Cavendish wins opening stage of Tour of Qatar

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Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) won the opening stage of the Tour of Qatar after the best sprinters in the race fought for victory on the Al Kohr Corniche.

Cavendish beat Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) and Andrea Guardini (Astana) after coming off Alexander Kristoff’s wheel and opening up his own sprint as the Norwegian faded to finish fifth. Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) was fourth. Cavendish is the first leader of the race and also picked a mid-stage time bonus sprint. He leads Modolo by 8 seconds, with Guardini at 11 seconds. 

The Manxman had been worried about his road racing form after spending much of his winter training on the track. However, he worked smoothly in the ever-moving echelon during the stage and had the power and speed to jump past Kristoff when he realised the Katusha sprinter was not a contender.

Modolo was close to Cavendish and tried to come up along the barriers, closing out Guardini, but Cavendish had the speed to lead from the front and Modolo failed to challenge him.

How it happened

The 176km stage from Dukhan to the Al Kohr, took the riders from west to east on the Qatar peninsula, with the wind blowing them along at 52km/h for the opening hour. The wind sparked a shake out and the select front group of 21 riders formed after 50km of racing.

Kristoff had three teammates with him; BMC had four riders, including Greg Van Avermaet, while Cavendish had Edvald Boasson Hagen and Tyler Farrar. Also, in there was Bennett, with two teammates, plus Guardini, Modolo and Chris Jones of UnitedHealthcare.

Working in a smooth rotation, the break opened a lead of a minute as the speed stayed over 50km/h for the second hour. The final speed for the race would be a swift 51.867km/h.

Kristoff beat Cavendish to win the first intermediate sprint and Cavendish also lost Farrar due to a puncture. However, nobody in the break tried to sit in, with the sprinters’ teams determined to ensure the move went all the way to the finish. BMC did not have a sprinter in the move but were happy that Van Avermaet gained time for the overall classification.

Cavendish won the second intermediate sprint ahead of Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Katusha), with Kristoff preferring to save his legs. Perhaps it was the first sign he was not on a great day.

A change in direction left the riders battling into the wind and split the breakaway, as Katusha and BMC put the others into the gutter with a tight echelon. However, the best riders fought for position and kept riding in the echelon, including Cavendish and Boasson Hagen.

On Kristoff's wheel

Riders were keen to sit on Kristoff’s wheel in the final kilometres but when the impetus faded, Cavendish ensured he was just behind the Norwegian, with Boasson Hagen protecting his wheel, followed by Modolo and Guardini.

Katusha was forced to lead out the sprint in the final three kilometres and seemed in charge, with Morkov, Bystrom and Kuznetsov doing the work. Bennett was poorly placed and so tried to get a tow up to the front from a teammate but was bounced back down the line and started his sprint from too far back.

Kristoff was dropped off at the right point and at the front. However, he lacked any real acceleration and speed and Cavendish quickly jumped away, with the other sprinters following him.

Cavendish seemed in control and paced his effort impressively before raising his arms to celebrate his first win Dimension Data. He later pulled on the gold leader’s jersey and also took the silver points jersey. He will wear the gold jersey during Tuesday’s 135km second stage that starts and finishes in the Qatar University.

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