The opening stage of the Tour of Qatar comes down to a bunch sprint, with Sam Bennett getting in among some very big names.
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett has finished fifth on the opening stage of the 2.HC-ranked Tour of Qatar this afternoon.
The Bora-Argon 18 sprinter came to the line at Sealine Beach in a front group of 50 riders and was right in the thick of it in the final dash at the finish.
However, he was beaten by Movistar’s Jose Rojas, pre-race favourite and four-time overall winner Tom Boonen (Etixx-Quick Step), Arnaud DeMare (FDJ) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Boonen and Sagan both crashed mid stage but recovered well.
The high-placed finish equals the Irishman’s best result at the six-day event in the Gulf as he was also fifth on a stage last year.
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He will perhaps be a little disappointed he did not make the podium, as he did last year when he was 14th on stage 1 and wore the young rider classification jersey because of that.
That jersey will be worn by DeMare tomorrow, while Nikias Arndt (Team Giant-Alpecin) and Sagan are ahead of him this time around, albeit by just four seconds.
Bennett is sprinting very well and hopefully a big win is not too far away for him. He races in Qatar until Friday and after that takes in the Tour of Oman.
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Today’s stage took the riders 136 kilometres from Dukhan to Sealine Beach on some extremely exposed roads where wind shredded the peloton into a number of groups.
The race was marked by a two-man breakaway that featured Jarl Salomein (Topsport Vlaanderen Baloise) and Luca Sterbini (Bardiani CSF).
Their gap grew to a maximum of nine minutes before the chase really ramped up in the closing half of the race.
After they were caught, the Astana duo of Lars Boom and Lieuwe Westra took flight, with Matti Breschel (Tinkoff-Saxo) joining them up front soon after.
That trio managed to pull out a gap of around 50 seconds but with Trek Factory Racing and Etixx-Quick Step leading the chase, they were reeled back in to set up the sprint.
Tomorrow’s stage takes the riders 194 kilometres from Al Wakra to Al Khor Corniche and there are two sprint points in the final third of the race.
It's a very good start for Bennett who is clearly in superb form. He will be hoping for more from the week ahead.
Feb 8th to 13th: Tour of Qatar (UCI 2.HC)
Stage 1: Dukhan-Saline Beach (136km)
1 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar 3:49:50
2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx-Quick Step
3 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo
5 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18
6 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing
7 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling
8 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana
9 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
10 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis all same time
General Classification
1 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar 3:49:40
2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx-Quick Step @4secs
3 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ @6
4 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Giant-Alpecin @8
5 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx-Quick Step @9
6 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida @10
7 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo
8 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18
9 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing
10 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling
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