Tour of Qatar: Cavendish seals overall victory, beaten by Kristoff on final stage

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Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) won the Tour of Qatar after defending his slim overall lead in the final stage sprint on the Doha Corniche on Friday.

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won the high-speed sprint after going shoulder to shoulder with Cavendish and so took a ten-second time bonus but Cavendish gained a six-second time bonus for second place. That allowed him to win the overall classification.

Roy Jans (Wanty - Groupe Gobert) was a distant third in the sprint, with Ireland’s Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) sixth.

Kristoff was second in the final overall classification, five seconds behind Cavendish. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) was third at eight seconds. It is the second time Cavendish has won the Tour of Qatar after his first victory in 2013.

Cavendish and Kristoff both lunged at the finish line after sprinting side by side in the final 200 metres. Cavendish had ensured he was on Kristoff’s wheel in the finale of the sprint after being piloted and then dropped off by teammates Mark Renshaw and Edvald Boasson Hagen.

Kristoff went early, opening up his power and forcing Cavendish to respond. He came off Kristoff’s wheel and along side him but lacked a few extra watts of power to move ahead. Cavendish stood slumped over his bars for several minutes as he recovered from his huge effort. He seemed disappointed to have lost the sprint but was happy to have won the overall classification.

"That sprint was pretty hectic," said Kristoff. "A lot of teams were tryng to take the lead. We did actually a very good job all day. We controlled the break and were able in the end to be in front at the last corner. There we had a good position.

"Dimension Data overtook us a little bit. We managed to stay together more or less. The last 500 meters were for them but I passed them again with 200 meters to go. Then Cavendish came by my side. I thought he got me but then… I think my body is just a little bit longer… That made the difference."

How it happened

The final 114km stage was always going to be about the final sprint on the Doha Corniche but a strong tailwind made for a nervous start to the stage.

The trio of Steven Tronet (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), Jesse Sergent (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Tom Declerq (Topsport Vlaanderen) got away early and carved out a lead, as Brian Van Goethem (Roompot) tried a desperate lone chase to go across to them. He eventually slipped back to the peloton as the break was given some freedom and opened a gap of 2:30 after 30km.

The Katusha and Dimension Data team led the chase at the head of the peloton but the three made it to downtown Doha and began the ten finishing circuits along the Corniche. Sergent was first at the intermediate sprint after four laps but the trio’s lead was down to 1:30 as the peloton could see them during the laps.

The lead fell to 40 seconds with 20km to go and even a hard effort by Sergent could not stop them being caught with 11km to go.

Everything was ready for the final sprint showdown.

The BMC team was the first to up the speed on the front but other teams were also ready to fight for position and lead-out trains hit the front on both sides of the road, splitting the peloton.

An AG2R La Mondiale rider tried a solo attack with three kilometres to go and hung off the front for 500 metres. But he only gave the peloton a carrot to aim for and inside the final two kilometres the Katusha team took charge. They drove hard into the headwind and came out of the 360-degree turn with 1.5km to go still on the front, with Kristoff tucked in their wheels. Lampre-Merida moved Modolo to the front, with Andrea Guardini (Astana) tucked tight on his wheel but Katusha was in charge.

Cavendish was a little far back after the turn but was dropped off perfectly by Renshaw and then ensured he got on Kristoff’s wheel with some excellent bike skills and intuition. Boasson Hagen did his bit and opened up the sprint early, leaving Jacopo Guarnieri to lead out Kristoff. The Norwegian opened up his sprint but Cavendish was soon alongside him. He just failed to win the stage but did enough to win overall, and dismiss all the doubts about his hunger and sprinting speed in 2016.

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