DOHA: Etixx-QuickStep riders including Belgian star Tom Boonen won’t be seen in action at this week’s Tour of Qatar for non-cycling reasons, it emerged yesterday.
The organisers of the Tour of Qatar - a hugely popular cycling race in the region - have not invited Etixx-QuickStep due to ‘poor conduct’.
Out of the last 10 years, Quick-Step riders had managed eight overall wins at Tour of Qatar where Boonen had won 22 stages and 4 golden jerseys.
“As organisers of Tour of Qatar, we try to ensure that we make a great effort to make the teams comfortable. QuickStep has won a lot in the Tour of Qatar. We appreciated their performances,” Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani, President of Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF), said at a pre-event press conference yesterday.
“We noticed that - not only last year but even before that - we had a problem with their discipline. They delay a lot for the ceremonies. They would give interviews while we were waiting.
“And we had limited time on the (live) satellite production. We sent people to hurry them up. They did not talk to them in a very nice way.
“We had warned them that if this continues, we would not invite them. Last year the same thing happened. So we decided that since we respect all teams, we will not send them an invitation. We hope to see them in the future,” Sheikh Khalid said.
“It is a decision that has been taken. People must understand that nobody is above the race, above the law. There were asked many times for better conduct.
“They won too many times in Qatar. They (probably) felt at home, maybe they thought they could do whatever they want. We have talked to them before and it did not help. There were several incidents. So we decided we should make an example,” Sheikh Khalid said.
The Peninsula
