Last year, Alexander Kristoff won three stages but failed to emerge as the champion. History repeated itself this year, as Kristoff, despite winning three stages again, failed to nail the title.
A year ago, he lost to Norway’s Nikki Terpstra, while this year, he was beaten to the title by Britain’s Mark Cavendish.
Katusha rider Kristoff edged out Dimension Data’s Cavendish by the minutest of margins, 0.0008 seconds to be precise, for victory in the fifth and final stage on Doha Corniche yesterday.
The final stage victory by a photo finish was still not enough for the Norwegian to win the general classification.
Cavendish secured the overall win thanks to his opening stage victory, superior time trial performance on Wednesday and six-second time bonus for second place yesterday.
Roy Jans of Wanty-Groupe Gobert was a distant third in the sprint.
“Obviously it’s nice to be wearing gold now, but I know I am only wearing it on behalf of Edvald (Boasson Hagen),” said Cavendish, after securing his second overall title in Qatar.
“He only lost it because of bad luck and not through any other kind of cause.”
Cavendish was referring to his team-mate Boasson Hagen’s loss under the unluckiest of circumstances when he suffered two punctures eight kilometres before the finish line in the penultimate stage of the race.
Cavendish had a two-second lead over Belgian Greg van Avermaet going into the 114km-long final stage, with Kristoff nine seconds adrift in fourth.
With 10, six and four bonus seconds available for the top three finishers, Cavendish, who won the title with Omega Pharma-QuickStep in 2013, knew he could afford to lose to Kristoff provided he himself finished on the podium too.
“We were really motivated for today. The wind was always going to make it difficult today, it was a block head wind and we thought it was going to be cross. Actually it was more a cross head wind so you were never really comfortable. We knew we were going to have to take control and the team was really motivated after yesterday,” Manx Missile said.
The triumph signals a return to form for the Manxman with his new team, which he joined last season following a stop-start year.
“Obviously we were in control at the beginning of yesterday but then with the puncture of Edvald it really put the team in a difficult situation. It also made it harder for us to take the overall today so we really had to be on top of our game to make sure we finished on the top step of the podium. The lads did it perfectly on the final laps when it was hectic, keeping me in the front and out of danger, so I was ready for the sprint,” the 30-year-old champion said.
Earlier, a strong tailwind ensured the race started at a rapid pace from Sealine Beach Resort, and Steven Tronet of Fortuneo-Vital Concept, Jesse Sergent of Ag2r-La Mondiale and Tom DeClercq of Topsport-Vlaanderen formed the day’s break.
Their gap was allowed to grow out to two-and-a-half minutes, but BMC Racing, Dimension Data and Katusha all worked to keep the move in check. With 20km remaining, the peloton was already fast closing in and the catch was made with 11km to go.
A sprint finish having become inevitable, all eyes were on Cavendish, van Avermaet and Kristoff, and BMC Racing hit the front first.
The pace proved too much for any late attacks and Katusha took over the lead inside the final two kilometers.
Kristoff was tucked nicely into the wheels of his team’s sprint train, while Cavendish – led out by Mark Renshaw – had to come from further back.
As the Norwegian opened up his sprint, however, Cavendish was right on his wheel and powered up alongside him as the finish line approached. Ultimately, Kristoff perfectly-timed the sprint to win the stage.
“That sprint was pretty hectic. A lot of teams were trying to take the lead. We did actually a very good job all day,” Kristoff said.
“We controlled the break and were able to be in front at the last corner. There we had a good position. Dimension Data overtook us a little bit. We managed to stay together more or less. The last 500m were for them but I passed them again with 200m to go. Then Cavendish came by my side. I thought he got me but then… I think my body is just a little bit longer… that made the difference,” said Kristoff, who won the silver jersey.
Kristoff gave credit of his three stage wins to his teammates.
“My results in Qatar are even better than last year, even if I did a worse time trial. The team did such a good job. Without them I would never have been able to win these stages because every day I had a very good lead out,” he said.
RESULTS
FINAL STAGE
1. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha  2:56:16
2. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
3. Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert
4. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Fortuneo Vital Concept
5. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre - Merida
6. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18
7. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
8. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
9. André Looij (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton
10. Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data  13:47:23
2. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha  +0:00:05
3. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing  +0:00:08
4. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing  +0:00:12
5. Edvald B Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data  +0:00:25
6. S?ren K Andersen (Den) Giant-Alpecin  +0:00:36
7. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18  +0:00:47
8. Sven Erik Bystr?m (Nor) Katusha  +0:00:55
9. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha  +0:00:56
10. Michael Sch?r (Swi) BMC Racing  +0:01:04

POINT CLASSIFICATION
1. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha  57 pts
2. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data  54
3. Edvald B Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data  32
4. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing  31
5. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre – Merida  23
6. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18  19
7. Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert  18
8. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team  17
9. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo  12
10. Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team  9

YOUNG RIDER CLASSIFICATION
1. S?ren K Andersen (Den) Giant-Alpecin  13:47:59
2. Sven Erik Bystr?m (Nor) Katusha  +0:00:19
3. Moreno Hofland (Ned) LottoNl-Jumbo  +0:02:12
4. Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha  +0:02:44
5. Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare  +0:03:02
6. Soufiane Haddi (Mar) Skydive Dubai  +0:03:18
7. Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty Groupe Gobert  +0:03:23
8. Xhuliano Kamberaj (Alb) Skydive Dubai  +0:03:36
9. Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data  +0:08:26
10. Mike Teunissen (Ned) LottoNl-Jumbo  +0:08:33

TEAM CLASSIFICATION
1. BMC Racing Team  41:23:15
2. Team Katusha      +0:00:57
3. Bora-Argon 18      +0:02:03
4. Dimension Data      +0:04:03
5. Astana Pro Team      +0:06:17
6. Team LottoNl-Jumbo      +0:06:26
7. Fortuneo - Vital Concept      +0:07:31
8. Wanty - Groupe Gobert      +0:09:49
9. Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise  +0:09:56
10. UnitedHealthcare      +0:10:21

Related Story