Boonen scores again in Qatar

    by Andrew Hood

    • January 29, 2008
    • Comments Off

    By Andrew Hood

    The Star of Qatar: Boonen now has 13 wins at the Tour of Qatar
    The Star of Qatar: Boonen now has 13 wins at the Tour of Qatar

    Photo: AFP

    Despite spills and splits in the bunch, Tom Boonen (QuickStep) just keeps stacking up victories at the Tour of Qatar.

    The Belgian bomber won for the second day in a row despite getting caught up behind a late-stage crash that pushed the race leader into a second group with about 40km to go in Wednesday’s jittery 147.5 third stage.

    When the group came back together, QuickStep drove it home to deliver Boonen to the line in winning fashion in what’s his 13th career Tour of Qatar stage win

    “It was a battle of nerves out there today. There were a lot of crashes. I’ve never seen that many crashes in Qatar before,” said Boonen, who widened his lead to 13 seconds over Steven de Jongh. “It was one hell of a fight.”

    Qatar Press Room
    Qatar Press Room

    Photo: Andrew Hood

    The uneven roads and another day of blasting desert winds took their toll on the stressed-out peloton.

    The 7th edition of the Qatar race saw its first major breakaway as Volodymyr Diudia (Milram) went on a solo flier that opened up an 8-minute gap on the relieved peloton, which was more than content to see the pace slacken with a rider off the front against stiff headwinds.

    As the chase revved up in the closing 50kms as the race was pushed along by a brisk tailwind, scores of riders hit the deck as the peloton rumbled over rough uneven roads.

    What else did you expect at the Tour of Qatar?
    What else did you expect at the Tour of Qatar?

    Photo: Andrew Hood

    Among the writhing victims going down were Marco Bandiera (Silence-Lotto) and Steve Bovay (BMC), who broke his clavicle.

    “Some sections of the road are like glass, and some sections are like cheddar cheese,” said Tony Cruz (BMC), who came through 22nd at 17 seconds back. “My legs are feeling good. I’d still like to try to win a stage and maybe finish in the top 10.”

    Boonen got split into a second chase group when riders toppled in the middle of the pack with about 40km to go, opening up a gap between a lead group that include Slipstream-Chipotle’s Chris Sutton, Magnus Backstedt, David Millar and Julian Dean.

    QuickStep wasn’t worried because it had De Jongh – who started the day second to Boonen – up in the front group with three of teammates. Boonen could sit back and watch the panicked second group lead the chase.

    “We took a bit of a gamble. We had de Jongh up front so we knew we had the jersey protected,” Boonen said. “It wasn’t up to us to work. Then it came back together and then we made a good sprint.”

    With QuickStep and Silence-Lotto ramping up the sprint once the group came back together, the peloton was stretched out and finally snapped on the final high-speed run to the finish. The bunch chattered into pieces under the late pressure.

    Boonen made easy work of Danilo Napolitano (Lampre-Fondital) with Chris Sutton (Slipstream-Chipotle) coming through fifth for his second top-5 in a row.

    Sutton is in a dogfight with Belgian rider Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) for the best young rider’s jersey. Sutton wore it after Sunday’s team time trial, but Van Avermaet snagged it after taking second in Monday’s sprint.

    Van Avermaet came through ahead of Sutton in fourth thanks to some crafty racing by a Silence-Lotto teammate.

    “The entire team was riding for me today. I had good legs for the sprint and I hoped to be up there,” said Sutton. “A Lotto rider chopped in front of me and just sat up and that messed up my sprint and I had to come around him.”

    Everyone gets the chance to hit the repeat button in Wednesday’s 131.5km third stage from Khalifa Stadium to Al Khor Corniche with more of the same: wind, sand and sun.

    UPDATE

  • BMC’s Scott Nydam crashed out Monday after having his front wheel swiped out in an echelon. He received 12 stitches, but X-rays and CAT scans revealed no serious injuries. Though out of the race, he went on a training ride Tuesday.

