Tom Boonen might be known as Mr. Classics, but the road to glory in April goes through the wind-blasted deserts of Qatar.

Ever since trekking to this Arabic nation overflowing with petro-dollars for the first time in 2004, Boonen has used the weeklong sprint-fest as a trampoline for spring-classic success.

“The last few years we’ve been good here, so it’s become somewhat of a habit,” said Boonen, who relegated Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff) to second with Luciano Pagliarini (Sauner Duval-Scott) third in Friday’s finale. “If we weren’t going good, then I’d be worried.”

Boonen has no reason to lose any sleep.

Since winning his first Qatari stage in 2004, Boonen has dominated the desert classic, winning four stages in each of the 2006 and 2007 editions as well as three this year plus the team time trial.

That kind of winning percentage is reminiscent of Eddy Merckx, who works as a consultant during the race and was seen chatting with Boonen before Friday’s stage.

On a blustery Friday when race officials shortened the stage due to high winds, Boonen finished off another stellar week, sprinting to his third stage victory along the windy Doha corniche to secure his second overall title in three years.

“I tried to stay on the outside because of the wind and it made for a fast sprint,” Boonen said. “I had to fight to keep my position and it took a lot of energy. Weylandt was leading me out but it was very fast and others were coming around. I waited, waited, waited to make my sprint and didn’t let go until 100 meters to go.”

Boonen’s train was firing on all cylinders despite the absence of his preferred lead-out man, Gert Steegmans, who finds the fast, windy stages too risky for his taste.

Only Loddo managed to beat Boonen mano a mano, taking him down Wednesday, while Danilo Napolitano (Lampre) bolted through Thursday’s crash-marred sprint, which likely would have gone to Slipstream-Chipotle’s Chris Sutton had Magnus Backstedt not hit the deck in the final 500 meters.

The rest was all Boonen and Co.

Quick Step won the opening team time trial to upset the highly motivated Slipstream-Chipotle squad by just two seconds. Boonen was magisterial in stages 2-3, but had to dig deep Friday to hold off Loddo and Pagliarini in a photo finish.

Early in the stage, Taylor Tolleson (BMC) slipped into a three-man move that wasn’t reeled in until the bell lap on nine laps along the corniche.

It was a solid week for BMC, also looking to gain some invites to some bigger European races later this season. Tony Cruz led the way for the team with 26th at 5:14 back and probably would have finished in the top 15 hadn’t he flatted in a critical moment Wednesday just as the bunch was splitting into echelons. The team put five men on the front of a chase group to try to bridge him back to the leaders, but it wasn’t getting much help from other shelled teams.

With Boonen taking his second overall title in two years and Wilfried Cretskens winning last year, QuickStep scored the Qatar hat-trick.

Boonen likes the flat, wide-open drag races that characterize the Qatar race, but that can’t be said for many of his fellow sprint rivals.

Many of the top sprinters, like Alessandro Petacchi, Oscar Freire or Robbie McEwen, steer clear of the Qatar race, either because it’s too early in their season or simply because it’s too dangerous.

Many dislike the nervous, high-speed stages over wind-blown and sometimes-rough roads that can lead to some nasty crashes. Backstedt broke his collarbone Thursday in a spill that could jeopardize his classics campaign.

The 2008 field for the seventh edition of the Qatar tour didn’t see many marquee names to give Boonen trouble, but sprinters such as Loddo, Napolitano and Slipstream-Chipotle’s Chris Sutton put him under the gun.

Sutton was still nursing some wounds after hitting the deck Thursday and lost some of his punch in Friday’s finale, drifting through 22nd after finishing in the top 10 in the first three sprints.

Sutton led the way for Slipstream-Chipotle with fourth overall at 46 seconds back and finished second to Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) in the fight for the best young rider’s jersey.

It was a good week for Slipstream in its first major international race under its new-and-improved lineup, which is garnering international attention heading into the 2008 season.

The team is hoping its strong showing this week will help grease the rails for invitations to other races organized by ASO, namely Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour de France.

“Some teams didn’t think we’re a serious team since we’re just an American continental team. I know Quick Step thought we were dangerous. We proved this week that we’re a force to be reckoned with,” Sutton said. “I know we’re going to win. It’s just a matter of time. That’s not being cocky. That’s being confident. You need to be confident to win at this level.”

With three stage wins and the team time trial, Boonen claimed the overall by 27 seconds over teammate Steven De Jongh with Van Avermaet, winner of the best young rider, slotting into third at 40 seconds back. Sutton was fourth at 46 seconds back..

Boonen also took the sprinter’s jersey and Quick Step won the team’s prize.

Backstedt update: Magnus Backstedt caught an early morning flight back to London and was scheduled to visit his doctor later Friday to determine if surgery was necessary. Backstedt broke his right clavicle after colliding with Quick Step’s Wouter Weylandts to set up the sprint with about 500m to go in Thursday’s fifth stage. Backstedt, a winner of the 2004 Paris-Roubaix, is expected to recover in time for the spring classics. “He should be on the trainer in a few days and back on the bike within 10 days,” said Slipstream-Chipotle team doctor Prentice Steffen. “He should be fully recovered within a month if there are no complications.”