Tour of Qatar: Stage 1

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Mark Cavendish showed who was the quickest in Qatar with victory on stage 1 pull on the leader’s jersey

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Tour of Qatar: Stage 1

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The 15th edition of the Tour of Qatar started in style and it was full speed ahead for the riders. With an average speed of close to 52km/h, and echelons galore, Mark Cavendish flew to an impressive stage success on his return to the race after his last triumph in 2013.

The Brit captured his first win under his new Dimension Data colours, earning his 9th victory in Qatar. After being among a 21-man group that drove itself clear in the cross winds, ‘Cav’ was the fastest in the sprint on the Al Khor Corniche, beating Sacha Modolo.

REACTIONS:

Mark Cavendish “We’ve probably got the best race director in the world for this race in Roger Hammond. We had a lot of confidence for today after last night’s team meeting. The split went pretty soon in the beginning and I was always looked after from the start. Jay Thomson always kept me there at the front in the beginning ready to go and when the group split, Youcef Reguigui did a big turn to get me there, and then we had three in the front so that was okay.”

“Obviously we had me there for the sprint and we wanted Edvald there for the overall. So we were content with having the 3 there.”

“It was a long day and a hard one. Unfortunately Tyler (Farrar) punctured and he used too much energy to get back to me for the sprint but he was incredible in helping to keep the group away.”

“Edvald just stayed with me in the final and I wanted Kristoff’s wheel because they had the numbers so we knew they’d do the leadout and Edvald just sweeped, he was there in case I needed him. I launched from Kristoff with about 200m to go, the road turned right so I hugged the right side and I knew no one would come round me then.”

“It was great that Edvald was there as for sure he will be in contention after the time trial on Wednesday. In all, it was a super strong performance by all the guys and I am really happy to get the first win of the year.

Roger Hammond (DS) “It was a really good collective team effort. When one races on the flat roads in the wind, it’s about how the team works together and everyone did their jobs today, making sure Mark, Tyler and Edvald were in the front. There was still a lot of racing to do in the final but with the team helping those 3 get to the front allowed us to relax a bit and gave Mark the chance to concentrate on the sprint”.

“It was a really good sprint by Mark, beating Kristoff with 3 teammates is pretty impressive. We are really pleased, everybody had an input in today’s win so it’s nice when a plan works out.”

Alexander Kristoff: “It was a hard day, the beginning of the season for me. The whole day we had a very high speed. In the final, I had three guys with me, we tried to take the lead, but maybe I missed some speed to entry in the sprint. And later, it was hard to get the high speed and I could not answer”.

“Maybe I did not have the best legs for the sprint. During the day we worked a lot, but we came here with two reasons – to fight for the victory and to train for the classic season as well. So, I don’t see any problem in working during the stage. I hope the next sprint will be better and I will fight again for the stage. Anyway, I am happy I was in front group today and we managed to take some time in general classification, – said Alexander Kristoff.

Sacha Modolo: “I’m satisfied for my condition which allowed me to be in the head group when the bunch was broked by the wind, but I have some regrets for not have been able to achieve the big target – Modolo explained – My idea was to anticipate Cavendish, but Mark began the sprint earlier than me, so I could not overtake him. I don’t want to think about regrets, I prefer to focus on tomorrow stage and to send my support to Mohoric, who suffered an injury in a crash“.

Greg Van Avermaet: “it was a hard, but good day of racing to kick of his season. It was a typical Tour of Qatar stage. It was a really hard first day of racing, directly full gas from the start. I was pretty happy. We had four guys in the front and a strong team so I’m happy with how we went as I think we really controlled the race. We will see what the next days bring but I’m pretty confident that we will have some good next stages. It’s been a good day, I’m happy with my form and we’ll see how it goes.”

THE STAGE

For the first stage of the 2016 Tour of Qatar, the riders are gathered on the eastern coast of Qatar, in the city of Dukhan for the start of the race. Under a bright sunshine and in rather windy conditions, 140 competitors took off for a 180.5-km ride all the way to Al Khor on the north-western coast.

After an extremely fast start due to the favourable wind, the first real action started at km 38 when the pack broke up into two main groups. Twelve kilometres later, again the front group of around 100 men parted leaving only 21 riders at the front. Among the leading group were the likes of Kristoff (KAT), Cavendish, Boasson Hagen (DDD), Andersen (TGA), Van Avermaet (BMC), Bennett (BOA), Gerard (FVC), Guardini (AST) and Modolo (LAM). Their lead grew from 35” at km 57 to 50” at km 81.

The first intermediate sprint (km 106.5) was claimed by Kristoff ahead of Cavendish and Modolo while the first chasing group remained 1’05” adrift. And the gap remained the same all the way to the second bonus sprint, claimed by Cavendish in front of Kuznetsov (KAT) and Van Avermaet, and beyond. Indeed with 20kms to go, the front men still enjoyed a 1’10” lead. Eventually a group of 16 riders reached the final 3 kms with a 1’30 advantage and could start considering stage victory.

Using the tailwind to full effect and going long on the Al Khor Corniche, Mark Cavendish stayed clear of his rivals, victoriously crossing the finish line ahead of Sacha Modolo and Andrea Guardini. The Brit conquered his 9th stage in Qatar and triumphs for the third time in Al Khor after 2012 and 2013.

Thanks to his success, the 2011 road World Champion captures the overall leader’s golden jersey that he last wore when he won the event back in 2013. Cavendish also leads the Points classification while Soren Andersen (TGA) captures the white pearl jersey for the best young rider.

 

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STAGE
1 CAVENDISH Mark DIMENSION DATA 03h 28′ 46”
2 MODOLO Sacha LAMPRE – MERIDA + 00′ 00”
3 GUARDINI Andrea ASTANA PRO TEAM + 00′ 00”
4 BENNETT Sam BORA-ARGON 18 + 00′ 00”
5 KRISTOFF Alexander TEAM KATUSHA + 00′ 00”
6 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald DIMENSION DATA + 00′ 00”
7 VAN AVERMAET Greg BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 00”
8 QUINZIATO Manuel BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 00”
9 GERARD Arnaud FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT + 00′ 00”
10 ANDERSEN Søren Kragh TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN + 00′ 00”

13 DEMPSTER Zakkari BORA-ARGON 18 + 00′ 00”
32 MCNALLY Mark WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT + 01′ 43”
51 BRAMMEIER Matthew DIMENSION DATA + 01′ 43”
130 MCLAY DANIEL FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT + 19′ 15”

OVERALL
1 CAVENDISH Mark DIMENSION DATA 03h 28′ 31”
2 MODOLO Sacha LAMPRE – MERIDA + 00′ 08”
3 GUARDINI Andrea ASTANA PRO TEAM + 00′ 11”
4 KRISTOFF Alexander TEAM KATUSHA + 00′ 12”
5 KUZNETSOV Viacheslav TEAM KATUSHA + 00′ 13”
6 VAN AVERMAET Greg BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 14”
7 BENNETT Sam BORA-ARGON 18 + 00′ 15”
8 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald DIMENSION DATA + 00′ 15”
9 QUINZIATO Manuel BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 15”
10 GERARD Arnaud FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT + 00′ 15”

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