Garfoot wins stage 2 of the Ladies Tour of Qatar

What a big difference a little wind can make. If Tuesday’s bunch finish opener had been the Ladies Tour of Qatar at its most straightforward, then stage two to Al Khor Corniche saw the race at its attritional best, as Katrin Garfoot (Orica-AIS) soloed into the gold jersey and overnight leader Kirsten Wild (Hitec Products) lost almost four minutes and all hope of final overall victory on a day of crosswinds, crashes and mechanical problems.

The stage descended into something resembling hand-to-hand combat from the moment the race swung right and into a crosswind after 48 kilometres, and there was scarcely any respite from there all the way to the finish, as the peloton splintered into shards.

The on-form Garfoot, winner of last month’s Santos Women’s Tour, missed the initial 11-strong echelon on the front, but she was quickly back up to speed as part of the chasing group that saw it swell to 26 riders. From there, the Australian scarcely put a pedal stroke out of place, first tracking a dangerous move from Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-High5) inside the final 30 kilometres, and then making the final 10-rider selection in the finale.

Garfoot was present and correct once again when she drifted off the front in the company of Trixi Worrack (Canyon Sram Racing), Amy Pieters (Wiggle-High5) and Romy Kasper (Boels-Dolmans) with three kilometres remaining, and she proceeded to press clear alone once in the outskirts of the fishing town of Al Khor.

“When I turned around, no one was there, so if I went for it and they didn’t seem to chase. No one wanted to chase. That was it – head down and go for it, and either I made it or I didn’t,” Garfoot told reporters after claiming a solo victory. “So I’m pretty stoked.”

Worrack pipped Pieters in the sprint for second place 13 seconds later, while Chloe Hosking (Wiggle-High5) led a group containing Ellen van Dijk (Boels Dolmans), Longo Borghini and Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-Sram) home a shade under a minute down.

Although there are still two stages to come, including a finishing circuit on stage 3 notorious for crosswinds, the battle for overall honours may well have been reduced to just Garfoot, Worrack, Pieters and Kasper. One certainty is that the pre-race favourite Wild will not claim a fifth Ladies Tour of Qatar title.

Wild was surprisingly caught out by the first split after 48 kilometres, and her efforts to chase back on were dealt an irreparable blow when she suffered a broken derailleur after a wheel touched against her rear mech.

Two minutes down by the time she had received a bike change, Wild’s day became an exercise in damage limitation, but worse was to follow. With a shade over 30 kilometres to go, she was brought down by a crash in the main peloton, suffering bruises to her elbow, knee and face, though mercifully she was able to complete the stage, rolling home as part of a group that finished 3:51 down on Garfoot.

Slow start

The peloton set out from the start at Sheikh Faisal Museum beneath slate grey skies more in keeping with Jacques Brel’s Plat Pays than the Gulf, and tackled a seemingly interminable false flat and a firm headwind during the first hour of racing.

Undeterred by that road to nowhere, which appeared to fade into the haze before them, Alexandra Nessmar (Lares-Waowdeals) and Yue Bai (China Chongming-Liv) forged clear and built up a lead of two minutes, only to be pegged back just after the first intermediate sprint at a Tour of Qatar staple, the Sub Station. Immediately afterwards, the road swung right into a crosswind, and in a matter of minutes, the 2016 Ladies Tour of Qatar was turned on its head.

A determined group of 11 riders, powered by a strong Canyon-Sram delegation but also including Hosking, Long Borghini and Shelley Olds (Cylance), forged clear amid the chaos. Wild was among those to miss the split and her day would only get worse from there. When the leading group swelled to 26 riders after 60 kilometres, they immediately found common cause in the bid to ensure there would be no way back for Wild.

“There was no one dominant team that hit the corner first. I think Canyon just had the most riders there and I think a lot of teams just got caught out, like Hitec,” Hosking said. “Everybody was rolling, because it was a really good situation for pretty much everyone in the race with Wild not being there.”

The alliance of circumstance would continue as a tailwind puffed them towards the coast, though that unity would dissolve once again the race hit the final crosswind section, and only ten remained in contention come the finale.

From that position, Garfoot’s remarkable early season form proved telling, as she powered to the stage win and into the gold jersey. She leads Worrack by 17 seconds, Pieters by 19 and Kasper by 23, while Hosking and Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS) are the best of the rest, but more than a minute down.

“I’m not sure what our plans will be because I didn’t expect to wear this,” Garfoot said of her approach to defending her jersey. “I will think about it when I get back to the hotel and chat with the team. We’ve got more cards to play.”

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