Kristoff wins Tour of Qatar stage 2

Image 1 of 77

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won stage two of the Tour of Qatar after going shoulder to shoulder with Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) in a thrilling sprint to the line.

A photo finish was needed to confirm the Norwegian as the stage winner and showed he won it thanks to a perfect late bike throw at the line. Roy Jans (Wanty Groupe Gobert) was third with Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) fourth after a late crash, 400 metres from the finish, scattered the peloton and left numerous riders on the ground.

With no barriers along the road side at that point and a strong side wind blowing, some riders went to their left following a gap in the curb, before a touch of wheels brought several riders down, including Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18), Graeme Brown (Drapac) and best young rider jersey wearer Søren Kragh Andersen (Giant-Alpecin).

Only the leading six or so riders were ahead of the crash, with Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) leading out the sprint before finishing fifth. Kristoff opened his sprint early into the headwind and Cavendish took up the challenge and came out from his slipstream. They stayed shoulder-to-shoulder all the way to the line, with neither claiming victory because the sprint was too close. After a close study of the photo finish, Kristoff was awarded the victory.

Despite finishing second, Cavendish retained the leader’s gold jersey. Kristoff is now second at five seconds, with Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) third at 14 seconds.

How it happened

The 135km stage was almost test event for the UCI Road World Championships that will be held in Qatar in October. Riders faced a loop north of Doha before completing four laps of the circuit in the Pearl area of northern Doha, which will feature in the road race.

The first break formed early, with Lieuwe Westra (Astana), Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen), Gediminas Bagdonas (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Brian Van Goethem (Roompot) in the move. However the peloton pulled them and then split, with Cavendish in the second group. That allowed Kristoff to win the first intermediate sprint after 38km.

With Katusha and Bora-Argon 18 well represented in the front group, the Cavendish peloton was forced to chase hard until closing the gap at the start of the four circuits.

Several riders tried to go clear at this point but the Katusha and Dimension Data teams led the chase and controlled the peloton, with the average race speed again over 50km/h. Van Hecke was again in the move and won the second intermediate sprint on what will be the finish line of the world championships in October. The trio stayed clear until the final circuit but had little chance against the fast peloton and in the strong winds. Gatis Smukulis (Astana) was the last to be caught before the Katusha team took over.

However, the wind made things difficult and other teams moved past Katusha and hit the front, making for a high-speed and nervous run-in to the finish.

The crash disrupted the sprint but fortunately did not affect the overall classification. That will change on Wednesday after the 11km individual time trial near the Losail motor racing circuit.

Full Results