UAE Team Emirates’ Alexander Kristoff will continue his cycling season in the Middle East this week and will be joined by former World Champion Rui Costa as the pair tackle the Tour of Oman which gets underway on Tuesday.

Kristoff, who competed at the Dubai Tour last week, will be looking to build on his series of consistent performances, alongside Rui Costa, who himself will be bidding for a podium place at the tour where he finished second in the General Classification last year.

Joining the Norwegian and Portuguese stars are team mates: Kristijan Durasek (Croatia), Roberto Ferrari (Italy), Marco Marcato (Italy), Oliviero Troia (Italy) and Przemyslaw Niemiec (Poland).

Commenting ahead of the first stage of the race, reigning European champion Kristoff said: “The Tour of Oman will be the second race of the season for me, coming between the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Tours.

“Traditionally, I have done well in Oman with seven stage victories here during my career. I would like to continue achieving good results in a race that is suited to my strengths and style.

Costa, winner of last year’s Abu Dhabi Tour, added: “In 2017, the Tour of Oman was an essential step in taking the victory at the Abu Dhabi Tour.

I hope I can be competitive this year as well, even though when I got back from Australia I wasn’t able to train very well for a few days due to a cold.”

Tuesday’s opening race will see riders navigate a 162km route through inland Oman, before heading to the coast for a finish at Sultan Qaboos University.