By Rizwan Rehmat
DOHA: Sprint king Mark Cavendish was the source of absolute delight in the Dimension Data camp yesterday when the Briton stormed to stage one win at the Tour of Qatar.
Cavendish, 30, produced a well-timed surge in the 176-km stage which ended at the sea-front in Al Khor yesterday.
The moody British cyclist, who won the title in 2013, clocked a time of 3 hours 28 minutes and 46 seconds for his 9th stage win in Qatar.
Italian duo Sacha Modolo (LAM) and Andrea Guardini (AST) finished in second and third spots respectively. Irish rider Sam Bennett (BOA) grabbed the fourth spot in the bunch sprint while Alexander Kristoff of Norway completed the day’s top five riders.
“It is really nice to be back here. I have come here with a new team,” Cavendish said after winning golden jersey.
“It feels very nice. Absolutely this is a vital win. In all, it was a super strong performance by all the guys and I am really happy to get the first win of the year.
“I definitely would like to carry this form forward. My team did a great job. I stayed behind earlier on but there was a good lead out at the right moments,” Cavendish said.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the GC (General Classification). My form is good. I feel okay. We need time bonuses. Hopefully we can do a good time trial (tomorrow),” Cavendish said.
“It was long and a hard day. Unfortunately, Tyler punctured and he used too much energy to get back to me for the sprint but he was incredible in helping to keep the group away,” he said. Cavendish said he wasn’t reading too much into stage two route which would be used during the 2016 UCI World Road Championships.
“The fact is that the world championships stage is not that important right now. Definitely good to see it but I will be back before the world championships. They have changed the circuit as we don’t get to see it completely,” Cavendish said. Cavendish said Qatar experiences stronger crosswinds as compared to the UAE where the Briton feature in the Tour of Dubai last week.
“Crosswinds difference is there (between Doha and Dubai). It is a smaller group here because of the winds,” Cavendish said. “It’s about being on the right path. I said to my team-mates I want to win it. I am 30 years old. I don’t there’s nothing new that I can learn anymore. Half of the things are in my head. I am happy with where I am right now,” he said.
For the first stage of the 2016 Tour of Qatar, the riders are gathered on the eastern coast of Qatar, in the city of Dukhan for the start of the race.
Under a bright sunshine and in rather windy conditions, 140 competitors took off for a 180.5-km ride all the way to Al Khor on the north-western coast.
After an extremely fast start due to the favourable winds, the first real action started at the 38km mark when the pack broke up into two main groups.
Twelve kilometres later, again the front group of around 100 men parted leaving only 21 riders at the front.
Among the leading group were the likes of Kristoff, Cavendish, Boasson Hagen, Guardini and Modolo. Their lead grew from 35’’ at the 57-km mark to 50’’ at the 81-km mark.
The first intermediate sprint (at the 106.5-km mark) was claimed by Kristoff ahead of Cavendish and Modolo while the first chasing group remained 1’05’’ adrift.
The gap remained the same all the way to the second bonus sprint, claimed by Cavendish in front of Viacheslav Kuznetsov and Greg Van Avermaet, and beyond. With 20kms to go, the front men could still enjoy a 1’10’’ lead. Eventually a group of 16 men reached the final 3 kms with a 1’30 advantage and could start considering stage victory. Taking off from far out and making the best of the tailwind on the Al Khor Corniche, Cavendish stayed clear of his rivals, victoriously crossing the finish line ahead of Modolo and Guardini. For the powerful British rider, it was his third stage win in Al Khor (2012, 2013 and 2016). Thanks to his success, the 2011 road World Champion captured the overall leader’s golden jersey that he last wore when he won the event back in 2013.
Cavendish also leads the points classification while Soren Andersen (TGA) captured the white pearl jersey for the best young rider.
The popular British rider will now wear the gold jersey during today’s 135km second stage that starts and finishes at the Qatar University.
The finish line will be opposite one of the entrances at College of the North Atlantic. “We’ve probably got the best race director in the world for this race in Roger Hammond. We had a lot of confidence for today after last night’s team meeting. The split went pretty soon in the beginning and I was always looked after from the start,” Cavendish said.
“I launched from Kristoff with about 200m to go, the road turned right so I hugged the right side and I knew no one would come round me then. It was great that Edvald was there as for sure he will be in contention after the time trial on Wednesday.”
The Peninsula
