Tour of Qatar news shorts: Katusha scores first win of the year in Qatar

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Katusha scores first win of the year in Qatar

Katusha won their first race of the 2015 season after Alexander Kristoff finished first in the stage 2 bunch kick at the Tour of Qatar on Monday. The Norwegian sprinter was the fastest of 15 riders that formed a lead group through strong crosswinds. The win bumped him up into the overall race lead heading into the stage 3 time trial on Tuesday.

“This was maybe the hardest stage I have ever seen here in Qatar,” said Katusha's director Torsten Schmidt. “A very strong wind, high pace, permanent echelons and fighting for the position in the front made this stage a real struggle. The team was great today. The peloton split in groups many times, and every time Alex had his teammates, who supported him. The last time, when the leading group of 20 riders went away, Viacheslav Kuznetsov and Sven Erik Bystrøm helped Alex to get a good position in front. In the end, it was the great sprint of Kristoff who finished the job. This is our first 2015 victory and I am happy we’ve got it so early in the season.”

Crash forces Battaglin to abandon Tour of Qatar

A crash 60km into the second stage of the Tour of Qatar has forced Bardiani-CSF rider Enrico Battaglin to abandon the race all together. The Italian hit the ground after colliding with a rider in front of him during a section of strong crosswinds.

Stage 2 was a 194.5km race from Al Wakra to Al Khor Corniche where the field was shattered because of strong gusty winds, and only 15 riders were in the lead group at the finish line. Bardiani’s Luca Sterbini was the first to go down in the opening kilometres, followed by Battaglin at the 60km mark.

Battaglin was also involved in a crash at the Tour de San Luis in January, and has fallen on the same injuries, according to a team press release.

“Already from the first kilometre started echelons,” Battaglin said. “I was in a chasing group when a rider of Topsport tried to jump a bump but he went down and I couldn’t avoid him. I suffered some pain on my left side and remembering the Tour de San Luis crash, we decided to stop. This is a race that is a bit unlucky for me, last year too I went down heavily. Fortunately this time it is not so serious and the abandon was just to prevent future problems.

Battaglin will travel home to Italy and focus on the upcoming Trofeo Laigueglia.

Van Avermaet looks ahead to stage 3 time trial

BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet is three seconds away from the overall race lead at the Tour of Qatar, and he is hoping to stay with in striking distance of the gold jersey after Wednesday’s stage 3 time trial.

"I will see how it goes," Van Avermaet said. "I have spent a lot of energy the first two days already. Last year, I did a good time trial and there is not a specialist up front (in the overall standings). So if I can stay close to Tom Boonen and the other guys, that will be good. I am feeling pretty good. The breakaways were not as long as normal, but I feel my form is good. It is a good sign for the classics.”

Van Avermaet placed third in the sprint, out of the small lead group that raced into Al Khor Corniche at the end of the second stage. Kristoff won and Guardini was second. His teammate Marcus Burghardt was also in the front group and finished eighth.

"It was a hard sprint with the tailwind," Van Avermaet said. "They surprised us a little from the back so I had to close the gap and then Kristoff started his sprint. So it was hard to come over him. I think I did a good sprint to get third place."

Van Avermaet is now in third place overall, three seconds behind Kristoff and two seconds behind Boonen. Burghardt is in sixth place at nine seconds back.