BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: Dutch rider Niki Terpstra yesterday conquered the Tour of Qatar for the second time, successfully defending the title he won last year after Sam Bennet of Ireland stormed to victory in the sixth and final stage at Doha Corniche.
The 30-year-old Ettix-Quick Step rider, who began the day with a lead of six seconds over Maciej Bodnar and 11 seconds over Katusha star Alexander Kristoff, sealed his win after a spectacular finale at Doha Corniche where a record crowd had turned out for the last day’s proceedings.
Kristoff, who won three stages out of the six, put pressure on Terprstra by bagging the day’s first intermediate sprint but the Norwegian could only finish in the 16th spot as Bora-Argon 18 rider Bennet grabbed his only stage win with a time of 2:24:03.
Italian Andrea Guardini of Astana Pro Team and Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni of Cofidis, Solutions Credits finished behind Bennet to complete the top three riders in the 124.5km stage.
Kristoff, the man who had earlier stunned sprinters like four-time champion Tom Boonen, crossed the line in 19th place without making any impression in the bunch finish.
Boonen — the winner in Qatar in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012 — finished yesterday’s stage in eight place and ninth in the overall general classification.
Kristoff, 30, walked off with the silver jersey after he topped the points classification with a tally of 49 points. Etixx-Quick Step recorded 52:51:44 to clinch the team classification.
“It was satisfying, of course,” Terpstra said. “(I) came here to defend my title and the time trial went so well. The team did so well.”
“Yeah, it was exciting. I was a bit nervous before the start, of course. Alex had good days here. He passed on the bonus seconds and it was good to win,” the Dutch rider said.
“To win as a team was very
satisfying. The guys did a great job. The guys made Katusha tired. We did well in sprints,” Terpstra said
“Probably (I) will come back,” Terpstra said when asked if he would come back and complete his personal hattrick of titles in Qatar. “But first I will celebrate this,” he said with a smile.
Terpstra said he wouldn’t compare his two title wins. “Both were tough. It is never easy to win,” he said. “I think I was the same (compared to last year). This year also I was able to win.”
Kristoff, who won stage two, four and five, said he was left with little gas in his tank to mount a challenge for the title.
“The team put me in a good position after the last roundabout. I tried but failed. I guess we used too much energy,” Kristoff said.
“Overall a satisfying week for me. I didn’t expect this. When you are close you have to try and win overall but at the end we couldn’t do it. I guess they were too strong in the time trial. Clearly they deserved to win,” he said.
“I cannot be disappointed. Three stage wins is better than what I had hoped. Of course today it was disappointing. I was hoping I would be better than the top-30. Sometimes it is like this. We try to do everything but the team was not able to do it. We gambled but we couldn’t do it,” the Norwegian explained.
“It is all good for the rest of the season. I feel better than ever. Hopefully, we will nail it next year,” he said.
At the start of the final stage of the 2015 Tour of Qatar, there was still a lot at stake in the different standings of the event. Soon after the first kilometre, four riders broke away: Marcus Burghardt, Preben Van Hecke, Nicola Boem and Stefano Pirazzi.
Their lead grew rapidly and reached 1’10 at the 10km mark. But the Katusha team then took command of the pack and started chasing, having in mind the bonus seconds up for grabs at the intermediate sprints.
After their long ride north and after enjoying a maximum 2’05 lead, the front four reached the final circuit around the Doha Corniche and crossed the finish line for the first time (at the 56.5km mark) with a 38’’ advantage.
That gap had dropped to 22’’ at the second crossing of the line. Burghardt, Van Hecke and Boem were the first three to be caught by the pack, while Pirazzi carried on alone. The Italian was finally caught at the 68km mark just after the third passage on the line.
The tTime had come for the big teams to prepare for the first intermediate sprint at the fourth crossing of the line (at the 68km mark). Boonen went on to capture the win just ahead of Kristoff and Matteo Trentin.
Thanks to his two bonus seconds Kristoff virtually moved within 9” of the overall lead, meaning that if he won the stage and Terpstra finished outside of the top-three, the Norwegian would win the 2015 event.
At the 77km mark, two riders took off in the lead: Iljo Keisse and Van Hoecke. Their advantage over the pack reached 52” at the sixth crossing of the line. At the second bonus sprint (seventh crossing), won by Keisse ahead of Van Hoecke, the pack was led out by Bart Declercqremained 45” adrift.
The escapees were finally caught at the 93km mark with over two laps to go. Despite attempts from the Tinkoff Saxo team to break the pack apart, the peloton remained together all the way to the finish line.
In a bunched sprint, Bennett flew to an impressive stage victory.
The Irishman captured his first ever success in Qatar, beating Guardini and Bouhanni to the line.
Finishing in the pack, in 25th position, Terpstra went on to conquer the overall victory.
Peter Sagan won the best young rider’s white pearl jersey.
THE PENINSULA
