Steurs strongest as breakaway rules the day

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Strong winds and some aggressive echelon riding dramatically affected the overall standings at the Tour of Qatar on Monday, with a two-man breakaway containing Geert Steurs (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil) out-foxing the big-name sprinters.

Steurs and Mol attacked just two kilometres into the 147km stage and with a strong headwind blowing from the north, the bunch let them go. Their lead reached a massive 22:40 after 36km and they eventually stayed away all the way to the finish, holding onto a gap of 1:51 over the chasers.

With Mol better placed overall and certain to take the leader's gold jersey, Steurs accelerated ahead at the finish to win the stage. As he crossed the line he pointed to the sky, remembering his former teammate Frederik Nolf, who tragically died in his sleep during last year's race.

"It was very emotional to win like that but I'm happy that I could do something today for Frederik," Steurs said. "This is a very important win. I wasn't here last year but it was very emotional moment for all the team."

Team Sky started stage two with Edvald Boasson Hagen in the overall race leader's gold jersey after their dominant display in the opening team time trial. But it definitely was not their day and everyone else took full advantage and was quick to give them a lesson in echelon racing.

Mol now leads Steurs by nine seconds in the overall standings.

Broken collarbones for Arvesen and Cozza

Germany's Roger Kluge (Milram) was third on the stage and moved up to third overall at 2:02. However, the result reveals little of what happened out on the road.

A moving minute's silence was held in memory of Italian national coach and former Paris-Roubaix winner Franco Ballerini before the start.

Then there was drama even before the stage had officially begun, when Kurt-Asle Arvesen crashed in the neutralized section. He fractured the far end of his right collarbone and was out of the race. Cyclingnews understands he will fly home to Oslo overnight to undergo surgery by the same doctors who treated his other collarbone after he crashed in last year's Tour de France. He could be back on his bike within 10 days but he has missed a vital part of the early season.

Later in the stage Steven Cozza (Garmin-Transitions) crashed and broke his collarbone and is also out of the race.

Echelons galore and aggressive finale

After only two kilometres of racing Steurs and Mol attacked and began their day-long breakaway. With a strong headwind blowing, the bunch showed little interesting in chasing them and the gap soared.

A reaction finally came after 36km and marked the start of 110km of aggressive racing all the way to the finish.

As the road turned right a few degrees, 10km from the first sprint, the headwind became a crosswind. Suddenly, Quick Step and the Cervélo TestTeam went on the attack, catching Edvald Boasson Hagen, his Team Sky teammates and most of the peloton napping.

The race split into echelons like a scene out of Ghent-Wevelgem. Most of the big-name Classics riders and sprinters were in the front group, including Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Alessandro Ballan and Marcus Burghardt (BMC), Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) and Stuart O'Grady (Saxo Bank).

Cervélo TestTeam had five riders in the move and were clearly looking for revenge after the whole team was penalized a minute for a push by Heinrich Haussler in the team time trial.

Team Sky tried to drag Boasson Hagen back up to the front group. They held the gap to within a minute for 40km, with even Boasson Hagen doing turns on the front, but the lead group worked smoothly and ruthlessly in the echelon and Team Sky eventually cracked and lost riders.

Then Boasson Hagen lost any chance of overall success when he suffered a back wheel puncture. He got a quick change but the team had already decided their chances were over and Boasson Hagen took on a bottle and would eventually finish in a big group, 9:43 behind Geert Steurs.

Cervélo goes on the attack

Up front it was time for the final attacks. The 28 riders in the front echelon eased off a little when they realised they would not catch the break but then the Cervélo TestTeam tried to pull back the minute they were penalized in the team time trial.

Roger Hammond made a strong attack, then Haussler went with five kilometres to go. Tom Boonen often lead the chase but the violent attacks split the front group as cracks appeared in riders' early season form.

Kluge managed to take third place, with Haussler in fourth four seconds behind him. One second later Gilbert, Hammond, Boonen, Burghardt, Jeremy Hunt (Cervélo TestTeam) and Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) crossed the line.

Ballan and Farrar lost 42 seconds to them in the aggressive finale but importantly were still well-placed overall.

Mol now leads Steurs by nine seconds, with Kluge third at 2:02 and then Boonen fourth at 2:05. Thanks to Garmin's excellent second place in the team time trial, Farrar is ninth at 2:41. That is only 36 seconds behind Boonen with plenty of time bonuses to be awarded on the remaining four stages.

Mol starts Tuesday's 136km third stage from Dukhan to Mesaieed in the gold jersey but admitted it will be tough for him to hold off the big names that are packed tight two minutes behind him.

"First we have to repair the legs and then we'll see about defending the jersey. We're going to try but it'll be hard," he said.