Gilmore takes sprint in Dukhan

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Rochelle Gilmore (Lotto Honda) took victory on day one of the Ladies Tour of Qatar with a perfectly-timed sprint. The Australian pipped Giorgia Bronzini (Italy) in a tight finish, while Chloe Hosking (HTC Highroad Women) rounded out the podium in third place.

After the final sweeping right-hand curve 400 metres from the line, Gilmore found herself well positioned in the slipstream of the world champion Bronzini and then unleashed a devastating burst over the final metres to claim the win and the first golden jersey of the race.

"I picked Giorgia's wheel and just gave it everything in the final 100 metres," a delighted Gilmore said after pulling on the leader's jersey.

She had already served notice of her sparkling form in the day's earlier intermediate sprints, grabbing second place on each occasion, and her morale was high entering the finale in Dukhan.

"I just went out there and contested those sprints," Gilmore said. "I didn't win one, but I felt really good so that gave me confidence for the finish."

Indeed, the intermediate sprints were the highlights of an otherwise tense day's racing, where a combination of high speed and exposed roads meant that breakaway attempts were at a premium.

Some rugged road surfaces and potholes caused a spate of punctures in the opening half of the stage but nonetheless the peloton still covered 41.1km in the first hour of racing, with Italian champion Monia Baccaille and her MCipollini Giordana teammates prominent at the front end of the bunch.

The first sprint came after 39km, and it was the rainbow jersey Giorgia Bronzini who took the three-second time bonus, beating Gilmore in a keenly-fought contest, with Suzanne De Goede (Skil-Koga) picking up third.

Immediately afterwards, the first successful break of the 2011 Ladies Tour of Qatar finally arrived, with Veronica Andreasson (Lotto Honda) slipping clear of the peloton. She quickly opened up a lead of 13 seconds, but once the Dutch and Skil-Koga teams came to the front just a matter of kilometres later to set up the next sprint, her lead tumbled and she was soon brought back to heel.

At the second sprint (54km), Gilmore was again to the fore, and although she would once more have to settle for second place, she picked up sufficient time bonuses to move into the overall lead on the road. Her fellow countrywoman Kirsty Broun took the honours, while Martine Bras (Netherlands) picked up a one-second bonus in third.

After a brief lull, on the run-in to the finish the pace then began to ratchet up accordingly as the sprinters' teams moved to discourage any potential breakaways. Valentina Bastianelli (Vaiano Solaritech) made a valiant attempt to upset the applecart inside the final 20km, but on increasingly exposed roads, her effort was doomed from the offset, with the USA team to the fore in leading the chase.

Garmin-Cervélo's Iris Slappendel jumped clear at the 5km to go mark, but again she was quickly closed down by the bunch, and from there on in, the scene was set for Gilmore and Bronzini's grandstand finish.