Tour of Qatar: Terpstra wins stage 1

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The Tour of Qatar has at times felt like Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s personal fiefdom over the years, and the trend continued on the opening stage of the 2014 edition of the race, as Niki Terpstra took stage honours at Dukhan Beach and a significant early advantage in the overall standings to boot.

Terpstra showed considerable strength and nous to emerge victorious from the five-man winning break, where he had teammate Guillaume Van Keirsbulck for company. As they entered the final straight, Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol) appeared to be the danger man, but Terpstra sensed the danger when Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling) jumped away with 250 metres to go and latched onto his wheel.

Then, just as the Swiss rider tired in the headwind on the final, shallow rise to the line, Terpstra cruised around him and immediately opened a sizeable gap. Roelandts tried desperately to get on terms, but it was too little, too late, as Terpstra free-wheeled to victory with a second to spare.

“In the end, I still had enough energy to do the sprint and it worked out well,” Terpstra said afterwards. “I’m just really happy that Guillaume Van Keirsbulck was in the front group with me. He rode really hard and gave me some motivation.”

When Van Keirsbulck sat up with a shade under three kilometres to go, it appeared as though his race was run, but the Belgian came roaring back to the break underneath the red kite. The fresh impetus he provided ensured that Terpstra, Roelandts, Elmiger and Michael Schär held off the fast-closing peloton.

Not that Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s numerical dominance was confined to the breathless closing kilometres. On the long trek across Qatar’s flat, exposed interior, the team delighted in shattering the peloton in the windswept conditions. Indeed, for one leg-stringing stretch of crosswind, there were no fewer than five QuickStep riders in the front echelon of 22 riders, with Tom Boonen – already looking in fine shape two months out from the Tour of Flanders – the ringleader of the peloton’s tormentors.

At the 95km mark, there was a general regrouping, but the détente would be short-lived. Soon afterwards, with just over 30 kilometres to go, the winning break of Terpstra, Van Keirsbulck, Roelandts, Elmiger and Schär edged its way clear. With four of the strongest teams in the race all represented and with the leading quintet working harmoniously, the die was all but cast, particularly as Belkin struggled to marshal a coherent chase behind.

Terpstra had signalled his intentions for the day by winning the first intermediate sprint after 20km, and he continued in that vein in the finale, beating Roelandts to the bonuses at the second sprint. It prefigured what was to come in the finishing straight, where once again Terpstra would steal a march on Roelandts.

The main peloton closed to within 7 seconds at the finish, but in a further reflection of Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s strength in depth in Qatar, it was Boonen who led them home, in 6th place. “It was great to have such a good captain, who he can defend us from the peloton when we are in the lead,” Terpstra said.

In the overall standings, Terpstra has a lead of 9 seconds over Roelandts and 12 over Schär, but those who finished in the main peloton are already some 23 seconds back on the Dutchman. Though the race is just one day old, it is already a considerable lead for a rider who will expect to shine in the 10-kilometre time trial at Lusail on Tuesday. “I came to Qatar to ride a good classification because the individual time trial will suit me well,” Terpstra acknowledged.

Fast start

The sight of most of the peloton riding up and down the pier at Al Wakra to warm up before the start was indicative of what was in store. With a stiff northerly breeze already making itself felt, this would be no early-season amble in the sun, and the pace in the bunch was frenetic as soon as the flag was dropped.

Lieuwe Westra (Astana) was the first man to try his luck and go clear alone, and though he would be swept up before the first intermediate sprint, the Dutchman would later spend a longer stint off the front as part of a five-man move. In the intervening period, Omega Pharma-QuickStep fractured the peloton for the first time after 20 kilometres, and briefly succeeded in catching out Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), who arrived from the Dubai Tour late on Saturday evening.

A brief period of détente followed after Cancellara, André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) et al pegged back the front group, and that lull allowed Westra to lead a group up the road and gain a lead of some six minutes before Boonen and company put their shoulders to the wheel once again in the crosswind after 50 kilometres.

This time their effort was a more sustained one. Powered by QuickStep and BMC, who each had five riders apiece in the move, the 22-man echelon included Boonen, Cancellara, Philippe Gilbert, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Roelandts and Greipel.

At one point, their lead extended out to in excess of 30 seconds, and it took a good hour of grim effort for the peloton to peg them back. Once that softening up process was complete, Terpstra seized his opportunity in the final 30 kilometres, sparking the winning move and lifting himself into a commanding overall position.

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