    Photo Gallery

    • The Star of Qatar: Boonen now has 13 wins at the Tour of Qatar
    • What else did you expect at the Tour of Qatar?
    • Qatar Press Room
    • Tour of Qatar Stage 3 at the start
    • Qatar is experiencing a frenzy of building
    • Tony Cruz lines up

    Results

    1. Tom Boonen, QUICK STEP, 3h 29′ 41″

    2. Danilo Napolitano, LAMPRE, S.T.

    3. Steven De Jongh, QUICK STEP, S.T.

    4. Greg Van Avermaet, SILENCE – LOTTO, S.T.

    5. Christopher Sutton, SLIPSTREAM CHIPOTLE, 00:02

    6. Jurgen Roelandts, SILENCE – LOTTO, 00:02

    7. Gorik Gardeyn, SILENCE – LOTTO, 00:05

    8. Wouter Weylandt, QUICK STEP, 00:05

    9. Alberto Loddo, TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS, 00:05

    10. Sebastian Siedler, SKIL-SHIMANO, 00:12

    11. Luciano Pagliarini, SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT, 00:14

    12. Kenny De Haes, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN, 00:14

    13. Alexandre Pichot, BOUYGUES TELECOM, 00:14

    14. Angelo Furlan, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 00:14

    15. Tom Veelers, SKIL-SHIMANO, 00:16

    16. Robert Wagner, SKIL-SHIMANO, 00:16

    17. William Bonnet, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 00:17

    18. Matteo Tosatto, QUICK STEP, 00:17

    19. Jimmy Engoulvent, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 00:17

    20. Trussov Nicolaï, TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS, 00:17

    21. Francesco Chicchi, LIQUIGAS, 00:17

    22. Antonio Cruz, BMC RACING TEAM, 00:17

    23. Nico Eeckhout, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN, 00:17

    24. Angel Gomez, SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT, 00:17

    25. Danilo Wyss, BMC RACING TEAM, 00:17

    26. Marco Velo, TEAM MILRAM, 00:17

    27. Magnus Backstedt, SLIPSTREAM CHIPOTLE, 00:17

    28. Maarten Tjallingii, SILENCE – LOTTO, 00:17

    29. Niki Terpstra, TEAM MILRAM, 00:17

    30. Ignatas Konovalovas, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 00:17

    31. Martin Kohler, BMC RACING TEAM, 00:17

    32. Bernardo Riccio, TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS, 00:17

    33. Gabriel Rasch, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 00:17

    34. Mitchell Docker, DRAPAC PORSHE, 00:17

    35. Frank Hoj, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 00:17

    36. Tristan Valentin, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 00:17

    37. Franck Renier, BOUYGUES TELECOM, 00:17

    38. Martijn Maaskant, SLIPSTREAM CHIPOTLE, 00:17

    39. Christian Knees, TEAM MILRAM, 00:17

    40. Omar Hasanin, DOHA TEAM, 00:17

    41. Roy Sentjens, SILENCE – LOTTO, 00:17

    42. Stuart Shaw, DRAPAC PORSHE, 00:17

    43. Anthony Geslin, BOUYGUES TELECOM, 00:17

    44. Paolo Bossoni, LAMPRE, 00:17

    45. Wilfried Cretskens, QUICK STEP, 00:33

    46. Floris Goesinnen, SKIL-SHIMANO, 00:33

    47. Maciej Bodnar, LIQUIGAS, 00:33

    48. Fumiyuki Beppu, SKIL-SHIMANO, 00:33

    49. Robert Williams, DRAPAC PORSHE, 00:33

    50. Daniele Righi, LAMPRE, 00:33

    51. Mathieu Heijboer, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 00:33

    52. Nikita Eskov, TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS, 00:33

    53. Frederik Willems, LIQUIGAS, 00:33

    54. Passeron Aurélien, SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT, 00:33

    55. Matej Mugerli, LIQUIGAS, 00:33

    56. Leif Hoste, SILENCE – LOTTO, 00:33

    57. Alberto Ongarato, TEAM MILRAM, 00:33

    58. Yohann Gene, BOUYGUES TELECOM, 00:33

    59. Volodymyr Diudia, TEAM MILRAM, 00:33

    60. Maarten Wynants, QUICK STEP, 00:33

    61. Roberto Petito, LIQUIGAS, 00:33

    62. Roberto Longo, LAMPRE, 00:33

    63. Kevin Hulsmans, QUICK STEP, 00:57

    64. Marco Bandiera, LAMPRE, 00:57

    65. Maarten Den Bakker, SKIL-SHIMANO, 00:57

    66. Cyril Lemoine, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 01:22

