Bennett misses out in crosswind-hit 48kph epic at Tour of Qatar

Sam Bennett sits at the end of the Bora-Argon 18 train in the crosswinds on a day when the Tour of Qatar split to pieces in sand storms.

By Brian Canty

Sam Bennett has slipped well down the general classification after a day of total carnage on the second stage of the Tour of Qatar.

The Bora-Argon 18 man crossed the line over three minutes behind stage winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and starts tomorrow’s third day in the Gulf 37th overall at 3:18.

Despite it being a flat stage with just two intermediate sprints – albeit with time bonuses on offer - the peloton was shredded into a whopping seven groups, the last of which came over the line over 23 minutes down on Kristoff.

The Norwegian was part of a select 15-man front group that contested stage honours.

And he just about edged Andrea Guardini (Astana) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) in the sprint finish to claim his first victory of the season.

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) were also in that elite group but they had to settle for fourth and fifth respectively.

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) takes the win from Andrea Guardini (Astana) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC)

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They are still very much in contention for the gold jersey, just one and ten seconds down on Kristoff respectively.

The stage winner took over at the top from previous race leader Jose Rojas (Movistar).

Today’s stage averaged a staggering 48kph for the 194 kilometre journey from Al Wakra to Al Khor Corniche; much of the damage being done by Boonen’s Etixx-Quick Step squad.

Their relentless pace-setting split the peloton into three groups on the first crosswind section shortly after the start, with Rojas, Bradley Wiggins (Sky), Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) and Lars Boom (Astana) among those left behind early on.

Boom, the man who took arguably the finest stage win of the Tour de France last year, would finish in the grupetto; Wiggins limiting his losses to around nine minutes.

Bennett will have more chances for stage glory in the days ahead. Tomorrow’s stage 3 is an individual time-trial of 10.9 kilometres in and around Lusail outside the capital Doha.