Bronzini strikes gold at Oryx Farm

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The Ladies Tour of Qatar was faced with howling winds on stage two, making progress so slow for the riders that the organisers were forced to shorten the stage from 107 to 89km. Nearly three hours after the start, it was the Italian team's Giorgia Bronzini who snatched the golden jersey from the 21-year-old, Rasa Leleivyte, who was hired to replace her on the Safi Pasta squad.

Bronzini's stage win marked her third career victory in Qatar and her second time wearing the golden jersey as leader, but her position is by no means secure as Cervelo's Kirsten Wild won the intermediate sprints and sits just four seconds behind on the general classification.

"We tried to make a strong result in the race today and I think what the riders accomplished was pretty impressive," said Cervelo TestTeam director Egon van Kessel. "We tried several times to attack but with the wind we were not strong enough to really make any difference. So we came into the final and tried to bring Kirsten into as good a position as possible. However she came too early to the front and was not able to win the sprint.

"Despite that, she won the two intermediate sprints and finished fourth in today's stage. Kirsten now stands second in the GC, just 4 seconds behind Giorgia Bronzini. Tomorrow is the last stage and we certainly will try and go for the victory. If we win the intermediate sprints or the stage we will be able to win this race, so everything is possible."

The riders headed from Al Zubarah in the north, and battled strong cross wins which split the peloton in two. 60 riders made the front group as the first sprint approached. The Cervelo team once again delivered a textbook lead-out for Wild, who won the sprint ahead of Dutch rival Monique Van de Ree and teammate Sarah Düster.

As the course shifted south, the winds were blowing directly into the riders faces, slowing the bunch to a crawl. It wasn't until kilometre 50 that any rider could break free, when Latoya Brulee (Red Sun) attacked.

The Belgian was caught and passed by American Liz Hatch (Lotto), who powered on solo to a 1:45 lead over the peloton, but her efforts were too much, too soon and she was caught by kilometre 69.

With the day shortened, and only 20km to go, the Cervelo team and the Dutch riders kept the bunch together to ensure bonus seconds for their leaders at the second sprint at kilometre 70. Once again it was Cervelo delivering Wild to the line ahead of Adrie Visser (HTC-Columbia) and Kristy Broun (Australia).

As the finish line approached, HTC-Columbia launched their new Italian recruit Noemi Cantele, who was marked by Broun and Charlotte Becker (Cervelo). The trio could not resist the efforts of the chase, and with one kilometre to go the peloton was back together. Bronzini displayed her power and class to claim the victory over Rochelle Gilmore (Lotto) and Martine Bras (Netherlands). .

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