Muscat Classic

The Muscat Classic is a men's one-day bike race in Oman, held in February on the day before the Tour of Oman starts. First run in 2023, it goes from Al Mouj Muscat on the coast to Al Bustan, with six climbs in the second half. No rider won it twice in its first four editions.

The Muscat Classic is a one-day race for men in the hills behind Oman’s capital, run on the day before the Tour of Oman begins. It was first held in 2023, and each of its first four editions had a different winner.

Added in 2023, when the Tour of Oman dropped to five stages

The Tour of Oman went from six stages to five in 2023, and the Muscat Classic was added on the day before it. Its finish at Al Bustan was one the stage race had used for years; Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara and Alexey Lutsenko had all won stages there. A one-day race pays more ranking points than a stage: in 2025 the winner earned 125 UCI points, against 20 for a stage of the Tour of Oman, and teams short of points made the race a target.

Al Mouj to Al Bustan, with six climbs after halfway

Every edition from 2023 to 2026 started at Al Mouj Muscat, on the coast west of the city, and finished at Al Bustan. The first half is flat, and in 2023 Manabu Ishibashi rode it alone and built a lead of 17 minutes before the climbs. The road first rises at Bousher Al Amerat, 3.5 kilometers at 9.2 percent. The race then loops through the hills around Al Bustan, where Hamriyah (900 meters at 10.1 percent) and Al Jissah (1.1 kilometers at 10 percent) are each climbed twice, with Wadi Al Kabir (2.1 kilometers at 7.3 percent) between them. In 2026 the route was 176.2 kilometers long.

Al Jissah, the last climb before the finish

The second ascent of Al Jissah tops out about five kilometers from the line, and a fast descent to a slightly rising finish follows. Franck Perque, who designs the course for the organizer, calls the climb “one of those places where fortune favours the bold”.

In 2024 Emil Herzog, who had gone clear alone at the foot of Hamriyah, was caught on Al Jissah with six kilometers to go. Finn Fisher-Black attacked just before the summit, 5.4 kilometers out, and won by four seconds. No other winner from 2023 to 2026 reached Al Bustan alone.

First professional wins for Biermans in 2023, Pluimers in 2025

Jenthe Biermans won the first edition from the group that survived Al Jissah, after Mark Cavendish and Tim Merlier had been dropped on the climb. It was his first professional win. In 2025 Jay Vine and Chris Harper attacked on the second ascent of Hamriyah and were still in front over Al Jissah, where Ruben Guerreiro joined them. The three took the descent to Al Bustan at more than 100 kilometers per hour, but they were caught within sight of the line. Rick Pluimers came along the barriers for his first win as a professional, with Biermans second.

Two Jayco AlUla riders against Adam Yates in 2026

In 2026 Adam Yates attacked on Al Jissah, and only Mauro Schmid and his teammate Luke Plapp could follow. Plapp led into the final kilometer with Schmid, the faster finisher, in third position; Yates led out the sprint, and Schmid came past him. Three days later Schmid won the Tour of Oman’s stage to Eastern Mountain and took the race lead.

In 2026 Adam Yates attacked on Al Jissah and found two Jayco AlUla riders on his wheel: Luke Plapp set the pace and Mauro Schmid won the sprint. A year earlier Jay Vine and Chris Harper, clear since Hamriyah, were caught within sight of the line, where Rick Pluimers took his first professional win. Finn Fisher-Black, in 2024, was the first to win it alone.