BMC dominates the team time trial

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Inspired by a flying performance from Taylor Phinney and backed by some specific preparation at their January training camp, BMC stormed to victory on the stage 2 team time trial of the Tour of Qatar, beating Sky by five seconds over the 14km out-and-back test. The result means that Brent Bookwalter retains the golden jersey and he now has four BMC teammates for company in the top five overall.

The pan flat course along Al Rufaa Street in the Doha hinterland was hardly the most stimulating, although the blustery conditions did at least require some degree of tactical finesse. The teams rode along a deserted highway into a block headwind for 7km, and then took a sharp left turn and came back, this time hurried along by the stiff breeze. The question, therefore, was how best to dose one's effort over the two halves of the circuit.

At the halfway point, Team Sky had a lead of some 11 seconds over BMC but the feeling from the British squad at the finish was that they had simply burnt too many matches on the way out. Having lost Chris Sutton and Gabriel Rasch shortly after the midway point, the men in black were unable to make the most of the wind at their backs in the finale and their advantage duly crumbled.

BMC were the last team off, and by contrast, they had been relatively cautious starters, but with Phinney taking the reins on the fast run-in to the line, the balance began to tip in their favour. The American youngster was the ringleader of their effort, but he had strong assistance from the golden jersey of Brent Bookwalter in particular, as well as Steve Cummings before he swung off in the closing kilometres.

Although BMC finished the bare minimum of five riders, they stopped the clock some five seconds quicker than Team Sky to claim the stage victory, maintain Bookwalter's golden jersey and place Phinney, Adam Blythe and Greg Van Avermaet in prime positions near the head of the general classification. Omega Pharma-QuickStep took third place, 10 seconds down, while RadioShack-Nissan came home a further second behind in fourth.

"I like to go well in the time trial, but it's a little better for me when there are changes and it's up and down," said Bookwalter, who paid tribute to the part Phinney played in sparking the BMC comeback on the return leg.

Indeed, though only 22 years of age, Phinney was very visibly the conductor of BMC's team time trial effort, reminding his teammates to check they were in the right gear at the start, cajoling them through the course's one technical section, and then going into overdrive on the final 800 metres to the finish line.

"Team time trialling is my kind of thing and I like stepping into more of a leadership role," Phinney said afterwards. "Brent's the one in the leader's jersey right now but I'm the one with a little bit more team time trialling experience, so I can be upbeat and keep everyone relaxed and happy and at the same time motivate them. It was great, it went perfectly."

Preparation

Team time trial training is (almost) par for the course at pre-season training camps these days, but BMC took its pursuit of marginal gains one step further at its January get together in Denia by practising the discipline on their road bikes with the specific demands of the Tour of Qatar team time trial in mind.

Steve Cummings explained that the preparation had been the brainchild of new BMC performance director, Allan Peiper, and even though he was a late replacement for Marcus Burghardt in Qatar, the team's order had been established. "There was quite a lot of work done specifically for this team time trial in Denia with Allan Peiper and Max Sciandri, and it all just felt so smooth," he said. "On a course like this, there are no hiding places, but if you've got a good strategy, it's straightforward."

The block headwind in the opening half of the course meant that strategy played a greater role than one might anticipate on an otherwise undemanding circuit. RadioShack, for instance, employed a double pace-line on the way out, mindful of the conditions, and that cautious approach saw them hit the midway point all of 20 seconds down on Sky.

On the way back, Cancellara was let off the leash, however, quickly dropping Stijn Devolder and Yaroslav Popovych en route to dragging his team to fourth place and giving a early indication of his condition ahead of the classics. "It's not an individual stage," Cancellara said. "Everyone showed good strength today, and I think we can be happy with our performance."

Going into Tuesday's 143km stage from Al Wakra to Mesaieed, Bookwalter leads a block of BMC riders at the head of the overall standings, but the in-form Bernhard Eisel (Sky) looms with menace at 11 seconds, just ahead of teammates Edvald Boasson Hagen and Geraint Thomas, and there are still only 33 seconds separating the top 20 on GC.

"It's just not me who is wearing the leader's jersey, I feel like it's the whole team," said Bookwalter. "Those guys made it happen today and I'm just honoured to be the one wearing it."

The Tour of Qatar continues on Tuesday with the 143km third stage from Al Wakra to Mesaieed. Time bonuses, cross winds and early-season form are likely to again decide who comes out on top.

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