I consider myself very much a ‘yes’ woman. In fact, I pride myself on it. Would you like another slice of cake? Yes. Would you like an extra hour in bed? Another drink, or ten? Absolutely. Would you like to take a plane with a group of strangers to a place you'd never been before? Hell yes.

However, ever since forging a note explaining my five-year period to get out of P.E. at High School, I have simply never understood the appeal of competitive, sweaty games. I do appreciate others' passions, I take interest in the geopolitical context of some tournaments and, like almost everyone else, I joyfully hoovered up the messy-drama of the ‘Wagatha’ scandal but, when it comes to sports, I'm a woman who can very much say no.

So, when I got an invite to attend the Tour of Oman I was as surprised as anyone when I immediately replied that I’d love to attend. I guess in a grand game of getting a new stamp in your passport vs seeing a sporting event - the passport stamp wins.

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You might not be familiar with the Tour of Oman. But I'm sure you're familiar with the Tour de France. The Tour of Oman is run by the same logistics company and is now in its 14th edition, the Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth have invested heavily into making it one of the premier, elite cycling races in the world. Quite a remarkable undertaking when you think that Oman didn't have a professional cycling team at all until around five years ago, and that competitive road cycling is........

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