Garmin-Barracuda claims team time trial in Qatar
By Mark Robinson published
Boonen keeps lead, Farrar up to second
Garmin-Barracuda put in a scorching performance to win the season's opening team time trial at the Tour of Qatar by seven seconds, beating Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Team Sky over the 11.3-kilometre course at Lusail International Racing Circuit just outside Doha.
The win for Garmin moves Tyler Farrar into second place on GC, but overnight leader Tom Boonen, who won stage one yesterday, keeps the golden jersey. Garmin leapfrog Quick Step into first place in the overall team standings and their Lithuanian rider Ramunas Navardauskas takes the white jersey as leader of the young riders GC.
Once again conditions were perfect in Qatar, with the crosswinds at a minimum and temperatures again reaching the mid 70s. Garmin were the fifth team out and after they completed the course in 12:48, only three teams could get within ten seconds of them. Quick Step were the last team on the course and knew that they needed to finish within seven seconds of Garmin's time to ensure that Boonen clinged on to the overall lead. They achieved just that, but only just. It was a relief for Boonen who now moves into tomorrow's third stage hoping for a change in the weather.
"It was a great effort by the team and I am really happy to keep the lead," he said. "I said yesterday that a top three finish here at the time trial would be a very good job and we managed that. We only lost to a very strong Garmin team and a lot of our guys are young riders so it was a great performance by them. It was very still here again today and I hope that tomorrow the weather changes so that we can have some different conditions. Otherwise we are just in for more of the same and it will be hard to keep winning because of all the top sprinters we have in this race."
There is now only a hair's breadth between Boonen and Farrar, and the Garmin rider admitted his surprise at the strong form he has shown so far in what is his first race of the season.
"It's my first time out this season and I definitely still have a few kinks to iron out so I am really happy to be where I am," the 27-year-old American said. "We've been working on a few things as a team over the winters, including our time trial tactics, and this has been our first chance to test ourselves. That's what these early season races are all about."
When pressed for a reaction to Alberto Contador's two-year doping ban, news which broke as the riders were preparing to start the stage, Farrar refused to be drawn.
"The authorities have made their decision and you have to respect that," he said. "It's not for me to pass comment on it. We are just here worrying about the Tour of Qatar and obviously so far it's going well for us."
1 | Garmin - Barracuda | 0:12:38 |
2 | Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 0:00:07 |
3 | Sky Procycling | 0:00:09 |
4 | Katusha Team | |
5 | Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:13 |
6 | RadioShack-Nissan | 0:00:14 |
7 | GreenEdge Cycling Team | 0:00:16 |
8 | BMC Racing Team | |
9 | Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:00:17 |
10 | Lotto-Belisol Team | |
11 | FDJ-Bigmat | 0:00:23 |
12 | Project 1t4i | 0:00:24 |
13 | Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | 0:00:31 |
14 | Champion System | 0:01:03 |
15 | Bridgestone Anchor | 0:01:11 |
16 | RTS Racing Team | 0:01:34 |
1 | Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 3:24:07 |
2 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Barracuda | |
3 | Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin-Barracuda | 0:00:03 |
4 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Barracuda | |
5 | Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin-Barracuda | |
6 | Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Barracuda | |
7 | Davide Appollonio (Ita) Sky Procycling | 0:00:10 |
8 | Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
9 | Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
10 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
11 | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha | |
12 | Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
13 | Matt Brammeier (Irl) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
14 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:12 |
15 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha | |
16 | Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Katusha | |
17 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling | |
18 | Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha | |
19 | Michaël Barry (Can) Sky Procycling | |
20 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
21 | Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Sky Procycling | |
22 | Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Katusha | |
23 | Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha | |
24 | Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling | |
25 | Adam Blythe (GBr) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:13 |
26 | Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha | 0:00:15 |
27 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:16 |
28 | Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
29 | Alan Marangoni (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
30 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
31 | Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
32 | Robert Wagner (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:00:17 |
33 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan | |
34 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack-Nissan | |
35 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan | |
36 | Markel Irizar (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan | |
37 | Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team | |
38 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank | 0:00:19 |
39 | Baden Cooke (Aus) GreenEdge Cycling Team | |
40 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team | |
41 | Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) GreenEdge Cycling Team | |
42 | Svein Tuft (Can) GreenEdge Cycling Team | |
43 | Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
44 | Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) GreenEdge Cycling Team | |
45 | Jens Mouris (Ned) GreenEdge Cycling Team | |
46 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
47 | Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
48 | Klaas Lodewijck (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
49 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) GreenEdge Cycling Team | |
50 | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team | 0:00:20 |
51 | Lars Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team | |
52 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank | |
53 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Rabobank | |
54 | Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank | |
55 | Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team | |
56 | Gregory Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team | |
57 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank | |
58 | Thomas Leezer (Ned) Rabobank | |
59 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling | 0:00:23 |
60 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | 0:00:26 |
61 | Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | |
62 | Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ-BigMat | |
63 | David Boucher (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | |
64 | Mickaël Delage (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | |
