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5th Tour of Qatar - 2.1
Qatar, January 30-February 3, 2006
2005 results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners
The Stages
- Stage 1 - January 30: Khalifa Stadium - Al Khor Corniche, 131.5 km
- Stage 2 - January 31: Camel Race Track - Al Khor Corniche, 138 km
- Stage 3 - February 1: Sealine Beach Resort - Khalifa Stadium, 160 km
- Stage 4 - February 2: Al Zubarah - Qatar Olympic Committee, 144 km
- Stage 5 - February 3: Al Thakhira - Doha Corniche, 151.5 km
Flatlanders reign in the Gulf
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For the fifth year in a row, the Persian Gulf state of Qatar will host the international Tour of Qatar. Held over five days, the race is characterised by its flat terrain, with most stages taking the riders through the desert and battling the wind. The racing kicked off last Friday with the Doha International Grand Prix, won by Tom Boonen, with the riders enjoying a couple of days' break before the tour starts on Monday.
In its five stages, the race takes in much of the Qatar peninsula, beginning with a 131.5 km stage between Khalifa Stadium and Al Khor Corniche on Monday. Stage 2 starts from Qatar's famous Camel Race Track, and also finishes in Al Khor Corniche on the coast, after 138 km of racing. The third stage, 160 km, starts from Sealine Beach Resort and returns to Doha to finish in front of the Khalifa Stadium. Stage 4 starts in the far north in Al Zubarah, and heads southward back to the capital to finish at the Qatar Olympic Committee HQ, for 144 km. The last stage takes the riders from Al Thakhira on the coast to Doha Corniche, 151.5 km.
17 teams have been invited to start in Qatar, with nine of these being ProTour outfits. The biggest name is World Champion Tom Boonen, from the Quick.Step-Innergetic team, but he has competition from Robert Hunter (Phonak), who always starts his season strongly, Erik Zabel (with his new Milram team), and Graeme Brown, also in new colours with Rabobank.
Start list
Team CSC Quick Step Innergetic
1 Lars Michaelsen (Den) 11 Tom Boonen (Bel)
2 Matti Breschel (Den) 12 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel)
3 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) 13 Steven De Jongh (Ned)
4 Kasper Klostergaard (Den) 14 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel)
5 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) 15 Servais Knaven (Ned)
6 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) 16 Matteo Tosatto (Ita)
7 Martin Pedersen (Den) 17 Guido Trenti (USA)
8 Luke Roberts (Aus) 18 Kévin Van Impe (Bel)
Phonak Hearing Systems Rabobank
21 Robert Hunter (RSA) 31 Graeme Brown (Aus)
22 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) 32 Jan Boven (Ned)
23 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) 33 Marc De Maar (Ned)
24 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) 34 Erik Dekker (Ned)
25 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) 35 Gerben Löwik (Ned)
26 Uros Murn (Slo) 36 Roy Sentjens (Ned)
27 Florian Stalder (Swi) 37 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin)
28 David Vitoria (Swi) 38 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned)
Davitamon-Lotto Gerolsteiner
41 Nico Mattan (Bel) 51 Frank Hoj (Den)
42 Wim De Vocht (Bel) 52 Robert Förster (Ger)
43 Christopher Horner (USA) 53 Thomas Fothen (Ger)
44 Nick Ingels (Bel) 54 Rene Haselbacher (Aut)
45 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) 55 Sven Krauss (Ger)
46 Fred Rodriguez (USA) 56 Sebastian Lang (Ger)
47 Gert Steegmans (Bel) 57 Volker Ordowski (Ger)
48 Leon Van Bon (Ned) 58 Peter Wrolich (Aut)
Cofidis Team Milram
61 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) 71 Erik Zabel (Ger)
62 Michiel Elijzen (Ned) 72 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned)
63 Mathieu Heijboer (Ned) 73 Ralf Grabsch (Ger)
64 Sébastien Minard (Fra) 74 Christian Knees (Ger)
65 Damien Monier (Fra) 75 Martin Müller (Swi)
66 Nicholas Roche (Irl) 76 Enrico Poitschke (Ger)
67 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) 77 Björn Schröder (Ger)
68 Tristan Valentin (Fra) 78 Sebastian Siedler (Ger)
Française des Jeux Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
81 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) 91 Nico Eeckhout (Bel)
82 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) 92 Koen Barbe (Bel)
83 Mickaël Delage (Fra) 93 Kenny De Haes (Bel)
84 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) 94 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel)
85 Frédéric Finot (Fra) 95 Tom Stubbe (Bel)
86 Lilian Jegou (Fra) 96 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel)
87 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) 97 Bart Vanheule (Bel)
88 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) 98 Evert Verbist (Bel)
Ceramiche Panaria Skil-Shimano
101 Brett Lancaster (Aus) 111 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned)
102 Moises Aldape Chavez (Mex) 112 Christoph Meschenmoser (Ger)
103 Tiziano Dall’Antonia (Ita) 113 Rik Reinerink (Ned)
104 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) 114 Paul Martens (Ger)
105 Paride Grillo (Ita) 115 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned)
106 Luis Laverde (Col) 116 Aart Vierhouten (Ned)
107 Matteo Priamo (Ita) 117 Arno Wallaard (Ned)
108 Miguel Angel Rubiano (Col) 118 René Weissinger (Ger)
Team Wiesenhof-Akud Unibet.com
121 Artur Gajek (Ger) 131 Jérémy Hunt (GBr)
122 Tim Klinger (Ger) 132 David Boucher (Fra)
123 Christian Leben (Ger) 133 Camille Bouquet (Fra)
124 Felix Odebrecht (Ger) 134 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra)
125 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) 135 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel)
126 Lubor Tesar (Cze) 136 Geert Omloop (Bel)
127 Carlo Westphal (Ger) 137 Erwin Thijs (Bel)
138 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel)
Ag2R-Prevoyance Naturino-Sapore di Mare
141 Hans Dekkers (Ned) 151 Murilo Fischer (Bra)
142 Aivaras Baranauskas (Ltu) 152 Valerio Agnoli (Ita)
143 Gilles Canouet (Fra) 153 Luca Ascani (Ita)
144 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) 154 Stefan Cohnen (Ned)
145 Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Spa) 155 Gabriele Colombo (Ita)
146 Ben Johnson (Aus) 156 Martin Mares (Cze)
147 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) 157 Sergio Marinangeli (Ita)
148 Benoit Sinner (Fra) 158 Massimiliano Mori (Ita)
Cycling Team Capec
161 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz)
162 Ilya Chernyshov (Kaz)
163 Valeriy Dmitriyev (Kaz)
164 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz)
165 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz)
166 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz)
167 Alexey Lyalko (Kaz)
168 Alexey Zaitsev (Kaz)
Past winners
2005 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC 2004 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 2003 Alberto Loddo (Ita) Lampre 2002 Thorsten Wilhelms (Ger) Team Coast Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
