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After four absorbing days of cycling in the Ladies Tour, which saw Dutch sprinter Kristen Wild clinch the title, the focus now shifts to men’s Tour of Qatar where some of the world’s best will be vying for the title. |
For most of the riders, this desert Tour comprising of sand and crosswind is an ideal tune-up for techniques ahead of the spring classics.
However, the biggest blow to this season’s action will be the absence of the ‘King of Desert’ – Tom Boonen. The defending champion Boonen, who has won the race a record four times, is still nursing an injury and has been replaced on the Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s team by British ace sprinter Mark Cavendish.
Cavendish is not new to this desert terrain. The Briton had made his debut here with the SKY team last year and was involved in some tooth and nail battles with Boonen.
Cavendish won sprints on stages three and five but the highlight of the last season’s action was a crash in the last stage just when he was going to launch his final sprint at Corniche. He was wheel-to-wheel with Tyler Farrar when he fell about 200m from the finish line but still managed to finish sixth overall.
With Boonen missing out, Cavendish would be keen to erase the memories of the last stage debacle and stamp his authority over the Tour.
Cavendish, however, will be facing a stiff challenge from Sky team’s Geraint Thomas, who comes into this tour after a third place finish in the Tour Down Under. Thomas will be receiving strong support from teammates - Edvald Boasson Hagen, Bernhard Eisel, Brits Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard.
Other riders to watch out for are Fabian Cancellara of RadioShack, John Degenkolb of Argos-Shimano, Adam Blythe of BMC Racing, Matt Brammeier of Champion System, Heinrich Haussler (IAM), Daniele Bennati of Saxo-Tinkoff, Antonio Flecha of Vacansoleil-DCM and Russell Downing of NetApp-Endura. The race consists of six stages covering a total distance of 732.5km. There will be two bonus sprints and bonuses at finishes for the first stage and from the third to the sixth stage.
Today’s 145km first stage starts at Katara Cultural Village at 12.25pm and ends at Dukhan Beach around 3.45pm. The first intermediate sprint will be held at Oryx Farm after 40.5 kms, while the second at Dukhan after 110kms.