The Bora-Argon 18 team tried to set Sam Bennett up for a big sprint finish today but a late puncture scuppered the Irish sprinter (Photo: Yophoto)
Sam Bennett’s luck was out again on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Qatar today when he punctured in the closing kilometres and never regained contact with the main field.
In fact he would lose a staggering seven minutes and be the last man to cross the line after the flat 153-kilometre run from Al Zubara Fort to Madinat ash-Shamal.
The plan for Bennett’s Bora–Argon 18 team was to try and set him up for the sprint that decided the stage but when it came to nought they were left with nothing.
Their best-placed rider was Zak Dempster, who crossed the line in 28th place, leaving the team with just one more chance of stage glory.
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Today saw Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) claim his third stage win of the race.
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) was second with emerging Giant-Alpecin rider Nikias Arndt rounding out the podium.
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) claims his third stage win of the race from Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo)
It sets things up for a dramatic finale tomorrow when just 11 seconds will separate the top three at the start.
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That trio are overnight leader Nikki Terpstra (Etixx-Quick Step), Maciej Bodnar of Tinkoff-Saxo who is six seconds down, and Kristoff a further five seconds back.
The Norwegian gained ground today thanks to a 10-second time bonus.
Tomorrow there are time bonuses of three, two and one seconds at two intermediate sprints - at 73 and 90km during the final stage.
There are then further bonuses of 10, six and four seconds awarded to the leading three riders at the finish where Kristoff must be fancied again.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t all bad news for Bora-Argon 18 today, and indeed Matt Brammeier’s MTN-Quebeka squad.
They both secured wildcard entries to the Tour of Flanders on April 5th, one of the biggest one-day WorldTour races of the year.
Feb 8th to 13th: Tour of Qatar (UCI 2.HC)
Stage 5: Al Zubara Fort - Madinat ash-Shamal (153km)
1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 3:03:01
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo
3 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step
5 Adam Blythe (GBr) Orica GreenEdge
6 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling
7 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
8 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr
9 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
10 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
134 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 @7:17
General Classification
1 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx - Quick-Step 15:12:45
2 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:06
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 0:00:11
4 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:12
5 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:19
6 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:31
7 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:33
8 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling 0:00:39
9 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:00:41
10 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:42
86 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 @13:33
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