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Team Garmin-Slipstream wins the 6k opening team time trial at the Tour of Qatar
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Powered by newcomer Bradley Wiggins, Garmin-Slipstream roared to victory in the team time trial to open the Tour of Qatar on Sunday.
Wiggins, a winner of two gold medals on the track at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games, takes the leader’s jersey after crossing the line first with his new Garmin-Slipstream teammates.
“It’s a big satisfaction because this first stage was a true goal for us in our winter preparation in Girona,” Wiggins said. “Now our week is saved and we can try the sprints without any pressure.”
Garmin-Slipstream was fastest on the 6km course in Doha to kick-start the eighth Tour of Qatar. The American team covered the flat course in 6 minutes, 34 seconds, one second faster than Quick Step (0.64 seconds to be exact) and two seconds faster than Katusha.
The victory makes up for disappointment last year when Quick Step nipped the Slipstream crew by a narrow margin on a similar course.
“We were three seconds behind and we made a huge sprint in the final kilometer, but we just couldn’t quite make up the difference,” said Sébastien Rosseler (Quick Step). “It was an incredibly intense effort. My heart rate was 200 beats per minute.”
The race continues Monday with the 134km second stage from the Khalifa Stadium to the Al Khor Corniche.
The stage should present the first glance at the big showdown between Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Mark Cavendish (Columbia-High Road).
Team Garmin-Slipstream for Qatar:
Bradley Wiggins
Hans Dekkers
Huub Duyn
Michael Friedman
Will Frischkorn
Martijn Maaskant
Kilian Patour
Ricardo Van Der Velde
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