Wild wins on the Doha Corniche

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Three was the magic number for Kirsten Wild on the final stage of the Ladies Tour of Qatar. In a grandstand finish on Doha's Corniche, the Argos-Shimano rider rattled off her third stage victory in as many days and thus sealed her third overall victory in Qatar, following her triumphs in the first two editions in 2009 and 2010.

Going into Friday's final stage, Wild held a lead of just three seconds over Chloe Hosking (Hitec Products UCK), who had been so unfortunate to puncture and lose the golden jersey the previous day. Such has been Wild's mastery of Qatar's blustery conditions and the race's frenetic bunch finishes, however, there was a certain degree of inevitability about the Dutch woman's eventual triumph.

Wild's Argos-Shimano squad kept a tight rein on the peloton until the opening sprint at Al Wakra after 38.5km, where Wild streaked past Hosking to add another second to her lead, and then granted a hall pass to a determined nine-rider break (which included Shelley Olds and the talented Elisa Longo Borghini) on the run-in to Doha, allowing them to sweep up the bonus seconds at the second intermediate sprint.

Four laps of the 6km circuit along the Champs-Élysées of the Tour of Qatar followed, and Argos-Shimano joined forces with the Wiggle-Honda team of Giorgia Bronzini to make steady inroads into the leaders' advantage as the laps counted down towards the finish.

The finale was far from a leisurely amble along Doha's picturesque seafront promenade, as the Argos pace-setting whittled the front group down to just 35 riders ahead of the inevitable sprint finish and its seemingly ineluctable result - another Wild victory, this time ahead of Lucinda Brand (Rabobank), Marta Tagliaferro (MCipollini-Giordana) and Bronzini.

"It was hard because we had the leader's jersey and we had to defend it," Wild said on crossing the line. "This team just does such an amazing job for me. It was really nice to do. I'm very happy with it."

Wild's lead on the road was just four seconds coming into the final sprint, and it would have been understandable if the Dutchwoman had opted simply to mark Hosking in the closing kilometre. With her confidence on a high, however, Wild had no qualms about opening her sprint from considerable distance, and she had more than enough in reserve to hold off her fellow countrywoman Brand, while Hosking came home in eighth place.

In the overall standings, Hosking held on to second place, 14 seconds down on Wild, while Elen van Dijk (Specialized-lululemon) took the third step on the podium, 29 seconds down. Orica-AIS, so aggressive as a unit through the race, placed Gracie Elvin in fourth, and also earned the teams prize for their efforts.

"I hoped to defend the jersey but when you can take the stage as well, that's special," Wild said. "I'm really happy with this one. It's a big stage race and it's the first one for our team, and it's a good one to show that we're on the right road."

Rochelle Gilmore (Wiggle-Honda) was among the interested spectators on the roadside after a crash the previous day had ended her race prematurely. Gilmore will return to Australia for further scans on suspected fractured collarbone, but she was fulsome in her praise of Wild's exploits during the week.

"This race is really tailor-made for someone like her, but even if you are in the form of your life, to win three stages is amazing," Gilmore said. "So it just shows that she's the best on this kind of course."

Gilmore's teammate Bronzini, too, was generous in her praise of Wild at the finishing, and pointed out that the Dutchwoman was ideally suited to the peculiarities of racing in Qatar. "There was nothing to be done against Wild when she's on form like that," Bronzini said. "Qatar is a tough race for me, to be honest; it's better suited to strong riders who can cope with the wind."

The golden jersey Wild simply smiled when it was put to her that she had a special understanding of the quirks and intricacies of the Tour of Qatar. "I think like the game and with this team, you can play the game," she said.

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