    67. Alberto Curtolo, LIQUIGAS, 01:28

    68. Aleksandr Kuschynski, LIQUIGAS, 01:28

    69. Curvers Roy, SKIL-SHIMANO, 01:30

    70. Julian Dean, SLIPSTREAM CHIPOTLE, 01:38

    71. Jurgen Van De Walle, QUICK STEP, 02:22

    72. David Millar, SLIPSTREAM CHIPOTLE, 03:35

    73. Koen Barbe, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN, 03:57

    74. Kurt Hovelynck, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN, 05:31

    75. Ghader Mizbani Iranagh, IRAN CYCLING FEDERATION, 05:51

    76. Hossein Nateghi, IRAN CYCLING FEDERATION, 05:51

    77. Preben Van Hecke, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN, 05:51

    78. Steve Bovay, BMC RACING TEAM, 07:11

    79. Mauro Santambrogio, LAMPRE, 07:28

    80. Eros Capecchi, SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT, 07:30

    81. Raul Alarcon Garcia, SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT, 08:06

    82. Rafaa Chitioui, DOHA TEAM, 08:06

    83. Abdelbasat Hanachi, DOHA TEAM, 08:06

    84. Christophe Laurent, SLIPSTREAM CHIPOTLE, 08:06

    85. Hossein Askari, IRAN CYCLING FEDERATION, 08:06

    86. Jackson Stewart, BMC RACING TEAM, 08:06

    87. Peter Mc Donald, DRAPAC PORSHE, 08:06

    88. Raivis Belohvosciks, SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT, 08:06

    89. Eric Berthou, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 08:06

    90. Sayers Michaël, BMC RACING TEAM, 08:06

    91. Julien Simon, CREDIT AGRICOLE, 08:06

    92. Aymen Ben Hassine, DOHA TEAM, 08:06

    93. Matej Jurco, TEAM MILRAM, 08:06

    94. Mehdi Sohrabi, IRAN CYCLING FEDERATION, 08:06

    95. Nick Nuyens, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 08:06

    96. Alexander Gottfried, TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS, 08:06

    97. Kevin De Weert, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 08:06

    98. Sergei Klimov, TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS, 08:06

    99. Angus Morton, DRAPAC PORSHE, 08:06

    100. Dean Windsor, DRAPAC PORSHE, 08:06

    101. Michael Gene Michael, DRAPAC PORSHE, 08:06

    102. Seyed Rezaei Seyed Mostafa, IRAN CYCLING FEDERATION, 08:06

    103. Arnaud Labbe, BOUYGUES TELECOM, 08:06

    104. Alexander Serov, TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS, 08:06

    105. Staf Scheirlinckx, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 08:06

    106. Taylor Tolleson, BMC RACING TEAM, 08:06

    107. Minard Sébastien, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 08:06

    108. Alexender Khatuntsev, TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS, 08:06

    109. Pieter Ghyllebert, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN, 08:06

    110. Evert Verbist, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN, 08:06

    111. Bart Vanheule, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN, 08:06

    112. Huub Duyn, SLIPSTREAM CHIPOTLE, 08:06

    113. Bert Roesems, SILENCE – LOTTO, 08:06

    114. Guido Trenti, LIQUIGAS, 08:06

    115. Matteo Bono, LAMPRE, 08:06

    116. Rik Verbrugghe, COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE, 08:06

    117. Johan Van Summeren, SILENCE – LOTTO, 08:06

    118. Piet Rooijakkers, SKIL-SHIMANO, 08:44

    119. Ralf Grabsch, TEAM MILRAM, 15:05

    120. Hossein Jahanbanian, IRAN CYCLING FEDERATION, 15:05

    121. Amir Zargari, IRAN CYCLING FEDERATION, 15:05

    122. Abbas Saeiditanha, IRAN CYCLING FEDERATION, 15:05

    123. Kilian Patour, SLIPSTREAM CHIPOTLE, 15:05

    124. Haddou Saïd, BOUYGUES TELECOM, 15:05

    125. Ermanno Capelli, SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT, 15:05

    126. Damien Gaudin, BOUYGUES TELECOM, 15:05

    127. Khalil Abduljanan, DOHA TEAM, 15:05

    128. Tareq Esmaeili, DOHA TEAM, 15:05

    129. Hamad Afif, DOHA TEAM, 15:05

    130. Moosa Said, DOHA TEAM, 15:05

    131. Rubens Bertogliati, SAUNIER DUVAL – SCOTT, 15:05

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