Boonen storms to victory in Al Khor Corniche

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Tom Boonen (Quick Step) got his season off to the best possible start with a resounding sprint victory from an elite group of 18 riders on stage one of the Tour of Qatar. In beating Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervélo) and Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad), the Belgian took his 18th stage win in the event and he inherited the gold jersey from Lars Boom (Rabobank).

Boonen’s speed in the finishing sprint was in itself cause for celebration in the Quick Step camp, but the impressive manner of the win is a clear indication that he is fully recovered from the knee injuries that tempered his 2010 season. The former world champion won an 18-man sprint after spending over 140km at the front of the peloton in a very elite echelon that formed in windy conditions.

It was Boonen’s first victory since Tirreno-Adriatico in March of last year, and he admitted that it was liberation after months of what he called “Rocky-style training.”

“I hadn’t done any sprints in almost a year,” Boonen told Cyclingnews afterwards. “I had the crash at the Tour de Suisse but my last real sprint was from Tirreno-Adriatico. I did a lot of work this winter. For the first year in I think six years I was really working on speed and sprinting. I didn’t know what to expect but I was eager to try.”

Strongmen Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek), Marcus Burghardt (BMC) and Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) also made the split with Boonen on a day that illustrated just why the Tour of Qatar is the preferred testing ground of so many classics specialists.

Overnight leader Lars Boom (Rabobank) was initially in the lead group too, but was forced to drop back to the chasing group at the feed station with stomach problems. The unfortunate Dutchman ultimately finished in the chasing group, 5 minutes down.

In spite of his crash in Sunday’s prologue, Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) also had the wherewithal to be at the head of affairs early on. However, when the rider in front of him failed to hold his place in the echelon, the Manxman lost his place in the lead group. He rolled in with the main peloton, over 12 minutes in arrears.

“Somebody left a gap open in front and we were left behind,” he said. “It happens.”

A rapid start

Right from the neutralised zone at the beginning of stage 1, the peloton maintained a hyperactive pace. With a tailwind blowing over their left shoulders, the riders were jostling for position even before the flag dropped and within the first kilometre of the stage, the first echelon had formed.

Boonen, Cancellara, Cavendish and Boom were among the 26 riders who made that first split, as the bunch was scattered into five separate groups. The Quick Step and Garmin-Cervélo squads were among those keen to drive the break, but a frantic chase behind saw a bunch of 50 riders form 23km into the race.

There was still no relenting of the pace, however, and one by one riders began to deposited out the back of the lead group, as it covered a leg-stinging 54.8km in the first hour of racing. In the type of battle that could well repeat itself later in the spring, the Garmin-Cervélo, Leopard Trek and Quick Step teams did battle on the front end of the echelon, and the break was soon whittled down to 19 riders. Among those to bid farewell to the head of the race were Cavendish, Danilo Honda (Lampre-ISD) and Alex Dowsett (Sky).

After 50km, the men left in front were Tom Boonen, Gert Steegmans, Nicolas Maes (Quick Step), Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad), Fabian Cancellara, Daniele Bennati, Stuart O’Grady (Leopard Trek), Lars Boom, Graeme Brown (Rabobank), Juan Antonio Flecha, Jeremy Hunt (Sky), Heinrich Haussler, Roger Hammond, Andreas Klier, Gabriel Rasch, Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Cervélo), Marcus Bughardt (BMC) and Dominique Rollin (FDJ).

With a lead of a minute at the first intermediate sprint (56km), won by Renshaw ahead of Boom and O’Grady, there was still the faint possibility that they might be reeled in. But with so many riders willing to collaborate on the front and the strongest teams so well represented in the break, the gap gradually began to stretch out. They barrelled across Qatar’s barren desert interior towards the seaside finish at Al Khor Corniche, and took full advantage of the tailwind at their backs.

By the feed zone, the leaders had 2:20 over the chasing group, which was itself splintering in the wind. Gold jersey Lars Boom stopped at the feed zone with stomach problems, and eventually rejoined the race with the chase group, giving Cancellara the virtual overall lead. That would change hands to Steegmans at the second sprint, when he pipped Renshaw and Haussler for the bonus seconds. With 25km to go, the break had three minutes over the chasers, and they would tack on a further two in the finale.

Surprisingly, there were few attempts to slip clear of the lead group in the closing kilometres, although Boonen explained afterwards that it was simply that the riders themselves were running on empty after a long day in front.

In the finishing sprint, Renshaw went early, but Boonen reacted well and opened up the gas 250 metres from the line to take a fine win. Boonen’s shout of joy on crossing the line illustrated just what victory meant after his long battle with injury, while his mastery of the day’s classics-like conditions will no doubt have added an extra lustre to his gold jersey.