Tour of Qatar Stage 3

With Stage 3 staying close to the eastern coastline for much of its 93.5km, teams expected yet more crosswinds today and were entirely correct in doing so: the bunch was split up early on once again as riders battled to make progress - Chloe Hosking (Hitec Products) later described it as "seriously one of the hardest races I have done." A group of 28, including all those who went into the race with a reasonable chance of winning, got away and led for most of the day.

In the final kilometres the lead group had been whittled down to a dozen, and as the finish drew near it looked as though Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans), who is the only British rider in the race, would also be the only rider able to challenge the mighty Kirsten Wild, despite the Dutch rider's Giant-Shimano squad having kept tight reins on the race all the way. However, Wild's famously powerful sprint proved too much and she had little difficulty in retaining her lead across the finish line to win a third stage for the team. Armitstead was right behind her, taking second place and an identical time, while Hosking was third.

Following bonification, Wild takes back the overall lead from team mate Amy Pieters (winner of Stage 2) and now has an advantage of 9" - and seems a safe bet for anyone wanting to predict tomorrow's results, too.


Stage 3 Top Ten
1 Kirsten WILD (Giant-Shimano) 2h27'34"
2 Elizabeth ARMITSTEAD (Boels-Dolmans) ST
3 Chloe HOSKING (Hitec Products) ST
4 Shelley OLDS (Ale-Cipollini) ST
5 Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) ST
6 Barbara GUARISCHI (Ale-Cipollini) ST
7 Trixi WORRACK (Specialized-Lululemon) ST
8 Elena CECCHINI (Italy NT) ST
9 Amy PIETERS (Giant-Shimano) ST
10 Loes GUNNEWIJK (Orica-AIS) ST
Full result: stage / GC

British hope at the Tour of Qatar

Somewhat surprisingly, considering the enormous upsurge in interest in women's cycling in Britain and the number of world-class athletes from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland making their mark on the cycling scene in recent years, British hopes for a Tour of Qatar victory rest on the shoulders of just one rider - even the British-registered team Wiggle-Honda will compete without a Brit.

Armitstead is the only British rider at this
year's Tour of Qatar

However, as that one rider is Lizzie Armitstead, who is currently ranked 17th among Elite Women worldwide by the UCI, there's still a very good chance of a British victory - not least of all because Qatar is made up of the sort of windy, flat stages that usually result in bunch sprints which suit a rider equipped with Armitstead's super-fast sprint abilities (she was, after all, second to Marianne Vos as the 2012 Olympics - and Vos is popularly acclaimed as the greatest rider of her generation), and because she has a strong Boels-Dolmans squad made up of Romy Kasper, Christine Majerus, Katerzyna Pawlowska and Marieke Van Wanroij backing her up.

If the gold General Classification jersey seems out of reach, Armitstead could instead aim for the silver Points competition jersey - a stage win combined with good performances in the intermediate sprints would put her in with a good chance at this. However, with no climbs anywhere in the race, all the teams will be sending the best sprinters they have and she'll face stiff competition for each and every point.


The race covers 388km split into four stages, some of them familiar from previous editions of the Tour.


Stage 1, extending for 97km, is a carbon copy of 2013's Stage 1 which was won by Australian Chloe Hosking of Hitec Products-UCK. Hosking has been one of the finest sprinters in the world for a few years now and has continued to improve; racing for Hitec again this year, she'll be one of Armitstead's strongest rivals for stage victory and the overall General Classification.

The riders will cross the finish line twice, first after 35.5km from the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and then again at the end of the race 61.5km later. When they do so for the first time they'll enter the first of two intermediate sprints; the second intermediate sprint on the desert road heading east to Al Wakra.

Stage 2 starts at Al Zubara, a ruined city with a fort that looks medieval but in fact dates from 1938. Heading north-east along exposed coastal roads, the riders can expect very powerful crosswinds all the way to their first arrival at Al Ruwais. This may split the peloton, but it's unlikely that we'll see breakaways here as riders will concentrate on forming echelons for shelter.

At Al Ruwais, they'll turn and ride almost all the way across the country to Athba; since they'll now be heading away from the east coast, a strong tail wind could make this a very fast section of the stage and once again prevent breakaways. After a short stretch north to Al Gariyah, they turn west and begin riding back to Al Ruwais, this time battling a headwind. Having crossed the finish line for the first time they'll begin four laps around Madinat Al Shamal with intermediate sprints the second and fourth times they cross the line before finishing on the fifth after 112.3km.

Stage 2 in 2012 started and ended at the same points, but followed a different parcours that led east across the desert rather than north along the coast, making it an entirely different sort of race. Trixi Worrack won that day; she's back leading the Specialized-Lululemon team this year, but with the changes to the route it's impossible to say whether she has more chance at winning than her rivals this year - and since victory is likely to go to a rider able to generate a sprint-winning high wattage after fighting the wind for so much of the way, Armitstead seems to have odds as good as anyone else.

Stage 3 runs for 93.5km from Katara Cultural Village at Doha just a short distance from the famous Pearl to Al Khor Corniches and then north into the desert before returning to Al Khor Corniche - remaining near to the eastern coast, it's likely to subject the riders to crosswinds which may blow in off the sea to the east or straight across the flat landscape from the west.

