Van Dijk wins the Ladies Tour of Qatar

Monia Baccaille (MCipollini-Giordana) showed that she is fully recovered from injury by winning the final stage of the Ladies Tour of Qatar in a thrilling sprint finish. It was very much an Italian affair in Doha, as Baccaille beat world champion Giorgia Bronzini into second place. Ellen Van Dijk's (HTC-Highroad) fourth place finish was enough to seal her overall victory in the event.

With a healthy overall lead of 15 seconds on Friday morning, and well supported by the strongest team in the race, Van Dijk's golden jersey was never under any significant threat, and once the break of the day was swept up on the final lap of the finishing circuit in downtown Doha, the stage was set for a fascinating sprint battle that saw the Italian duo come out on top.

Baccaille opened her sprint early and the Italian champion had more than enough in her legs to hold on for victory. Behind, the rainbow jersey of Bronzini was boxed in until the last minute, and she lost vital yards on her fellow countrywoman that she was unable to make up in the closing metres.

"There were a few trains in the sprint, it was going left and right," Baccaille told Cyclingnews afterwards. "But I managed to find space on the right hand side and go at 250m and I was able to hold on."

Baccaille was making her first competitive appearance since breaking her collarbone at the European track championships in November, and admitted that she was surprised to have found form again so quickly after returning to full training less than a month ago. After being active on the front in the previous two days, however, she was able to save herself for the finale of Friday's stage.

"Today I was able to stay in the peloton without expending too much energy given that there were two of my teammates in the main break of the day, Nicole Cooke and Marta Bastianelli," Baccaille said.

Second-placed Bronzini suffered from the chaotic nature of the finale, with no one team able to build a dominant lead-out train, and she rued starting her sprint so late. "In the finale maybe I went too late given my characteristics, but so be it," she told Cyclingnews.

Meanwhile, the overall winner Van Dijk was thrilled with her victory. The young Dutch rider finished fourth on the stage, just behind Rochelle Gilmore (Lotto-Honda), but explained that her priority on the final stage was to secure her golden jersey. With HTC-Highroad marshaling affairs expertly at the head of the peloton, she endured no scares on the road to Doha.

"I think we have the strongest team here in the competition, as is shown by the way that we also won the team classification," Van Dijk said. "I could count on my teammates as we were able to keep it together today.

"I rate this win really highly because it's also my first stage race win. It's a big race and a nice race to win."

How it unfolded

The race began without the unfortunate Lucy Davis (Garmin-Cervélo), who was forced to abandon overnight after falling on stage two. Out on the road, the wind at the peloton's back on the way out of Al Dayeen meant that there was no shortage of willing attackers but with HTC-Highroad controlling matters, nobody was going to be allowed get a substantial gap before the nine laps of the finishing circuit.

On entering the streets of Doha, Megan Guarnier (USA) managed to snap the elastic, in spite of the high pace behind. However, after the convoy went in the wrong direction on reaching the circuit, the race had to be stopped and neutralised, and the sting was taken out of Guarnier's move. To her credit, however, after setting off again with a 10-second advantage, the American managed to spend almost two laps clear of the pack before being caught.

Unsurprisingly, the next attacker was the ever willing Valentina Bastianelli (Vaiano Solaritech), and when she and her breakaway companion Roxanne Knetemann hoovered up the bonus seconds at the first sprint ahead of Iris Slappendel (Garmin-Cervélo), the main threat to Van Dijk's golden jersey, HTC-Highroad were all but guaranteed the overall win.

With six laps to go, the day's main break forced its way clear, with Nicole Cooke and Marta Bastianelli (MCipollini-Giordana) very much to the fore. They were joined by Gloria Presti (Italy), Amanda Spratt (Australia), Patricia Schwager (Nederland Bloeit), Ludivine Henrion (Lotto-Honda), Jacquelyn Crowell (USA), Valentina Scandolara (Gauss) and Alison Testroete (Skil-Koga).

The 10 escapees worked well together and quickly established a lead, but once the gap rose above 30 seconds, the HTC-Highroad team assembled at the front of the peloton to keep them in check. Thereafter, it was a game of cat and mouse, as the breakaway never fully managed to get out of site, in spite of the best efforts of Cooke and Spratt in particular.

Two laps from the finish, the gap was still holding steady at 25 seconds, but when HTC-Highroad pegged back another 10 of those on the next lap, it seemed inevitable that the race would all come back together for the sprint. The break was finally forced to give best in the finale, where Baccaille emerged victorious from the chaos, while HTC-Highroad celebrated a golden jersey for Van Dijk that was very much a team effort.