Paris (AFP)
The Tour of Oman cycling, which was scheduled to take place from February 11 to 16, was canceled due to the mourning following the death of Sultan Qaboos, we learned Tuesday evening from a source close to the teams.
The different teams entered have been notified by the event organizer (ASO).
A 40-day mourning period, which runs until February 21, was established after the death of the 79-year-old sultan, who had ruled the country since 1970.
The Tour of Oman, created in 2010, has been won the past two years by the Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko.
Briton Chris Froome (2013, 2014) and Italian Vincenzo Nibali (2016) are among the winners of the race, the queen stage of which traditionally arrives at Green Mountain, the Green Mountain.
If the composition of the 18 teams in contention was not yet determined, the participation of several headliners was already known. Among others, on the sprinter side, the reigning European champion, the Italian Elia Viviani, and the French Nacer Bouhanni.
The Tour of Oman followed this year the new Saudi Tour (February 4 to 8), another race organized by ASO.
The cancellation of the 11th edition could lead to a strengthening of the plateau of other events organized in February, in particular the Tour de La Provence (from 13 to 16).
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