Once again, there are two intermediate sprints. The first is at Tenbek, 45km into the race and roughly two thirds of the way to Al Khor Corniche, while the second is 44.5km later at Al Thakira, 8.5km from the finish.


Stage 4 will also feel familiar to riders who competed last year, because it's the same as the final stage from 2013 - though it's listed as being 85km instead of 86.5km this time around, for some reason. Then, unusually for Qatar, the wind dropped and completely changed the character if the race, encouraging fierce breakaways and attacks as Hitec fought to get Hosking into a position to take on race leader and eventual victor Kirsten Wild who is back with her Giant-Shimano team this year - and who will be a very powerful opponent to Armitstead and anyone else hoping to win.

Starting at the Sealine Beach Resort, the parcours heads north via Mesaieed and Al Wakra (site of the first intermediate sprint, 38.5km from the start) to Doha; never venturing more than a few kilometres from the east coast it's likely that the riders will have to contend with crosswinds, unless the weather does something unexpected again. Once at Doha they'll compete five laps of the fast city circuit with the second intermediate sprint at the fourth crossing of the finish line, 11.5km from the end of the race.

Further information
The official race website is here and daily results will be published by the UCI. Team rosters: Ale Cipollini / Australia National Team / Astana-BePink / Boels-Dolmans / China Chong Ming / France National Team / Hitec Products / Italy National Team / Lotto-Belisol / Orica-AIS / Rabo-Liv/Giant / RusVelo / Specialized-Lululemon / Giant-Shimano / Wiggle-Honda.

2013 Ladies' Tour of Qatar

29.01.2013 Official Site (more info available from Velofocus)
Qatar, Road Race, 392km
UCI 2.1

Stop Press! According to a press release published on the 28th of January, live coverage of the Tour will be broadcast live and worldwide by Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera is available via satellite, cable and freeview.

Broadcasts will take place daily at 11:30 (14:30 East Africa Time, GMT+3 hours). For more details, see Al Jazeera's listing by clicking here.

Hurrah for the end of January! There's still at least a month of winter to go for those of us in much of North America, Asia and Europe, but the good news is that after several months of hibernation (and cyclo cross, so it's not all bad) the road racing calendar is coming back to life and heading south to the warmer climes of the Middle East for the Ladies' Tour of Qatar, promising three days of top quality racing and more roadside history than you could shake a stick at.

Oh, and wind. Lots of wind - Qatar is almost entirely flat and, being surrounded on three sides by the Persian Gulf, the wind blows straight in off the sea and continues over the land unabated, whipping up the sand as it goes. Imagine someone set fire to a huge pile of sandpaper and you had to ride through it - that's what the Tour of Qatar is like. It is not a race that eases the riders gently back into racing mode, as they found out just kilometres from the start of Stage 1 last year when they changing direction and a helpful tailwind that had seen them set off at high speed turned into a searing blast that fried them in their own sweat for the rest of the parcours. 2009/2010 overall winner Kirsten Wild, riding for the Dutch national team rather than her usual AA Drink-Leontien.nl (this year, she's riding for Argos-Shimano), won that day and became the first to wear the golden jersey after a group of eleven riders (whittled down to seven by the time they reached the final sprint to the line) broke away; later she would win Stage 3 in similar circumstances. However, finishing 2'20" behind Specialized-Lululemon's Trixi Worrack on Stage 2 meant Wild was never again in contention for a third General Classification victory - GreenEDGE leader Judith Arndt (now retired) was with Worrack at the Stage 2 finish and took the same time, thus gaining a 2" lead in the GC, and from that point onwards the battle was between those two teams. When Arndt managed to stay with Wild (and several others) for fourth place in a bunch sprint to finish Stage 3, her overall advantage increased to 6" and she had the race in the bag. A lot of racing had been packed into three days and Arndt was probably glad it was all over, as were the several riders who uploaded photographs showing what human legs look like after they've been sandblasted for 307km.

Kendall Ryan

For many fans, one of the highlights of the Tour is that due it being the first race of the season, young and less-well-known riders are out to show their stuff in an attempt to please their sponsors and prove to their directeurs sportif that signing them or keeping on the team was a wise move - Kendall Ryan (then 19 years old and racing for the USA national team rather than Tibco) lit up Stage 3 with a superb solo break that saw her increase her advantage over the peloton from 25" 15km into the route to 3'25" only 5km later, a truly remarkable achievement considering the strong headwind that day. Keep an eye on similar riders this year to see the stars of the future: they're the ones that make this race what it is.

One excellent piece of news is that, in these times when women's races are feeling the economic pinch and having to make cuts (or, in all too many cases, disappearing altogether), Qatar has actually grown - this year, there will be four stages rather than three as in previous years. Once again, the parcours concentrates on the north of the country.

This year, Qatar also offers us our first chance to see the all-new Wiggle Honda/DTPC Honda team in stage racing action. Owned and managed by women's cycling legend and Commonwealth gold medal winner Rochelle Gilmore, the British-based team is partly financed by Bradley Wiggins' Wiggo Foundation and boasts the sort of line-up that even well-established teams dream about: in addition to Gilmore, the squad is home to Laura Trott, Jo Rowsell, Dani King, Amy Roberts, Elinor Barker, twice World Champion Giorgia Bronzini (an ace sprinter and very much worth watching if she rides this race), Lauren Kitchen, Beatrice Bartellon, Emily Collins, Ana-Bianca Schnitzmeier and Mayuko Hagiwara- a talent pool that looks likely to do for British women's cycling what Sky has done for the men. They'll be wanting to make their mark; expect them to do precisely that.