65 | Gabriel Rasch (Nor) FDJ-BigMat | |
66 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | |
67 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | |
68 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Project 1t4i | 0:00:27 |
69 | Tom Veelers (Ned) Project 1t4i | |
70 | Roger Kluge (Ger) Project 1t4i | |
71 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Project 1t4i | |
72 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Project 1t4i | |
73 | Albert Timmer (Ned) Project 1t4i | |
74 | Roy Curvers (Ned) Project 1t4i | 0:00:29 |
75 | Luca Ascani (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | 0:00:34 |
76 | Andrea Guardini (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | |
77 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | |
78 | Diego Caccia (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | |
79 | Robbie McEwen (Aus) GreenEdge Cycling Team | 0:00:37 |
80 | Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:44 |
81 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Barracuda | 0:00:47 |
82 | Thomas Bertolini (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | 0:00:55 |
83 | Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | 0:00:57 |
84 | Matthias Friedemann (Ger) Champion System | 0:01:06 |
85 | Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Champion System | |
86 | Aaron Kemps (Aus) Champion System | |
87 | Mart Ojavee (Est) Champion System | |
88 | Joss Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank | |
89 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:01:11 |
90 | Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
91 | Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
92 | Murilo Antoniobil Fischer (Bra) Garmin-Barracuda | 0:01:13 |
93 | Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | 0:01:14 |
94 | Thomas Lebas (Fra) Bridgestone Anchor | |
95 | Alexandre Lemair (Fra) Bridgestone Anchor | |
96 | Blaise Sonnery (Fra) Bridgestone Anchor | |
97 | Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | |
98 | Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | 0:01:21 |
99 | Allan Davis (Aus) GreenEdge Cycling Team | 0:01:23 |
100 | David McCann (Irl) RTS Racing Team | 0:01:37 |
101 | Jai Crawford (Aus) RTS Racing Team | |
102 | Alex Coutts (GBr) RTS Racing Team | |
103 | Lee Rodgers (GBr) RTS Racing Team | |
104 | Clinton Avery (NZl) Champion System | 0:01:39 |
105 | Hayato Yoshida (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | 0:01:45 |
106 | Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Barracuda | 0:01:48 |
107 | Jérémy Hunt (GBr) Sky Procycling | 0:01:50 |
108 | Klaas Sys (Bel) Bridgestone Anchor | 0:01:51 |
109 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:01:56 |
110 | Joost Posthuma (Ned) RadioShack-Nissan | |
111 | Dominic Klemme (Ger) Project 1t4i | 0:02:02 |
112 | Gregory Rast (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:02:03 |
113 | Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 0:02:12 |
114 | Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Lotto Belisol Team | 0:02:16 |
115 | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 0:02:18 |
116 | Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team | 0:02:23 |
117 | Christian Benenati (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | 0:02:42 |
118 | Pengda Jiao (Chn) Champion System | 0:02:48 |
119 | Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Katusha | 0:03:09 |
120 | Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team | 0:03:56 |
121 | Ryota Nishizono (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | 0:04:08 |
122 | Chin-Lung Huang (Tpe) RTS Racing Team | 0:04:55 |
123 | Gang Xu (Chn) Champion System | 0:05:31 |
124 | Wei Kei Chang (Tpe) RTS Racing Team | 0:14:15 |
125 | Sergey Kudentsov (Rus) RTS Racing Team | 0:14:30 |
1 | Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep | 15 | pts |
2 | Adam Blythe (GBr) BMC Racing Team | 12 | |
3 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Barracuda | 10 | |
4 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale | 9 | |
5 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 6 | |
6 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank | 6 | |
7 | Davide Appollonio (Ita) Sky Procycling | 5 | |
8 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha | 4 | |
9 | Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team | 3 | |
10 | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha | 2 | |
11 | Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team | 2 | |
12 | Robert Wagner (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan | 1 | |
13 | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 1 |
1 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Barracuda | 3:24:10 |
2 | Davide Appollonio (Ita) Sky Procycling | 0:00:07 |
3 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
4 | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha | |
5 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:09 |
6 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha | |
7 | Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha | |
8 | Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Katusha | |
9 | Adam Blythe (GBr) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:10 |
10 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:13 |
11 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan | 0:00:14 |
12 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack-Nissan | |
13 | Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:16 |
14 | Klaas Lodewijck (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
15 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank | 0:00:17 |
16 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling | 0:00:20 |
17 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | 0:00:23 |
18 | Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | |
19 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Project 1t4i | 0:00:24 |
20 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Project 1t4i | |
21 | Andrea Guardini (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | 0:00:31 |
22 | Thomas Bertolini (Ita) Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | 0:00:52 |
23 | Alexandre Lemair (Fra) Bridgestone Anchor | 0:01:11 |
24 | Clinton Avery (NZl) Champion System | 0:01:36 |
25 | Hayato Yoshida (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | 0:01:42 |
26 | Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Barracuda | 0:01:45 |
27 | Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Katusha | 0:03:06 |
28 | Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team | 0:03:53 |
29 | Ryota Nishizono (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | 0:04:05 |
30 | Chin-Lung Huang (Tpe) RTS Racing Team | 0:04:52 |
1 | Garmin - Barracuda | 9:47:14 |
2 | Omega Pharma-Quick Step | 0:00:07 |
3 | Sky Procycling | 0:00:09 |
4 | Katusha Team | |
5 | Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00:13 |
6 | RadioShack-Nissan | 0:00:14 |
7 | BMC Racing Team | 0:00:16 |
8 | GreenEdge Cycling Team | |
9 | Lotto-Belisol Team | 0:00:17 |
10 | Rabobank Cycling Team | |
11 | FDJ-Bigmat | 0:00:23 |
12 | Project 1t4i | 0:00:24 |
13 | Farnese Vini-Selle Italia | 0:00:31 |
14 | Champion System | 0:01:03 |
15 | Bridgestone Anchor | 0:01:11 |
16 | RTS Racing Team | 0:01:34 |

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Mark joined the Cyclingnews team in October 2011 and has a strong background in journalism across numerous sports. His interest in cycling dates back to Greg LeMond's victories in the 1989 and 1990 Tours, and he has a self-confessed obsession with the career and life of Fausto Coppi.
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