Doha Corniche
123.5 km
Friday 12 February
Wouter Mol of the Netherlands made the best possible use of his long breakaway on the second day of the event by finally conquering the 2010 edition of the Tour of Qatar. The Vacansoleil rider took the race’s final golden jersey ahead of Steurs and Boonen. The final stage of the race was won by Italian Francesco Chicchi, claiming his second victory after a spectacular bunch sprint.
121 riders at the start; 16 teams
Windy
The remaining 121 riders of the 2010 Tour of Qatar took off by the seaside in the city of Al Wakra for the 6th and final stage of the event. After 2.5 kilometres, 4 riders broke away: Gretsch (THR), Kohler (BMC), Terpstra (MRM) and King (TLS). The escapees saw their lead rapidly grow as they first headed south: from 1’ at km 9.5 to 1’35 at the first intermediate sprint claimed by Gretsch ahead of Kohler and King. The gap increased and eventually reached a maximum 3’50 at kilometre 70.
From then on, as the pack moved closer to the final circuit on the Doha Corniche, the front men’s lead started dropping. The four escapees made it to the line for the first of 7 laps of the 6 km circuit on the Doha Corniche, with a 3’30 advantage over a pack led by the Vacansoleil team of golden jersey Wouter Mol. At the second bonus sprint (km 93.5, third passage on the line) won by King ahead of Kohler and Terpstra, the pack remained 2’40 adrift. As the Liquigas, Cervelo, Saur-Sojasun and Saxo Bank teams moved to the leading positions of the bunch, the pace picked up. At the 5th passage on the line, the gap had dropped to 1’30 and was of only 16’ before the final lap of the circuit.
The four escapees were finally caught after 118 kilometres. Team Sky then took command of the pack and several riders failed to stay in the leading field. With 1km to go and as the Garmin riders started preparing for the bunch finish, only 50 riders stayed in contention. Like on day 4, on the Al Khor Corniche, Francesco CHicchi proved to be the smartest and the fastest to the line. The Italian Liquigas sprinter beat Farrar (GRM) and Haedo (SAX) to the line claiming, like Boonen, his second stage success on this 2010 edition.
Well protected by his Vacansoleil squad, Wouter Mol remained in the leading pack, capturing his first victory on the Tour of Qatar. The Dutch rider won the event with a 35” lead over Steurs (TSV) and 1’45 over 2009 champion Tom Boonen (QST). The silver points jersey was won by Heinrich Haussler (CTT) while the best young rider of the event award went to Germany’s Roger Kluge (MRM).