Jerseys

Gold - overall race leader (General Classification)
Silver - points leader
White - leading young rider

Stages

Stage 1: Museum of Islamic Art - Mesaieed 97km 

Chloe Hosking gets things under way with a superb victory in the desert

Having set off from the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha (25°17'43.64"N 51°32'21.11") - among the most iconic modern buildings in a city full of iconic modern buildings and home to a world famous collection covering almost one and a half thousand years of artistic endeavour - Stage 1 headed south  past the airport out of the city for 11.5km to Al Wakra, then south-west for a further 14km before making a pass of the finish line at Mesaieed (Umm Sa'id) after 33km. Riders faced a strong headwind on this section, perhaps a contributing factor in the crash involving Charlotte Becker (Argos-Shimano), Anna-Bianca Schnitzmeier (Wiggle-Honda) and Jo Kiesanowksi (Tibco) at 14km; fortunately, none of the three suffered injury and were all back onboard within seconds.

The first pass of the finish line at 35.5km marked the beginning of the first sprint and 2009/2010 victor Kirsten Wilde took the top points closely followed by Rochelle Gilmore (Wiggle-Honda) and Marta Tagliaferro (Mcipollini-Giordana). Next, the riders turned north-west and headed out into the desert, heading across open country - a change of direction that turned the headwind into a tailwind with speeds increasing dramatically. Several teams took advantage of this, putting fast riders with useful domestiques out at the front; this rapidly led to the peloton breaking up into four groups with a lead group of fifty out in front.  29.5km later they arrived at Al Wukair for the second sprint, with Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS), Chloe Hosking (Hitec-UCK) and Tiffany Cromwell (Orica) first, second and third this time around.

Some 10km further on, now back at Al Wakra, the race followed the earlier route back toward the finish line - which brought an unwelcome return of the headwind, effectively finishing off any chance those riders who had failed to secure a place in the lead group had of winning the stage. Much of this final section was straight, culminating with a 1.8km along a wide road to the line, which always promised a high-speed bunch sprint. The leaders had an advantage of 2'30" going into the final 10km thanks largely to Trixi Worrack of Specialized-Lululemon taking control and driving it along at a high rate of knots. A little later, Gracie Elvin (Orica) launched an attack; a move that, had nobody have gone after her, might potentially have been a winning move. It was not to be, however - Lisa Brennauer (Specialized-Lululemon), Liebet de Vocht (Rabo-Liv-Giant) and, most crucially, Chloe Hosking (Hitec-UCK) went after her. Valentina Scandolara (Mcipollini-Giordana) broke away from the chase group for an impressive attempt at joining the leaders but, when nobody was willing to work with her, she faced the wind alone and was eventually reabsorbed by the second group.

Chloe Hosking

Elvin, Brennauer, de Vocht and Hosking had 45" with 2km to go. De Vocht was first to launch, but Elvin and Hosking overcame her rapidly and started their own private race; finally Hosking - an ex-rock climber who packs formidable ability in the mountains and the sprints into her 1.61m frame - got the upper hand, finding a last reserve of power that Elvin lacked to gain a fantastic start to the season for her team.

Stage 1 Top Ten
1 Chloe HOSKING HPU 2h23'51"
2 Gracie ELVIN GEW ST
3 Lisa BRENNAUER SLU ST
4 Liesbet DE VOCHT RBW ST
5 Marta TAGLIAFERRO MCG +10"
6 Kirsten WILD SKI +10"
7 Simona FRAPPORTI BPK +10"
8 Shelley OLDS TIB +10"
9 Emma JOHANSSON GEW +10"
10 Eleonora VAN DIJK SLU +10"
(Full result here)

Chloe Hosking is on Twitter - follow her here.
Chloe's team manager Karl Lima is also on Twitter and provides live updates from the races his team enter.

Stage 2: Camel Race Track - Al Khor Corniche 96km

Hey, who needs a team? Kirsten Wild overpowers with old-fashioned superior strength

Don't like cycling in strong wind? Then you'd probably best not book any cycle tours of Qatar - Stage 2 was a carbon copy of 2012's Stage 1, right down to a powerful headwind that strained the leg muscles throughout much of the parcours. Setting off from Ash Shahaniyah camel racing track (25°24'22.20"N 51°12'37.42"E) some 34km north-west of capital city Doha (25°24'20.66"N 51°12'39.51"E), the riders headed south-east for 2.87km on a flat road before arriving at a junction where they turned north into the desert and the wind, passing a zoo and game reserve at Lekhraib after 4km. Xiu-Jie Jiang (Chongming-Giant) and Audrey Cordon (France) got tactics off to a fine start with an attack at 8km but, both of them too far behind Chloe Hosking yesterday, the peloton showed little concern and only Malgorzata Jasinska (Mcipollini-Giordana) responded, waiting for the gap to half a minute before she successfully bridged. This initial section rises no more than a few metres but is very exposed, possibly once again leading to a hard time for the riders if it's windy.

