There was nothing wrong with the inaugural Tour of Oman, especially if you like straight roads and sand or our favourite abstract sculpture of the week – three concrete prongs holding what appeared to be a shed-sized copy of the qur'an.

Can Ghent-Wevelgem offer this sort of thing? It cannot, although it does have a better range of Tin-Tin comics.

For the cable TV viewer, Eurosport's half-hour highlights from Oman offered extensive coverage of the gulf nation's shipbuilding (the traditional dhows! The dug-out canoes! The palm-frond shashahs!) spoiled every so often by some racing.

If Oman and the even straighter, even flatter Tour of Qatar have any weaknesses at all, it is that local interest is of approximately the same level as the Broom Wagon's in the Winter Olympics.

We use the time to grout the bathroom and ask to be notified each time Evgeny Plushenko invents a new medal. They sink another oil well and stay away from the highways.

The news that the Jayco Herald-Sun Tour is, after all, to be rescheduled is therefore rather promising (ask Gerro).

Breaking 60 years of tradition to hold the race in February creates an embryonic Australian season which could, if we play our cards right, encourage a handful of big teams to forsake the gulf races in favour of a month down under.

The 2011 Jayco Tour will run from February 8-13, beginning 16 days after the Tour Down Under.

A 16-day gap between races is not ideal, with the Jayco start having been pushed back to accommodate the national track championships. But it is short enough for teams to only need to occupy a week or two with nearby tourist attractions such as Gippsland's giant earthworm.

In our more optimistic moments (5.25pm weekdays, just before the start of Deal or No Deal), we dream about a move like this powering Australia's transition into a bicycle-friendly country.

On the downside, Leigh Howard would no longer be able to sprint to his stage wins incognito.

Quickstep v Lotto – a convenient chart

Via cyclocosm

Skydenfreude

It's early in the season, but watching Team Sky self-destruct is already shaping as one of 2010's best new party games. Sky arrived in town all top hat and swagger, monocle a-gleaming and trousers bulging with 100-pound notes.

In Oman, Sky appeared to be cruising to victory until stage four, on which youngster Edvald Boasson Hagen was expected to defend his lead in what was assumed to be a group sprint finish.

How exactly things went pear-shaped differs depending on who you speak to.

Soon after the start a group of six broke attacked and gained seven minutes. Sky refused to chase the breakway and so, not unreasonably, did the remaining teams.

According to Cyclingnews, Cervelo's Roger Hammond claimed Sky put the hammer down at a feed station, forcing disgruntled riders to collect their energy bars at 65 kph. Hammond says he was misquoted.

What is clear is that roughly 50km from the finish, Boasson Hagen stopped to relieve himself and the bunch shot away.

With the likes of eventual winner Fabian Cancellara and Tyler Farrar setting the pace, Boasson Hagen was stranded and in strong cross-winds Sky were unable to close the gap. Howard took the victory with the Sky rider 65 seconds adrift.

Attacking while a man turns his bicycle around is obviously a rum sort of do, the type to be discouraged by a frown or two at the gentlemen's club.

On the other hand, sympathising with Team Sky is a bit like feeling sorry for Manchester City, or Kevin Pietersen. No matter how badly things go wrong for them, you can't quite suppress the feeling of gladness in the deepest, blackest part of your heart.

Dispatches from the Twitterverse (NSFW edition – except for the one with Charly Wegelius)

If @bradwiggins' reports are accurate, exploding shoes aren't the only things British airports should be concerned about

"Don't go too deep, Hendy" is a considerate Sean Yates' advice as @GregHenderson1 goes in for some work on a man's private place (not the place he uses to turn his bicycle around – the other private place)

Henderson channels HG Nelson in reply

A renegade cat sends @lancearmstrong man's-private-place-over-bandbox

There are words four-year-olds should know ('need' and 'toilet', for example), and words they probably should not know. 'Shart' is in the second category. @Vaughters disagrees.

@wegelius cobbles something together

Classic YouTube

With 15 million views and no appearance by keyboard cat, this parkour-style clip of Danny MacAskill around Edinburgh must be some kind of internet first. The bit with the tree at 3.10 is one of the greatest things we've seen on two wheels.