Ladies Tour of Qatar: Wild wins stage 3

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The Orica-AIS squad made repeated attempts to break the Dutch grip on the Ladies Tour of Qatar, but their efforts ultimately went unrewarded as Kirsten Wild (Giant-Shimano) claimed the spoils on stage 3 to Al Khor Corniche.

Wild's victory was enough to lift her above teammate Amy Pieters on the general classification and back into the golden jersey, but the win – her second this week – was perhaps the hardest-fought of the eight in total that she has captured at the Ladies Tour of Qatar since the event's inception in 2009.

"I'm really happy but I also feel a bit sorry for Amy because she won well yesterday and now I've taken the jersey back. But the good thing is that we keep it in the team," Wild said. "That was the goal – to keep the jersey in the team, with me or with Amy."

The finale was marked by a concerted show of aggression from Orica-AIS, led by world number one Emma Johansson. The Swede had Gracie Elvin, Melissa Hoskins and Loes Gunnewijk for company in the winning move of 14 riders, and the quartet took turns attacking in an attempt to rid themselves of Wild and the other fast finishers.

Such an approach helped Judith Arndt beat the sprinters and the odds to claim overall victory here two years ago, but in spite of the notable Orica offensive, the Giant-Shimano pairing of Wild and Pieters simply could not be dislodged in the closing kilometres of stage 3.

After ebbing and flowing for 18 kilometres, the leading echelon regrouped ahead of the red kite, and there was a certain degree of inevitability about the finishing sprint, although Shelley Olds (Alé-Cipollini) made a brave attempt to anticipate her rivals on the windswept finishing straight. The American would fade in the final 100 metres, however, as Wild roared past to take the stage win, while an impressive Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) held off Chloe Hosking (Hitec-Products) for second place.

Thanks to the sixteen seconds in time bonuses she earned on the stage, Wild now holds a nine-second lead over Pieters, while Orica-AIS' Chloe Hosking and Emma Johansson remain in 3rd and 4th place, albeit now 21 and 35 seconds down, respectively. Ahead of Friday's conclusion on Doha's Corniche, Giant-Shimano are in a commanding position.

"The gold jersey has passed to my teammate and I'm still in the white jersey, so I think we can be really happy," Pieters said. "Tomorrow, I hope we can win the stage again, and if we do, we will hold onto the jersey too."

Orica seize the initiative

For the third day in succession, winds buffeted the peloton, and for the third consecutive stage, only an elite group of riders were left in contention for the win by day's end. There was a steady start to proceedings after the peloton was flagged away from the Katara Cultural Village in northern Doha, but as the pace wound up before the day's first sprint (40.5km), the first splits began to appear in the peloton.

Surprisingly, Tiffany Cromwell (Specialized-Lululemon) was among those to miss the move, and while there was a general regrouping ahead of a breathless finale, it was merely a stay of execution for any lingering podium aspirations.

After lone attacker Aude Biannic (France) was swept up, Orica-AIS set about whittling down the peloton, having found fertile terrain for their particular brand of aggressive riding in the final 25 kilometres. Led by Johansson, the Australian outfit forced a selection of just 14 riders on the windswept run-in to the finish.

Mindful of the lack of a bona fide sprinter in their ranks – or at least, a rider capable of outmatching Wild, Hosking, Olds et al – Orica-AIS took it in turns to attack in the finale, with Johansson, Australian champion Gracie Elvin and Melissa Hoskins trying their luck at various times.

"Orica were attacking constantly in the final 20 kilometres and the group was just all over the place, so it was a really, really hard day," Hosking said afterwards. "Then in the sprint, Wild was just so strong and I was just so tired too."

Their aggression made for a disjointed leading echelon and a thrilling final 10 kilometres, and as the group fragmented and reformed almost without stop. Johansson's most telling attack came with 7 kilometres to go, but the implacable Wild moved swiftly to police the move.

Shortly afterwards, Elvin slipped away only for the gold jersey of Amy Pieters to follow, and while the Lizzie Armistead (Boels-Dolmans) breathed life into the effort when she bridged across, they were ultimately reeled in and the stage was set for the sprint finish. On the seafront at Al Khor, Kirsten Wild's emphatic sprint finish felt very much like a down payment on final overall victory.

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