Cavendish roars to victory at Al Khor Corniche

Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) sprinted to victory in the penultimate stage of the 2012 Tour of Qatar on Thursday, using his positional instincts and the help of his teammates to make a decisive dash for the line in a crowded bunch finish.

It was Cavendish’s second victory this week, having won stage three on Tuesday, and it more than made up for the disappointment of yesterday when he trailed home in 31st place. Seven of the remaining nine top 10 spots were taken by young riders, with Liquigas-Canondale duo Daniel Oss and Peter Sagan claiming the remaining podium spots.

Cavendish moves up to seventh in the GC with one stage to go but remains more than a minute adrift of Belgium’s Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), who retained the golden jersey by a margin of 31 seconds from Garmin-Barracuda’s Taylor Farrar despite his worst finish (13th) of the week.

“I’m really happy to have won," Cavendish said. "It’s my second stage win here this week, and my team did a great job protecting me and keeping me up there for the final push. It’s a strong team that wants to do well, wants to win the sprints and the classics. It’s a team that can ride well in the wind and in the final, so it’s really good for us.”

After two wins and two second places in the four previous stages, Boonen was upstaged today but stayed close enough to consolidate his GC lead over Farrar, who was one place behind the Belgian in 14th place.

“I told the guys today that we could control the stage as a team,” Boonen said. “Over the last few days we have really been helped by Garmin and so we hadn’t expended too much energy. Today I wanted to be really comfortable at the head of the peloton.

“Everybody was very fresh in the final so it made for a very hectic finish. This finish line has been good to me and it has been bad to me in the past. There are seven kinks, and you have to be in the correct position. I was almost getting to the front but got blocked on the left side. But the most important thing for today was to consolidate the golden jersey for tomorrow and preserve the good work we have done this week.”

Stage five started just after noon at the Camel Race Track in the arid and dusty interior of the country, and the riders were greeted by dozens of camels as they made their last minute preparations. Aided by a tailwind, the riders sped through more than 52kms in the first hour of racing. A breakaway group of five riders opened up a sizable gap of 2:40 approaching the first intermediate sprint, which was won by Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Katusha) ahead of Thomas Bertolini (Farense Vini-Selle Italia) and Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas-Canondale).

The five riders were still clear at the second sprint, which came at the 124km mark and was won by RadioShack Nissan’s Robert Wagner. In the last 10 kilometres, the peloton closed together and the stage was set for a bunch sprint at the end of the 160km stage, which is the longest of the race.

Boonen moved to the inside menacingly but found his momentum checked at a critical stage, and as all eyes were focussed on the race leader Cavendish, who swept clear 200 metres from the finish and held his arms aloft triumphantly in his trademark celebration.

The stage was marred by several crashes, the worst of which came just before the riders turned onto north road. It resulted in a broken collarbone for Filippo Pozzato (Farense Vini-Selle Italia) as several other riders, including Thor Hushovd (BMC), ended up on the tarmac.

“The last few kilometres were very hectic and everyone was nervous,” Cavendish said. “There was a bit of wind but not enough to break us up so there was a big peloton left at the finish and everybody fancied their chances. It was very chaotic, and there were a few crashes and I hope that nobody is hurt from them."

The 11th Tour of Qatar concludes tomorrow after the 120km sixth stage from the Sealine Beach Resort to the Doha Corniche. It appears that only a crash, and injury or a major mechanical failure can stop Boonen from securing a fourth win in the GC. But the best young rider's jersey is still very much up for grabs, with just five seconds separating current holder Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda) and Adam Blythe (BMC).

Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) sprinted to victory in the penultimate stage of the 2012 Tour of Qatar on Thursday, using his positional instincts and the help of his teammates to make a decisive dash for the line in a crowded bunch finish.

It was Cavendish’s second victory this week, having tasted victory in stage two on Tuesday, and it more than made up for the disappointment of yesterday when he trailed home in 31st place. Seven of the remaining nine top ten spots were taken by young riders, with Liquigas-Canondale duo Daniel Oss (ITA) and Peter Sagan (SVK) claiming the remaining podium spots.

Cavendish moves up to seventh in the GC with one stage to go but remains more than a minute adrift of Belgium’s Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), who retained the golden jersey by a margin of 31 seconds from Garmin-Barracuda’s Taylor Farrar despite his worst finish (13th) of the week.

Stage five started just after noon at the Camel Race Track in the arid and dusty interior of the country, and the riders were greeted by dozens of camels as they made their last minute preparations. Aided by a tailwind, the riders scorched through more than 52kms in the first hour of racing. A breakaway group of five riders opened up a sizeable gap of 2:40 approaching the first intermediate sprint, which was won by Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Katusha) ahead of Thomas Bertolini (Farense Vini-Selle Italia) and Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas-Canondale).

The five riders were still clear at the second sprint, which came at the 124km mark and was won by RadioShack Nissan’s Robert Wagner. In the last ten kilometres the peloton closed together and the stage was set for a bunch sprint at the end of the 160km stage, which is the longest of the race. Boonen moved to the inside menacingly but found his momentum checked at a critical stage, and as all eyes were focussed on the race leader Cavendish swept clear 200 metres from the finish and held his arms aloft triumphantly in his trademark celebration.

“The last few kilometres were very hectic and everyone was nervous,” Cavendish said. “There was a bit of wind but not enough to break us up so there was a big peloton left at the finish and everybody fancied their chances. It was very chaotic and there were a few crashes and I hope that nobody is hurt from them.

“I’m really happy to have won. It’s my second stage win here this week and my team did a great job protecting me and keeping me up there for the final push. It’s a strong team that wants to do well, wants to win the sprints and the classics. It’s a team that can ride well in the wind and in the final, so it’s really good for us.”

After two wins and two second places in the four previous stages, Boonen was upstaged today but stayed close enough to consolidate his GC lead over Farrar, who was one place behind the Belgian in 14th place.

“I told the guys today that we could control the stage as a team,” Boonen said. “Over the last few days we have really been helped by Garmin and so we hadn’t expended too much energy so today I wanted to be really comfortable at the head of the peloton.

“Everybody was very fresh in the final so it made for a very hectic finish. This finish line has been good to me and it has been bad to me in the past. There are seven kinks and you have to be in the correct position. I was almost getting to the front nut got blocked on the left side. But the most important thing for today was to consolidate the golden jersey for tomorrow and preserve the good work we have done this week.”

The stage was marred by several crashes, the worst of which came just before the riders turned onto north road. It resulted in a broken collarbone for Filippo Pozzato (Farense Vini-Selle Italia) as several other riders including Thor Hushovd (BMC) ended up on the Tarmac.

The eleventh Tour of Qatar concludes tomorrow after the 120km sixth stage from the Sealine Beach Resort to the Doha Corniche. It appears that only a crash, and injury or a major mechanical failure can stop Boonen from securing a fourth win in the GC. But the young riders jersey is still very much up for grabs, with just five seconds separating current holder Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda) and Adam Blythe (BMC).