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Cavendish wins a stage at Qatar

By VeloNews.com
Published: Feb. 4, 2009
Columbia's Mark Cavendish has time to celebrate as he crosses the line first.
Columbia's Mark Cavendish has time to celebrate as he crosses the line first.
Photo: AFP

Mark Cavendish won his first race of the season by capturing the fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar Wednesday in Madinat Al Shamal.

Team Columbia-High Road’s sprint specialist pulled ahead of a small group of riders in the final meters of the 141km stage to secure victory ahead of Germany's Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam).

Belgian Tom Boonen (Quick Step), who took the race lead from Cervélo’s Roger Hammond after winning Tuesday's stage, had launched the final drive for the line but gave up yards from home.

His third-place finish was good enough to retain the overall lead.

2009 Tour of Qatar

Stage 4: Doha Old Souq to Madinat Al Shamal, 141 km (87.6 miles)


Winner: Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia-High Road) wins the sprint ahead of Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam) and race leader Tom Boonen (Quick Step).
Race leader: Boonen leads Hammond by 10 seconds.
Average speed of winner: 34.542 kph (21.4 mph)
Points leader: Boonen has 81 points to Haussler's 75
Best young rider (Under 25): Haussler
Best team:Cervélo TestTeam.
Peloton: 134 riders, no riders have left the race.

The day’s first attack came from Michael Friedman (Garmin-Slipstream) at the 15km mark. Seven riders joined him, but it was a short-lived escape, lasting just 4km in the stiff headwind out of the north.

At kilometer 37, Algeria’s Abdelbaset Hannachi (Doha Team) tried his luck, joined by Michael Barry (Columbia-High Road), Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank), Gatis Smukulis (Ag2r-La Mondiale) Dominik Roels (Milram), David Deroo (Skil-Shimano) and Rhys Pollock (Drapac Porsche Cycling).

The seven-man break went on to build a lead of nearly six minutes in 20km, before Quick Step and Liquigas and slowly but surely began to reel the escapees back in.

At the 118km the catch was made and the sprinters’ teams began jostling for position. All the favorites were in front, barring silver jersey wearer Danilo Napolitano (Team Katusha), who was dropped.

Then Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) and Vicente Reynes (Columbia-High Road) crashed with under 20km to go, nearly taking Cavendish with them and causing a split in the lead group. Boonen was up front with most of the Cervélo team, while Cavendish and his teammates chased some 10 seconds behind, closing the gap in the final moments of the stage.

Three kilometers from the line Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) made an early charge only to be caught just past the red kit marking the final kilometer.

On the finishing straight a 20-man bunch fought it out for the stage win, with Cavendish coming out on top.

"Apart from being a victory over Tom Boonen, it was certainly a victory over myself," said the Isle of Man cyclist, winner of four stages in last year's Tour de France.

Cavendish (R) receives a stage win trophy from Qatar Cycling Federation official Salim al-Nuaimi.
Cavendish (R) receives a stage win trophy from Qatar Cycling Federation official Salim al-Nuaimi.
Photo: Agence France Presse

"I really had to push myself to stick with the leaders towards the end. When I saw Tom taking a line on the right in the sprint, I took my chances on his left. It was the right option.”

Boonen chastised himself for being "too gentle during the sprint,” which he said "opened the door a bit too easily" for Cavendish.

"But the most important thing was to conserve the overall lead," he said.

The former world champion now has a 10-second advantage over Hammond going into the 147km fifth and penultimate stage on Thursday. —Agence France Presse contributed to this report.

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