American Brent Bookwalter of BMC Racing consolidated his position in the general classification by winning the 14km team time-trial with his teammates Greg Van Avermaet, Stephen Cummings, Yannick Eijssen, Michael Schär, Taylor Phinney, Lawrence Warbasse and Adam Blythe clocking 16’07”.
Finishing second, five seconds behind was Sky team comprising Bernhard Eisel, Chris Sutton, Ian Stannard, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Mathew Hayman, Gabriel Rasch, Luke Rowe and Geraint Thomas.
The third place was claimed by Mark Cavendish’s team Omega Pharma-Quick Step clocking 16’17”. BMC riders, thus, have occupied the top five places going into the third stage today.
Bookwalter, with this victory now, has a six-second advantage over compatriots Phinney and 10 seconds over third-placed Blythe.
“The team was just incredible. I felt like we already had a consistent pace and we were actually cautious on the turnarounds. So maybe we lost a couple of seconds there. But I was confident; the energy we saved was going to come through near the finish.
BMC Racing rider Brent Bookwalter of the US (L) poses with Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx after being presented with the leader’s jersey at the end of the second stage. (Reuters)
“I think it was all for one, one for all today. Phinney really led us well today, not just with his pulls but with his leadership. We’re going to enjoy today. It’s a big team effort, and we’ll come back out to do it again,” said a pleased-looking Bookwalter.
The Japanese National Team was the first to set off for the 14kms race and they finished the course in a time of 17’55”. However, that timing was quickly eclipsed by all the teams. Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox immediately broke it by setting 17’23”. However, their lead also didn’t last long as Italian team Cannondale set a new best time of 16’31”. Cannondale’s time was surpassed by Astana, who were seven seconds quicker with 16’24”.
Astana then enjoyed the lead for some time with AG2R La Mondiale and Saxo-Tinkoff failing to overcome their time. Later, RadioShack-Leopard team comprising World time-trial
champion Fabian Cancellara went on to set a new benchmark of 16’18” for the rest of the teams to chase.
RadioShack-Leopard’s time proved too much for NetApp-Endura, IAM Cycling, Vacansoleil-DCM, Argos-Shimano, Katusha and Orica-GreenEdge but not for Omega Pharma-Quick Step, who went on to better the timing by 16’17”.
Sky team then quickly displaced Omega Pharma-Quick Step by lowering the time by another six seconds. However, BMC Racing was simply exceptional on the day, with Phinney giving it everything at the line for the best time of 16”07’.
Team Bardiani Valvole – CSF Inox also suffered a huge setback ahead of the time trial when their Italian sprinter Sacha Modolo was forced to quit the Tour of Qatar following a fractured wrist. Modolo will be returning home soon.
Today’s 143kms third stage starts from Al Wakrah at 12.30pm and ends at Mesaieed by 3.45pm. The first intermediate sprint will be held after 20kms at the 1st crossing of the finish line at Mesaieed, while the second after 81.5kms at the second crossing of the finish line.