Wild strikes again on the Al Khor Corniche

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It was a day that saw Orica-AIS shatter the peloton with an aggressive show of collective force, but their efforts went unrewarded on stage 2 of the Ladies Tour of Qatar as Chloe Hosking (Hitec Products UCK) made the split to retain the overall lead, while Kirsten Wild (Argos-Shimano) unleashed a powerful sprint to claim stage victory.

In the arid expanses of the Qatari desert, the greatest obstacle is the wind and, like on stage 1, Orica-AIS looked to take advantage as soon as the peloton turned right into a crosswind shortly before the midway point. In an impressive concerted move, no fewer than five Orica riders - Gracie Elvin, Tiffany Cromwell, Loes Gunnewijk, Emma Johansson and Amanda Spratt - hit the front to form the day's decisive echelon, but unfortunately for the Australian outfit, they had some of the race's fastest finishers for company in the nine-rider move.

Without an out and out sprinter of their own, Orica-AIS took turns attacking the winning break inside the closing kilometres, mindful of the challenge posed by Wild, Hosking and the Specialized-Lululemon pairing of Elen van Dijk and Trixi Worrack. The eventual winner Wild, however, had both the strength and the confidence to take the initiative herself in keeping the Orica moves in check.

"I was a bit worried with five from Orica because that's hard to control, but they kept riding for a long time because the peloton was close so they had to keep riding," Wild said afterwards. "I knew they would attack and I was ready for them. I thought it was best to control the moves directly myself. I think that's always best."

In the finishing sprint into the wind, Wild followed Worrack in opening her effort from distance, and the Dutch woman had more than enough in reserve to come past and claim victory at Al Khor Corniche for the second year in succession. The victory elevates Wild to third place overall and also means that she now holds the outright record tally for stage victories (four) at the Ladies Tour of Qatar.

"I think we have to see stage by stage if I can go for overall victory," said Wild, who won the race outright in 2009 and 2010. "If it works out, it works out, but I'm already happy with this stage win because it's hard to control the race and keep it together for a group sprint."

Overall leader Chloe Hosking had been wise to Orica-AIS' mid-stage raid and declared herself satisfied with her day's work, even if she was disappointed to be edged out by van Dijk for third place and the final bonus seconds on offer. "The whole GreenEdge chain was lining up beside me before the crosswind section, so I had a sneaking suspicion and I was able to jump right in," said Hosking.

Outnumbered by Orica-AIS and Specialized Lululemon in the finale, Hosking knew that a second stage victory would be a big ask, although she knew from past experience that Wild - the only Argos-Shimano rider in the break - had the ability to beat those kinds of odds.

"I can imagine how the other teams are feeling right now - when I was on Specialized last year, Kirsten Wild won the same stage when there were four of us in the break," Hosking said. "It was not a happy dinner table."

Orica's Gracie Elvin remains in second place overall, six seconds behind Hosking, and the Australian champion said that her team's tactical approach had worked perfectly until the final kilometre. "We were hoping to get rid of them in the end but they were just too strong, so we couldn't quite finish it off," she said of Wild and van Dijk. "Maybe we could have started attacking a little earlier than 5km to go, but there was quite a fast tailwind in the last section so it was really going to take a pretty big effort to get anybody away there."

Early break

Facing a block headwind for the opening 40 kilometres, there appeared to be little appetite for attacking when the peloton left the start at the Camel Race Track but the early détente was broken when Xiu Jie Jiang (China Chongming-Giant), Audrey Cordon (France) and Malgorzata Jasinska (MCipollini) forged clear after 12km.

The trio had built up a lead of almost nine minutes by the first sprint (38.5km) but as soon as the road swung right and into a stiff crosswind section, the complexion of the race altered completely. Before the start, Orica's Tiffany Cromwell had told Cyclingnews that her squad was primed for the changes in direction around the midway point. "There will be some sections where we're looking for gutter action to try and reduce that group of GC contenders," she said, and so it proved.

A quintet of Orica riders massed on the front and the natural selection was instantly apparent, with only the very strongest holding their wheels - Wild, Hosking, Worrack and van Dijk - making the split. Wiggle-Honda attempted to organise the pursuit behind in support of Rochelle Gilmore and Giorgia Bronzini, but though they remained in sight of the leaders for the rest of the day, they were unable to make inroads into their initial one-minute lead.

The Orica-propelled echelon, meanwhile, was travelling at a rate of considerable knots, slicing five minutes of the advantage of the flagging leaders in the space of just 10km, and sweeping the trio up shortly afterwards. To her credit, Jasinska managed to latch on the group when it blasted past, even if the Pole was unable to make an impact in the sprint.

In the closing kilometres, Orica made several tentative efforts to send lone riders away, and while their attempts were thwarted, the script for the final two days of racing seems clear. "I assume it will be very windy and we'll have some more gutter action," Hosking said warily on the days to come.

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