Quick Step predicted Tosatto as winner

By Susan Westemeyer

Quick Step predicted before the first stage of the Tour of Qatar that Matteo Tosatto would be the winner – and it was right. "Just one hour before the start, Tom [Boonen] and Wilfried Peeters, our sports director, told me that I would be the first to cross the finish line," the happy winner said.

"It's true," said Peeters, who was pleased that the helper had won stage one. "Matteo is highly self-sacrificing, and has often put aside his personal ambitions to help others. This is the perfect reward for his earnestness."

It was not the Italian's first leader's jersey, though. He wore the pink jersey in the Giro d'Italia for three days in 2000 when he rode for Fassa Bortolo. "I'm totally satisfied," he said. "I'm almost 34 years old and I'm still enjoying myself immensely doing this job. I try to take it seriously and I'm beginning to see my sacrifices paying off. I hope this is just the beginning of the satisfactions for myself and for the team."