Continuing north, the race reached a junction and turned left to follow an arrow-straight road north-west for 13.6km to a sub-station (25°43'31.04"N 51°10'15.93"E) marking the stage's first intermediate sprint, where Jiang took the top points with Jasinska and Cordon second and third. This led to a situation - with the gap now at a massive nine minutes, Jiang's bonus three seconds made her virtual race leader; Orica-AIS got on the case with every member of the team driving the pace ever higher to ensure the peloton made up time. Five of them - Tiffany Cromwell, Gracie Elvin, Amanda Spratt, Loes Gunnewijk and Emma Johansson - were joined by Chloe Hosking (Hitec-UCK), Lululemon riders Trixi Worrack and Ellen van Dijk and Kirsten Wild of Argos-Shimano to form a nine-rider break that took advantage of a change in direction, got away and reduced the gap to a more manageable three minutes - however, they couldn't catch the leaders in time to prevent them passing through the second intermediate sprint in the same order as earlier.

Then, 63km in, the three were caught; having worked so hard for so long in the wind, Jiang and Cordon could stay at the front no longer and dropped away, drifting back to the peloton. Now ten riders vied with one another, aware that - as tends to the way in this race - the stage was going to come down to a sprint finish. The peloton tried catch up so that the teams could decide who'd be in pole position, but Orica kept pushing hard and, at 10km to go, the gap had actually increased slightly - testament to Orica's tactical skills.

At Simsima, the riders continued straight ahead towards Al Khawr, the leaders attacking and counter-attacking one another all the way as they passed under the hundreds of pylons carry power cables away over the desert but, knowing now that the peloton was too far behind, they allowed their speed to fall off a little so as to save energy for the last dash to the line. Cromwell tried to take advantage, attacking with 5km to go, but was immediately caught by Wild; it was Wild who brought in Spratt when she tried her own attack a short while later. Interesting - Wild, with no team mates to support her and surrounded by a gang of strong Orica riders, was doing nothing less than taking control, bossing the race. She's enjoyed enormous success in this race with two General Classification victories to her name; was she going to go for an heroic stage win today?

Trixi Worrack made a splendid attempt at wresting victory
from an unstoppable Kirsten Wild

Worrack attacked next and, now that the finish was dangerously close, the entire group were on her instantly. Then Johansson tried, laying down sufficient power for Spratt to be jettisoned off the back and right out of the group, but the rest wasted no more time than they had in chasing Worrack and entered the final 300m en masse. Without the luxury of a lead-out - or indeed, any sort of team tactics - Wild opted instead for sheer brute strength, a technique not seen so often as it once was on this sort of parcours but one which, when it works, leads to spectacular victories. This time, it worked perfectly: Worrack tried to match her, but Wild was simply too strong and took the stage. Chloe Hosking, crossing in fourth place, recorded the same time and thus retains her 6" lead in the General Classification.

Stage 2 Top Ten
1 Kirsten WILD SKI 2h38'54"
2 Trixi WORRACK SLU ST
3 Ellen VAN DIJK SLU ST
4 Chloe HOSKING HPU ST
5 Emma JOHANSSON GEW ST
6 Gracie ELVIN GEW ST
7 Malgorzta JASINSKA MCG ST
8 Tiffany CROMWELL GEW ST
9 Loes GUNNEWIJK GEW +06"
10 Amanda SPRATT GEW +14"
(Full stage result)

General Classification after Stage 2
1 Chloe HOSKING HPU 5h02'33"
2 Gracie ELVIN GEW +06"
3 Kirsten WILD SKI +09"
4 Trixi WORRACK SLU +16"
5 Eleonora VAN DIJK SLU +18"
6 Emma JOHANSSON GEW +19"
7 Tiffany CROMWELL GEW +21"
8 Lisa BRENNAUER SLU +1'38"
9 Rochelle GILMORE WHT +1'50"
10 Marta TAGLIAFERRO MCG +1'51"
(Full General Classification)

Stage winner Kirsten Wild is on Twitter, send her your congratulations and follow her by clicking here.
Race leader Chloe Hosking is also on Twitter, she can be found here.

Stage 3: Al Thakhira - Madinat Al Shamal 112.5km

Wild does it again!

After setting off from Al Thakhira (Al Dhakira on some maps; 25°44'9.50"N 51°32'6.92"E) on the eastern coast, the riders faced 60km of desert road crossing the entire country to the western coast at Al Zubara - this first section also formed the first section of Stage 2 in 2012, but this year is being raced in the opposite direction. Al Zubara is home to a famous fort which looks medieval but was in fact constructed in 1938 on the foundations of an earlier fort. It remained in military use until the 1980s, also serving as a coastguard station, before being restored as a museum - visitors are asked to make a donation on entry. It also marks the beginning of the first sprint (25°58'31.90"N 51° 2'42.01"E).

As predicted, speeds were high with a tailwind blowing the peloton across the country from the south-east, driving the average speed during the first hour to a blistering 48kph and encouraging numerous riders to attempt to take advantage with attacks - however, with the peloton reaching top speeds of more than 60kph in places, nobody could get away. Several riders had punctures in the first stretch, including Kim de Baat (Netherlands) at 42km, Rochelle Gilmore at 40km and British rider Katie Colclough (Specialized-Lululemon) 5km before the first intermediate sprint, closely followed by riders from Be Pink and Chongming-Giant.

