(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) There's more good news for those looking forward to Tour of Oman. After the length of the challenging race was increased by 63.5km, it has been now announced that the number of participating teams has gone up from 16 to 18.Organisers on Monday announced the names of the 18 teams that will head to Muscat for the tour, which is spread over six stages from February 11 to 16 and covers 938.5km.From among the 16 teams that participated in 2012, seven have opted out, giving way to nine new teams. A notable absentee this year is the Dutch team Rabobank, now called Blanco Pro Cycling Team, whose Tom-Jelte Slagter was sixth in final overall classification in the 2012 Tour of Oman. The team's fortunes saw a high in the 2011 tour with top notch performance from its star rider Robert Gesink, who was the overall winner that year.The US-based Garmin Barracuda is another team not visiting Oman, and people will miss its star performer Tyler Farrar who stamped his mark in three different stages in the 2012 tour with two third and one fourth place finishes.Lotto Belisol is another top ranking German team that will give Oman a miss. In 2012 the team had a great show with team member Andr Greipel holding on to the red and green jerseys (red is awarded to the winner of the overall individual ranking, while green is awarded to the rider who is leading by overall points at the end of each stage) for the first, third and fourth stages of the competition.With the Tour of Qatar (February 3-8) taking place just before the Oman challenge, most teams participating there will be heading to the sultanate.Despite the absentees, the tour will not be without leading names in cycling and it is likely that stars like Tom Boonen, who is 2012 Belgian sportsman of the year and four-time winner of Tour of Qatar, Perter Velits, winner of 2012 Tour of Oman, and Mark Cavendish, winner of 23 Tour de France stages, all sporting Omega Pharma “ Quick Step Cycling Team jerseys, will be part of 2013 Tour of Oman.Peter Sagan, last year's winner in point classification from Cannondale Pro Cycling, and teammate Vincenzo Nibali, overall runner-up and winner of the Jebel Akhdar stage, will now be rivals as Nibali has moved to Astana Pro Team for the tour's 2013 edition.Edvald Boassan Hagan from Team Sky Pro Cycling, who has been a consistent performer in Tour of Oman, winning points ranking and finishing second overall in both 2010 and 2011 editions, may also visit Oman after missing the 2012 tour. Also, the competition is sure to get enriched with the presence of winner of all three Grand Tours “ Alberto Contador from Team Saxo Tinkoff, who has confirmed his participation. TEAMSAG2R La MondialeAstana Pro TeamBMC Racing TeamFDJTeam Argos -ShimanoConnondale Pro CyclingOmega Pharma -QuickstepOrica -GreenedgeRadioshack Leopard TrekSky Pro CyclingTeam Saxo TinkoffVacansoleil -DCMTeam NetApp - EnduraBardiani Valvole “ CSF InoxKatusha TeamIAM CyclingChampion SystemJapanese Federation Team
