Ladies Tour of Qatar: Kirsten Wild wins stage 4

Overall victory was all but assured before the day began, but Kirsten Wild (Giant-Shimano) put the finishing touches to her domination of the Ladies Tour of Qatar with a resounding sprint victory in the grandstand finale on Doha's Corniche on Friday afternoon.

The victory was Wild's third stage win of the race and completed a full set for her Giant-Shimano team – the only rider to interrupt Wild's sequence of wins was her teammate Amy Pieters on stage 2, a performance that would ultimately help her to finish second overall.

The Dutch squad's mastery of the conditions in Qatar was total. Every time an echelon formed, there was a phalanx of Giant-Shimano riders to be found leading the line. Every time a dangerous break drifted clear, there was a Giant-Shimano rider policing the move. And in the sprint, of course, Wild proved unbeatable.

The final stage of the race saw Wild face arguably her toughest test to date. After missing the split on stage 1 and puncturing out of the winning move on stage 3, double world champion Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda) was present and correct in a bunch sprint for the first time in this year's Tour of Qatar.

The duel between Wild and Bronzini was a classic clash of sprinting styles, matching the Dutchwoman's raw power with the Italian's rapid acceleration and tactical savvy. The long, exposed Corniche finale is a favourite of Wild's however, and her sheer strength won the day.

With 200 metres to go, she pulled clear of Bronzini, and though the Piacenza native battled gamely to stay on terms, the spoils fell to Wild, while Melissa Hoskins (Orica-AIS) – an impressive performer throughout the week – came home in third.

"It feels good but I have to say thanks to my team, they were so good and we deserved it," Wild said of her fourth overall victory at the Ladies Tour of Qatar, following her triumphs in 2009, 2010 and 2013.

Wild's record in Qatar is little short of remarkable – of the 20 stages of the race held since its inception in 2009, Wild has won nine. Indeed, Bronzini, with three to her name, is the only other multiple stage winner in the Ladies Tour of Qatar's six-year history.

"I feel like I'm ready now for the rest of the season," Wild said, adding: "You can't win a race like this without a strong team."

Wild's teammate Amy Pieters underlined Giant-Shimano's pre-eminence by finishing second overall, 22 seconds down, and claiming the white jersey of best young rider for good measure. The Dutch youngster was a deluxe domestique for much of the race, but gave a fuller demonstration of her repertoire on stage 2, when she tracked the winning move and then powered clear in the sprint.

As was the case twelve months ago, Chloe Hosking (Hitec-Products) was Wild's most persistent rival in the sprints, and constantly in the right place when the race split up in crosswinds. The Australian was rewarded for her consistency with third place overall, 36 seconds down.

The biggest collective threat to Giant-Shimano came from Orica-AIS, but the team's lack of a sprinter at Wild's level meant that their guile in scattering the peloton to the four winds did not reap the rewards it perhaps deserved. Nonetheless, Emma Johansson claimed 4th overall, 50 seconds down on Wild, while Orica-AIS also collected the team prize for their endeavours.

As per tradition, Friday's final stage began at the Sealine Beach Resort, and the combination of a block headwind and a four-lane motorway on the road north to Doha meant that early breakaway attempts were understandably at a premium on an overcast afternoon on the peninsula. The pace nudged upwards ahead of the first sprint at Al Wakra after 38km – where Wild, inevitably, picked up another three seconds in bonuses – and shortly afterwards, Jessie MacLean (Orica-AIS) and Alexandra Burchenkova (RusVelo) broke clear.

As the Doha skyline gradually began to emerge from the haze ahead, the pair's lead gained in definition, and at the 50km mark, they had 1:10 in hand on the peloton, but that advantage began to tumble on the finishing circuit along the Corniche and they were later swept up. The final laps of the circuit saw a concerted attempt from Specialized-lululemon to break the deadlock, with Chantal Blaak's effort the most dangerous. She would soon be reeled in by the peloton, however, and the stage was set for Wild's final flourish.