 and get enough time in the bank to win the GC while taking the stage win
I've put together as strong a team as I can to support him here with Schultz for climbing support, Vogt, Luchskenko and Holmes for stage 3.
Other than that it will be interesting to see what my team does on stage 3. I have one of the better pure puncheurs present in Vogt while having Schultz and Lucshenko. Hopefully also Galta will be well placed.
I've been looking forward to this! Let's go! The season starts now!
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 08-01-2026 06:13
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Interested to see how Power goes here. Mudgway might be able to get some decent results in the sprints as well. They both just have to do it on their own 
Thanks for the preview. Good luck everyone!
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 08-01-2026 07:48
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Hopefully we can do something on stage 3 with Ericsson and Dyrnes. But not looking forward to Galta on stage 4 
Thanks a lot Heine for the funny and good preview!  |
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| Radio00 |
Posted on 08-01-2026 07:57
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Can't wait for stage 3 and 4. Hopefully, our team strategy will work out, and all riders will have good legs. |
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 08-01-2026 17:32
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Habtemichael has been good so far, hope he can keep it up.
Gall has been a lot better in CT than he was in PCT, looking for some depth scoring from him.
Harrison has been sprinting well, another top 3 in points would be welcome.
Lets get the Galta show on the road.
Thanks for the preview Heine.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 28-01-2026 22:02
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 09-01-2026 09:47
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Not ideal from Perera, looks to have just mistimed the sprint. Our lead out could perhaps have been a bit stronger too, but we're mostly focused on supporting Buitrago, so makes sense not to commit too many to it. Hopefully a better showing from Perera on stage two and then I'll be very curious to see what Buitrago can do in the hills. On paper the stage should really suit him and set him up well to maintain a good GC position through the mountain stage.
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| Heine |
Posted on 09-01-2026 10:05
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Hey, I can like this. Sergey trying in the sprint and Fredrik near the front keeping safe. Sounds good
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| Jajajasper |
Posted on 09-01-2026 11:05
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Damn! I should be happy with second but a win was so close... |
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| seancoll |
Posted on 09-01-2026 15:56
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Ganjkhanlou seems to really struggle to get out from behind his lead-outs, but still a top 5 is a great way to start. All in all, nice to just see a flat stage that doesn't accidentally punish any of the GC guys!
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 09-01-2026 20:07
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Wow, I think Harrison read that point per wage spreadsheet and said hold my beer!
TTT provided a solid leadout, those 2 are working well together.
Thanks for the report kb.
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 10-01-2026 10:42
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Yeh really happy with stage 2. Mudgway sprinted extremely well and made up great ground to get 3rd place. Happy with those points and how we finish the flat portion of the Tour.
Great reports so far and congrats on the 2 winners so far!
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 10-01-2026 12:34
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Fantastic performance from Madu, what a signing he's turned out to be. Think we can already consider the race a success, but of course I'm still excited to see what Buitrago can do in the next two days. Thanks KB for the report!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 10-01-2026 18:36
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Nothing to comment on so far, hopefully the tougher stages will turn our scoring around.
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 10-01-2026 21:24
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Ericsson and Dyrnes already far behind, before even the slightest hill are passed, lol
Well, well, we're happy at least Kaislaviuo are active in the breaks and collecting some points. Now, tomorrows stage will be a bit more exciting, hopefully we can challenge for a stage win |
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| Jajajasper |
Posted on 11-01-2026 08:57
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Stagiare
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ehm??? Well that was unexpected. Great ride by the guys, a 1-2! |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 11-01-2026 13:53
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Power is up there and lost no time today. 20 seconds back on GC and his favourite terrain coming up! Excited to see how he goes in the final stage of the TOME.
Congrats to the winner and thanks for the S3 report!!
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| Heine |
Posted on 11-01-2026 19:31
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We are where we want to be, now everything is up to Galta!
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 11-01-2026 20:41
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Hmm, Shaw 3rd? Really didn't expect that, but when Dyrnes and Ericsson fails, we'll take it |
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| Heine |
Posted on 12-01-2026 08:24
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What a big and catastophic failure...
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Tour of the Middle East 