Argos-Shimano worked together to get their riders into an ideal position to grab points at the sprint and their efforts paid off: Stage 2 winner Kirsten Wild was the first one through, Charlotte Becker was third while Hitec-UCK's Chloe Hosking took second. Then, just as the race turned north a few kilometres up the road, a crash - a big one, splitting the peloton into pieces and allowing a group of 42 riders to get away on the 23.5km stretch to Abu Al Duloof. With this group counting numerous big-hitting favourites among its number, the pace stayed high and it wasn't long before some members found the going too tough and dropped away, reducing it down to 18 at the 75km point.

Wiggle-Honda rider/manager/owner Rochelle
Gilmore crashed hard and was disqualified

The leaders kept up a high pace, rapidly inserting a 35" gap between themselves and a second group that included devastatingly fast sprinter Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda). Bronzini has spent a lot of time in second groups in this race; now she and team leader (and manager and owner) Rochelle Gilmore enlisted other riders to help them try to give chase; bizarrely, riders from rival teams with riders well-placed in the lead group seemed willing to chip in - a fine example of the unpredictability that makes women's professional cycling so fascinating.

At Madinat Al Shamal the riders entered a circuit and, 13km later, crossed the finish line for the first time, also beginning the second intermediate sprint - Lisa Brennauer (Specialized-Lululemon) took the top points at the second intermediate sprint with Chantal Blaak (Tibco) and Kirsten Wild right behind her for second and third. Several riders went down in another crash as they went through; Gilmore hit the road hard and reported after the race that she may have broken a collarbone. To add to her woe the judges, having apparently decided that she and Xiu-Jie Jiang's riding was to blame for the crash, disqualified both of them.

The chasers turned up the pressure and most of the lead group were caught, though eight riders remained out in front - a dangerous situation for the rest because, if that group could get into the final part of the race with a decent advantage, they'd almost certainly be able to choose from among themselves who would win. Because of that, the pressure was turned up even higher; the last of the lead group were caught with 4km to go and the riders approached the finish together.

Poor Chloe Hosking had awful luck with a front wheel puncture 500m from the finish - fortunately, since she was within the final 3km, she was awarded the same time as the lead group, mitigating the damage; unfortunately, due to time bonuses, she loses her General Classification lead and is now trailing by 3". Meanwhile, out at the front of the race Kirsten Wild, who set a new record for Tour of Qatar stage victories with a fourth yesterday (and also holds the record for most General Classification victories in this race), covered every attack and beat it with a fifth today - another superb effort by a rider who combines intelligence and strength and is one of the finest sprinters in the world today. Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon), who had led until the Dutch superhero powered past her, was right behind her for second; Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda) followed for third.

Stage 3 Top Ten
1 Kirsten Wild (Argos-Shimano) 2h28'15"
2 Ellan van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon) ST
3 Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda) +02"
4 Marta Tagliaferro (Mcipollini-Giordana) ST
5 Shelley Olds (Tibco-To The Top) +04"
6 Simona Frapporti (Be Pink) +05"
7 Trixi Worrack (Specialized-Lululemon) ST
8 Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) ST
9 Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS) ST
10 Tiffany Cromwell (Orica-AIS) ST
(Full stage result when available)

General Classification after Stage 3
1 Kirsten WILD (Argos-Shimano) 7h30'43"
2 Chloe HOSKING (Hitec-UCK) +03"
3 Gracie ELVIN (Orica-AIS) +16"
4 Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon) +17"
5 Trixi WORRACK (Specialized-Lululemon) +26"
6 Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) +29"
7 Tiffany CROMWELL (Orica-AIS) +31"
8 Lisa BRENNAUER (Specialized-Lululemon) +1'52"
9 Marta TAGLIAFERRO (Mcipollini-Giordana) +1'58"
10 Lauren KITCHEN (Wiggle-Honda) +2'02"
(Full GC when available)
Kelly Druyts (TopSport-Vlaanderen) did not start; Xiu-Jie Jiang, Lina Shi (both Chongming-Giant), Rochelle Gilmore (Wiggle-Honda) and Liesbet de Vocht (Rabo-Liv-Giant) did not finish. Liesbet de Vocht's crash - image.

Stage 4: Sealine Beach Resort - Doha Corniche 86.5km

And the race goes Wild!

Stage 4 begans at the Sealine Beach Resort (24°51'37.76"N 51°30'53.00"E), a modern tourist site a few kilometres south-west of Mesaieed, then reversed the first section of Stage 1 to head through Al Wakra, location of the first sprint (25°10'43.96"N 51°36'12.82"E) and back into Doha for the grand finish at Doha Corniche. When the riders arrived at the Museum of Islamic Art roundabout, they continued straight ahead rather than turning right to return to the museum and crossed the finish line for the first time after 1km; this also marked the entry into a 6km circuit about which riders completed five laps. The second sprint began on the second passing of the finish line.

Unusually for Qatar at this time of year, the wind dropped considerably today, making the stage a different sort of race to the previous three - in an attempt to make the most of it, several riders and groups began their attacks within the first kilometres. Hitec-UCK put an enormous amount of effort into their attempt, hoping no doubt to help Chloe Hosking win back the three seconds she needed to retake the General Classification lead, but as the race left Mesiaeed behind and struck out across the desert for the coast the peloton was simply too fast and the riders remained together.

