Camels. Carbon. Crazy colours. Cav. Calf muscles. Katusha fans. More carbon. Crazy riders. Hell’s
Angels. Harleys. Heat Haze. Yep, just another day at the Tour of Qatar. In fact, it’s
day four, and here’s what happened.
The day kicked off at Al Sheehaniya, home of Qatar’s camel racing scene. Barely a
breath of wind in the air, well by local standards anyway. Gold jersey wearer Brent Bookwalter
conceded that might not play into BMC’s hands.
“The team’s been really good, really deep in the wind the first couple of stages, but
once again, not a factor we can control so we’ll get out there and be as prepared as
we can and see how it unfolds.”
Mark Cavendish was just eight seconds back in fourth place on GC, and he won this very
stage in 2012. Remember, two daily intermediate sprints here carry time bonuses of 3, 2 and
1 second with 10, 6 and 4 seconds up for grabs at the finish line.
So, out of the race track, and past the nonplussed dromedaries…
And straight onto a long stretch of four-lane motorway. The peloton taking on the form of
a snake as it used the whole width of the road to follow the early attacks.
All the early excitement led to a strong collective urge to empty bladders, and that allowed
three riders to slip away.
They were Andriy Grivko of Astana, at 38 seconds on GC. Gatis Smukulis of Katusha at 46 seconds,
and Pirmin Lang of IAM. A long way back on GC.
Brave to join a three man move on such a hot day and 160kms of riding, the tarmac appearing
to melt from a distance.
The trio rolled through the first intermediate sprint at 37 kilometres without contesting
it, as their advantage swelled to over seven minutes.
The peloton was still blasé with that time gap as it swept through the feed zone at Al
Oturiya and into a stretch of road that can be treacherous for punctures and crashes:
Filippo Pozzato and Blaise Sonnery both breaking collarbones here within ten minutes of each
other last year.
No crashes this time around, but after the munchies and drinks were taken onboard more
of a serious pace adopted at the front.
Beyond the main pack, the hardy escapees were still looking good - could they actually pull
off a shock here? It looked possible at one point.
But no, they were gobbled up by a hungry peloton, keen to reach Al Khor for a big bunch gallop.
And when it comes to those, there’s no looking beyond Cavendish. Barry Markus of Vacansoleil
a surprising second two days running, with Astana’s Andrea Guardini rounding out the
best of the rest.
The gold jersey of Bookwalter was held up by a crash in the final kilometre.
I think I should get same time because it was inside 3k to go. We lost the jersey, but
yeah, just lost to a better man today.”
Indeed Cavendish is the new leader of the Tour of Qatar, 2 seconds ahead of Bookwalter.
His intimate knowledge of the finish paying dividends.
“I knew I had to be on he left and the majority of the peloton swing right because the road
bears right, you know. so I surfed the side onto an Endura rider and then I knew with
200 to go, I just go. Last year on this stage I went with about 300 to go but I left it
a bit later today because I did a big sprint yesterday but, no, I’m really happy to win
today.”
Cavendish’s golden touch putting him in the gold jersey for Thursday: but behind him
the top ten is entirely packed with riders from BMC and Sky, so two interesting days
to come.
Oh, and the crazy riders referred to at the start of the report? After 160kms of racing
through a scorching desert, how about another 50kms motorpaced back to the hotel?
Phil Sheehan GCN in Qatar