Chicchi quickest into Al Khor Corniche

Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas-Doimo) had the fastest legs at the end of the fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar, taking a high speed sprint ahead of Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam) and Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank) on the Al Khor Corniche.

Taylor Phinney (Trek-Livestrong) proved his seventh place on Tuesday was no fluke by finishing eighth in the sprint, with John Murphy (BMC) also mixing it successfully with the best in the world and finishing 13th.

Dutchman Wouter Mol (Topsport Vlaanderen) finished 20th, safely in the bunch, and so held on to the overall lead in the race, with just two stages remaining.

For Franco Ballerini

Chicchi pointed to the black band on his arm after he crossed the finish line and dedicated his win to the late Franco Ballerini, the Italian cycling coach, who passed away last weekend after a rally accident in Italy. "This is a special win for all the team. We wanted to win for Franco," Chicchi told Cyclingnews.

"We've decided to ride all the race with black tape on our arms as a sign of mourning. It's a small sign in memory of a great man who had a huge place in Italian cycling. This win is for him."

Chicchi's victory was the second of his season, after he opened his account last month at the Tour of San Luis in Argentina. Chicchi used his form from South America to beat some of the sport's top sprinters. The little Italian was particularly pleased with his win, which came as part of a daily rotation with teammate Daniele Bennati.

"The best sprinters in the world are here and they're in great condition. We tried to pull on the front in the last few kilometres but there was too much chaos. At the final roundabout Bennati gave me an incredible hand and then I set off with 300 meters to go and it went well from me," Chicchi said at the finish.

"We have two sprinters in the team. Bennati has shown how strong he is over the years. Yesterday he had a sprint, and tomorrow I'll give him a hand."

Brave trio go on the attack

A three-rider break dominated much of the 146.5km stage, as once again the smaller teams looked to take their chances. Martin Kohler (BMC), Jesse Sergent (Trek Livestrong) and Sep Vanmarcke (Topsport Vlaanderen) got away from kilomete zero to take all the intermediate sprint points and time bonuses. But with no wind blowing across the Qatar peninsular, the peloton patiently ground down the trio's lead and then swept them up with 14km to go.

Garmin-Transitions' run of bad luck continued to disrupt their race.They have lost Steven Cozza and Kirk Carlsen in crashes in the last two days and today Tyler Farrar punctured four times in the last 20 kilometres. The last two came at the same moment, four kilometres from the finish, and meant he would not contest the sprint.

As Farrar rolled to a stop, the peloton accelerated and fought for position, knowing that the entry onto the Corniche and the final 1.4km with a tailwind after the 360-degree turn would be decisive.

World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara of Saxo Bank did much of the lead-out work early on. Then Milram, Team Sky, Quick Step, Cervélo TestTeam and Liquigas took over.

As the line approached, Cervélo TestTeam tired to hit the front for Heinrich Haussler but the high speed made it difficult to control the sprint, with riders losing wheels and leaving gaps.

Chicchi closed two gaps to get on Theo Bos (Cervélo TestTeam) back wheel. Haussler would reveal to Cyclingnews that the former track sprinter was supposed to lead him out but Haussler failed to get on his wheel. When Bos accelerated hard with four hundred metres to go, it was Chicchi who benefited from his slipstream and then the Italian went himself to win comfortably ahead of Haussler and Haedo.

"I've ridden Qatar six times but this is the first sprint I've won," he said.

On the podium, Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil) was just happy finish the stage without problem and keep the race leader's gold jersey for another day. He is hoping a lack of wind on the final two days will allow him to win the Tour of Qatar.

He extended his lead to 15 seconds over Geert Steurs (Topsport Vlaanderen), who won stage two when they successfully broke away from the bunch together. Tom Boonen (Quick Step) is third at 1:55.

"My teammates worked very hard all day to control the three-rider breakaway and then kept me out of trouble in the sprint," he told Cyclingnews.

I've already checked the weather forecast and they expect even less wind that today for the rest of the race. It's perfect for us if there's a bunch sprint each time. I can't wait to get to Friday."

Thursday's 142km fifth stage is from Lusail to Madinat Al Shamal, at the very northern tip of Qatar. Friday's final stage ends with seven laps of a circuit along the Doha Corniche. Although there are two exposed section that could cause Mol some problems.