Kirsten Wild (Argos-Shimano) began the day with a 3" advantage over Hosking, but being a rider as wise as she is strong she knew that she should take any opportunity that came her way to win more time - and so a battle began on the way to the first sprint, with Hosking ducking into the Dutch rider's slipstream in the hope of slingshotting past for the points. Hosking has, on countless occasions, shown herself to be a remarkable sprinter; however, at 22 years of age, she doesn't yet have the experience or physical power of 30-year-old Wild and found herself simply unable to get past. Ellen van Dijk (Specialized-Lululemon) was on their tail and took third. With victory now looking more certain, Wild's Argos-Shimano team concentrated on providing protection rather than keeping breaks in check, showing no concern at all when a group of nine split off and headed away up the road - with best-placed rider Carmen Small (Specialized-Lululemon) setting off this morning with a disadvantage of almost four minutes to Wild, there was really no need to expend energy pulling them back at this point. Other teams followed suit; it was only when the gap reached 1'25" that Wiggle-Honda (presumably seeking to mitigate damages following the loss of team owner and leader Rochelle Gilmore yesterday) and the Italian national squad (presumably happy to grant a request for help from Wiggle's Italian superstar Giorgia Bronzini) combined forces and chased them down, chopping almost half a minute off the gap by the time the race entered the first of the five circuits.

By the beginning of the second lap, the gap was down to 45" and rapidly diminishing - though it still left Jasmin Glaesser (Tibco), Audrey Cordon (France) and Shelley Olds (Tibco), as the fastest in the break, to take the points on offer at the second intermediate sprint. The break's time out in front was almost over by the start of lap three with their advantage slashed to only 20"; when it fell to 15" Cordon launched a fine and picturesque solo attack, but was quickly caught by the super-fast Small. Jessie MacLean bridged and looked capable of overtaking, but as her Orica-AIS team mates were driving the peloton after Small and Cordon she then declined to go in case they went with her - probably a wise move, because Cordon had the strength to mount another attack towards the end of the third lap, though she couldn't fend off a counter attack by Lucinda Brand (Rabo-Liv-Giant).

As the penultimate lap loomed, Argos-Shimano decided the time was right to seize full control of the race - but Orica-AIS weren't about to let them have it all their own way and revealed themselves to have plans of domination too, as was seen when British rider Katie Colclough (Specialized-Lululemon) to have a go at a solo break of her own and found she had both Orica's Emma Johansson and Argos in its entirety on her back. Needless to say, she didn't get far. Lululemon now resorted to trickery, sending Small on another attack which then turned out to be a smokescreen intended to divert attention from an attack by her team mate Lauren Rowney over on the other side of the road. It didn't work: Argos and Orica were on Small the moment she made her move but were sufficiently alert to spot what was going on and stopped Rowney in her tracks too.

Kirsten Wild wins for a record third time

As the final lap began Kirsten Wild sat behind an Argos plalanx - and right behind her sat Hosking, whose Hitec-UCK sent Elisa Longo-Borghini on an attack in an attempt to tie up a few Argos riders, hoping to force them to expend energy they'd need to keep their leader safe as the finish approached. This tactic worked no better than Lululemon's tricks: Argos simply cranked up the pace and pulled the entire peloton with them as they chased and caught her, at which point her team mate Emilia Fahlin took over. This time it was Orica who responded, dealing with her as effortlessly as Argos had dealt with Longo-Borghini.

When the race entered the final 500m, the front of the peloton turned orange as riders from the Netherlands national team swarmed up, apparently wanting to assist Wild. This almost proved her undoing for, realising that the sudden increase in numbers would make it harder for any rider to get through, Hosking decided the time was right to begin what she hoped would be her winning move. Once again, however, Wild's greater experience and strength gave her the upper hand - while Hosking had needed to move to the other side of the road to select a clear path for her final sprint, Wild was able to muscle her way through along the centre of the road before fending off Brand and Marta Tagliaferro (Mcipollini-Giordana) as she sprinted away to a record third General Classification victory. Hosking took the same time in eighth place, but is second overall at +14".

Stage 4 Top Ten
1 Kirsten WILD (Argos-Shimano) 2h09'38"
2 Lucinda BRAND (Rabo-Liv-Giant) ST
3 Marta TAGLIAFERRO (Mcipollini-Giordana) ST
4 Giorgia BRONZINI (Wiggle-Honda) ST
5 Simona FRAPPORTI (Be Pink) ST
6 Maria Giulia CONFALONIERI (Italy) ST
7 Trixi WORRACK (Specialized-Lululemon) ST
8 Chloe HOSKING (Hitec-UCK) ST
9 Barbara GUARISCHI (Italy) ST
10 Pascale JEULAND (France) ST
(Full stage result)

Final General Classification
1 Kirsten WILD (Argos-Shimano) 9h40'08"
2 Chloe HOSKING (Hitec-UCK) +14"
3 Ellen VAN DIJK (Specialized-Lululemon) +29"
4 Gracie ELVIN (Orica-AIS) +29"
5 Trixi WORRACK (Specialized-Lululemon) +39"
6 Emma JOHANSSON (Orica-AIS) +42"
7 Tiffany CROMWELL (Orica-AIS) +44"
8 Lisa BRENNAUER GER (Specialized-Lululemon) +2'05"
9 Marta TAGLIAFERRO (Mcipollini-Giordana) +2'07"
10 Lauren KITCHEN (Wiggle-Honda) +2'15"
(Full General Classification)

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Women's Tour of Qatar Stage 2 Results

Trixi Worrack
(image credit: James F. Perry CC BY-SA 3.0)

Trixie Worrack beat Judith Arndt in a two-rider sprint over the line after they'd worked together 10km from the end of the race to overcome yesterday's winner Kirsten Wild and Adrie Visser, who took third and fourth respectively.

