DOHA - Belgian Tom Boonen, riding for the Quick Step team, won the first stage of the Tour of Qatar on Monday, heading home a sprint finish ahead of Australian duo Heinrich Haussler and Mark Renshaw. “This victory is my reward for all the hard work I’ve put in to returning to top form since my injury last year,” explains Boonen. “It was probably the hardest moment in my career, but now … [Read more...]
Tour of Qatar – Boonen and Cavendish Headliners
February 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
DOHA - Belgian Tom Boonen and Briton Mark Cavendish are among the headliners at the 10th Tour of Qatar which starts Sunday in Doha and promises, with its flat course and wind, beautiful scuffles between the sprinters which Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara will attempt to disrupt. The man with the Tour of Qatar records is Tom Boonen. The triple winner of the race who has 17 stage victories to … [Read more...]
Van Dijk Seals The Overall Victory In Tour of Qatar
February 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Ellen Van Dijk and HTC-Highroad made a clean sweep in the final classification of the Tour of Qatar on Friday, scooping the overall, the Points and Best Young Rider prizes with Van Dijk, as well as the teams prize in their first race of the season. HTC-Highroad also took second overall with Charlotte Becker, fourth with Adrie Visser and tenth with Chloe Hosking. "It's the first time I've won … [Read more...]
Women’s Tour of Qatar Van Dijk Takes All On 2nd Stage
February 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Lusail (Qatar), February 3, 2011 (AFP) - The Netherlands Ellen van Dijk (HTC) has won the second stage of the Tour of Qatar cycling tour Thursday in Lusail, where she has captured the leader's golden jersey at the expense of Australian rider Rochelle Gilmore. After a stage of 104.5 kilometers from Doha, made extremely difficult by strong winds often in their face, Van Dijk won the sprint in … [Read more...]
Team Quick Step Ready For Qatar
February 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Everything’s ready for team QUICK STEP’s journey to Qatar. The riders led by Sports Director Wilfried Peeters will leave for the Middle East from Brussels today in the afternoon. Once again the roads of Qatar will host Tom Boonen’s season opener: Tom has already won this brief stage race three times and collected a lot of stage wins. “I’ve been training well - explained Boonen - I … [Read more...]
HTC-HighRoad Women Dedicate Qatar Win To Carla Swart
February 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Adelaide, Australia - HTC-Highroad women powered to a win in stage two of Qatar today with Ellen Van Dijk taking out the sprint from a small breakaway group and moving into the overall lead. Her teammate Charlotte Becker moved into second place overall and the team now has a 15 second lead over the next best rider. The team woke in the morning to strong winds which encouraged them to go out on … [Read more...]
Gilmore Gets Women’s Tour of Qatar Stage 1 Victory
February 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Dukhan (Qatar) - Australia's Rochelle Gilmore (Lotto) won the first stage of the Tour of Qatar Wednesday at Dukhan. Giorgia Bronzini was 2nd, and another Australian Chloe Hosking was 3rd. Gilmore now wears the leader's golden jersey, and will defend it during the second stage on Thursday between the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and the circuit Moto GP Lusail (104.5 km). 1. Rochelle … [Read more...]
HTC-HighRoad Women Prepare For First Race In 2011
February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Adelaide, Australia - HTC-Highroad will be fielding a strong sprinters team when they kick off their 2011 season in the three-day Tour of Qatar, which starts this Wednesday. "Qatar is flat and the weather is normally good, but hopefully the conditions will be tough because our Dutch riders in particular are experts at racing on open, windy roads," says HTC-Highroad sports director Jens … [Read more...]
Gulf Races A Boost For World Track Success
March 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
COPENHAGEN, March 26, 2010 (AFP) - The demands of early season stage races like the Tours of Oman and Qatar have been given the thumbs-up by medal-winning stars at the world track cycling championships. Australian Cameron Meyer, New Zealand's Jesse Sergent and Taylor Phinney of the United States are among several up and coming road racers finding success easy to come by at Ballerup's Super … [Read more...]
Tour of Qatar – Stage 6 Sprint
February 13, 2010 By 1 Comment
Watch for Chicchi who is 23-25 riders back. At 8:54 on the tape (and less than 200 meters from the finish line) he is a good 5-6 bike lengths behind Boonen who is sprinting at full speed at that point. While the dive between Boonen & the crowd is impressive it’s the sheer speed that blows us away. Seriously, I’ve watched this thing 10 times now and I still can’t believe it. Love the way … [Read more...]