"Today was definitely better than yesterday" - Judith Arndt

Conditions were a slight improvement compared to Stage 1 with the north-western side of Qatar enjoying a little less wind due to the close proximity of Saudi Arabia. Stage 3, meanwhile, runs along the eastern coast - with almost 400km of ocean between it and Dubai, riders can expect a windier day.

Current World Champion Giorgia Bronzini crashed when her pedal snapped as she sprinted to the finish line, grazing her knees. She was otherwise unhurt and expects to start Stage 3. Specialized-Lululemon's Lisa Brennauer did not start the stage and Be Pink's Elke Gebhardt abandoned.

Katie Colclough - the only British rider in the race - finished in 12th position.

Stage 2

1. WORRACK Trixi 6 TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 3h 05' 37"
2. ARNDT Judith 71 GREENEDGE - AIS 3h 05' 37" + 00' 00"
3. VISSER Adriana 126 SKIL-1T4I 3h 07' 57" + 02' 20"
4. WILD Kirsten 21 NETHERLANDS 3h 07' 57" + 02' 20"
5. OLDS Shelley 42 USA 3h 08' 26" + 02' 49"
6. BRAS Martine 22 NETHERLANDS 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
7. BASTIANELLI Marta 52 MCIPOLLINI GIAMBENINI 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
8. BRULEE Latoya 142 TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-RIDLEY 2012 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
9. MACLEAN Jessie 74 GREENEDGE - AIS 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
10. SCANDOLARA Valentina 85 ITALY 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
11. TAYLOR Cherise 95 LOTTO BELISOL LADIES 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
12. COLCLOUGH Katie 4 TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
13. KASPER Romy 63 GERMANY 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
14. SANDIG Madeleine 65 GERMANY 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
15. KANIS Janneke 122 SKIL-1T4I 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
16. LIU Xin 133 CHINA CHONGMING-GIANT 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
17. VAN DIJK Ellen 1 TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
18. TAGLIAFERRO Marta 56 MCIPOLLINI GIAMBENINI 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
19. VAN DER BREGGEN Anna 25 NETHERLANDS 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
20. HOSKING Chloe 5 TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
21. KNETEMANN Roxanne 35 STICHTING RABO WOMEN 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
22. BORCHI Alessandra 53 MCIPOLLINI GIAMBENINI 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
23. VAN DER KAMP Laura 26 NETHERLANDS 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
24. DÜSTER Sarah 33 STICHTING RABO WOMEN 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
25. CECCHINI Elena 54 MCIPOLLINI GIAMBENINI 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
26. SLAPPENDEL Iris 31 STICHTING RABO WOMEN 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
27. DE VOCHT Liesbeth 32 STICHTING RABO WOMEN 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
28. NÖSTVOLD Lise 115 HITEC PRODUCTS-MISTRAL HOME 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
29. SPRATT Amanda 76 GREENEDGE - AIS 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
30. RHODES Alexis 75 GREENEDGE - AIS 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
31. CROMWELL Tiffany 73 GREENEDGE - AIS 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
32. GUNNEWIJK Loes 72 GREENEDGE - AIS 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
33. BACCAILLE Monia 51 MCIPOLLINI GIAMBENINI 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
34. GUDERZO Tatiana 55 MCIPOLLINI GIAMBENINI 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
35. HUANG Dongyan 132 CHINA CHONGMING-GIANT 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
36. LONGO BORGHINI Elisa 113 HITEC PRODUCTS-MISTRAL HOME 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
37. BRONZINI Giorgia 11 DIADORA-PASTA ZARA 3h 08' 28" + 02' 51"
38. TROMP Esra 124 SKIL-1T4I 3h 11' 50" + 06' 13"
39. MUSTONEN Sara 114 HITEC PRODUCTS-MISTRAL HOME 3h 11' 50" + 06' 13"
40. BRUINS Regina 121 SKIL-1T4I 3h 11' 50" + 06' 13"
41. BIANNIC Aude 101 FRANCE 3h 18' 57" + 13' 20"
42. JEULAND Pascale 104 FRANCE 3h 18' 57" + 13' 20"
43. RYAN Kendall 44 USA 3h 18' 57" + 13' 20"
44. DONATO Giulia 15 DIADORA-PASTA ZARA 3h 18' 57" + 13' 20"
45. POLSPOEL Maaike 144 TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-RIDLEY 2012 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
46. HATTELAND Tone 112 HITEC PRODUCTS-MISTRAL HOME 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
47. BEYEN Ine 141 TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-RIDLEY 2012 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
48. LAVRIJSSEN Birgit 23 NETHERLANDS 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
49. SPOOR Winanda 24 NETHERLANDS 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
50. CORDON Audrey 102 FRANCE 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
51. CILVINAITE Inga 14 DIADORA-PASTA ZARA 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
52. JANELIUNAITE Edita 16 DIADORA-PASTA ZARA 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
53. BATAGELJ Polona 13 DIADORA-PASTA ZARA 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
54. HANNES Kaat 93 LOTTO BELISOL LADIES 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
55. BUBNER Janine 61 GERMANY 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
56. PIETERS Amy 123 SKIL-1T4I 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
57. RIVERA Coryn 43 USA 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
58. LUO Xiaoling 134 CHINA CHONGMING-GIANT 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
59. CHEN Li 131 CHINA CHONGMING-GIANT 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
60. DUYCK Ann-Sophie 92 LOTTO BELISOL LADIES 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
61. YUAN Yunyun 135 CHINA CHONGMING-GIANT 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
62. CROWELL Jacquelyn 41 USA 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
63. SCHNEIDER Samantha 45 USA 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
64. VEKEMANS Aniska 146 TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-RIDLEY 2012 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
65. CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia 83 ITALY 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
66. VANDEN BRANDE Edith 145 TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-RIDLEY 2012 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
67. CROKET Gilke 143 TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-RIDLEY 2012 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
68. BERGSETH Johanne 111 HITEC PRODUCTS-MISTRAL HOME 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"

Judith Arndt leads the GC
(image credit: James F. Perry CC BY-SA 3.0)

69. WAERSTED Froydis 116 HITEC PRODUCTS-MISTRAL HOME 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
70. BARTELLONI Béatrice 82 ITALY 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
71. VERHOEVEN Aurore 106 FRANCE 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
72. TALEN Rebecca 36 STICHTING RABO WOMEN 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
73. VANNUCCI Chiara 86 ITALY 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
74. PATUZZO Eleonora 84 ITALY 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
75. LESUEUR Melodie 105 FRANCE 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
76. WILES Tayler 46 USA 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
77. CANTELE Noemi 81 ITALY 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
78. SCHOONBAERT Kim 94 LOTTO BELISOL LADIES 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
79. VAN LOOY Katrien 96 LOTTO BELISOL LADIES 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
80. JEULAND Nathalie 103 FRANCE 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
81. POHL Stephanie 64 GERMANY 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
82. SCHNITZMEIER Anna Bianca 66 GERMANY 3h 18' 59" + 13' 22"
83. VAN RIJEN Linda 125 SKIL-1T4I 3h 19' 11" + 13' 34"
84. BECKER Charlotte 2 TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 3h 19' 11" + 13' 34"
85. ANDRUK Alona 12 DIADORA-PASTA ZARA 3h 19' 11" + 13' 34"
86. KITCHEN Lauren 34 STICHTING RABO WOMEN 3h 19' 11" + 13' 34"
87. HENRION Ludivine 91 LOTTO BELISOL LADIES 3h 19' 17" + 13' 40"

General Classification after Stage 2

1 ARNDT Judith - GREENEDGE - AIS 5h 22' 12"
2 WORRACK Trixi - TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 5h 22' 14"
3 WILD Kirsten - NETHERLANDS 5h 24' 28"
4 VAN DIJK Ellen - TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 5h 25' 11" 
5 HOSKING Chloe - TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 5h 25' 12" 
6 RHODES Alexis - GREENEDGE - AIS 5h 25' 18" 
7 GUNNEWIJK Loes - GREENEDGE - AIS 5h 25' 18" 
8 MACLEAN Jessie - GREENEDGE - AIS 5h 27' 34" 
9 CECCHINI Elena - MCIPOLLINI GIAMBENINI 5h 27' 34" 
10 DÜSTER Sarah - STICHTING RABO WOMEN 5h 27' 34" 


Points after Stage 2
1 WILD Kirsten - NETHERLANDS 31 pts
2 ARNDT Judith - GREENEDGE - AIS 28 pts

Chloe Hosking leads the Youth
hChloe Hosking took second place
(image credit: jjron GNU 1.2)

3 WORRACK Trixi- TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 24 pts
4 VAN DIJK Ellen - TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 12 pts
5 HOSKING Chloe- TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 12 pts
6 VISSER Adriana - SKIL-1T4I 9 pts
7 OLDS Shelley - USA 6 pts
8 GUNNEWIJK Loes - GREENEDGE - AIS 5 pts
9 BRAS Martine - NETHERLANDS 5 pts
10 RHODES Alexis - GREENEDGE - AIS 4 pts


Youth after Stage 2
1 HOSKING Chloe - TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 5h 25' 12"
2 CECCHINI Elena - MCIPOLLINI GIAMBENINI 5h 27' 34"
3 HUANG Dongyan - CHINA CHONGMING-GIANT 5h 27' 34" 

4 TAGLIAFERRO Marta - MCIPOLLINI GIAMBENINI 5h 39' 10" 

5 VAN DER KAMP Laura - NETHERLANDS 5h 39' 10" 

6 SCANDOLARA Valentina - ITALY 5h 39' 10" 

7 VAN DER BREGGEN Anna - NETHERLANDS 5h 39' 10"  

8 TAYLOR Cherise - LOTTO BELISOL LADIES 5h 39' 10" 

9 LONGO BORGHINI Elisa - HITEC PRODUCTS-MISTRAL HOME 5h 39' 10" 

10 COLCLOUGH Katie - TEAM SPECIALIZED LULULEMON 5h 39' 10"