BiciRace.com :: 2006 Tour of Qatar

2006 Tour of Qatar, Stage 1

Tour of Qatar, Qatar

Stage 1, Khalifa Stadium - Al Khor Corniche, 131.5K

30 January

Belgian Boonen Opens Qatar Tour

The World Champion Proves no Curse, photo: Quick-Step

Tom Boonen (Quick-Step) sprinted to success on the day's first stage of the Tour of Qatar. In a similar sprint to Friday's Doha International GP the Belgian beat out Erik Zabel (Milram) and Robert Hunter (Phonak), however this time the German got the best of the South African. With his sprint strength Boonen took the first leader's golden jersey of the tour.

Sunny weather and strong winds were the name of the game for the first stage of the 5th Tour of Qatar. The riders will face the same sort of conditions in a few weeks time in Belgium (ok minus the heat) so many riders were ready practice their tactics.

The World Champion, Boonen, helped form a day long escape of 30 riders. The Belgian worked well with his companions, driving the pace all day, while behind the charge was led by Team CSC and Phonak. The lead group splintered but held a gap all the way to the finish in Al Khor Corniche.

Tom Boonen turned the screws on a Zabel and Hunter, and proved there is no cruse associated with the rainbow jersey. Tomorrow the Belgian terror will trade the white champion's jersey for golden leader's jersey.

Results: 2:56'34", 44.685 K/h
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram
3 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak
4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC
5 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak
6 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak
7 Nick Ingels (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
8 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner
9 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano
10 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step
11 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak
12 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 0.03
13 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano 0.06
14 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano
15 Guido Trenti (USA) Quick-Step 0.10
16 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step 0.12
17 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step 0.26
18 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick-Step
19 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud 1.33
20 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto
21 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC
22 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux
23 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
24 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 3.10
25 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Milram
26 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak
27 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step
28 Stefan Cohnen (Ned) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
29 Koen Barbé (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
30 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Milram
31 Evert Verbist (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
32 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick-Step
33 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
34 Martin Pedersen (Den) Team CSC
35 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram
36 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 4.10
37 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC
38 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Rabobank
39 Kasper Klostergård (Den) Team CSC
40 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Française Des Jeux 12.23
41 Geert Omloop (Bel) Unibet.com
42 David Boucher (Fra) Unibet.com
43 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
44 José Alberto Martínez (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
45 Benoit Sinner (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
46 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak
47 Mathieu Heijboer (Ned) Cofidis
48 Luca Ascani (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
49 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis
50 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française Des Jeux
51 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Cycling Team Capec
52 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française Des Jeux
53 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Française Des Jeux
54 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
55 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Unibet.com
56 Ben Johnson (Aus) Ag2R Prévoyance
57 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Milram
58 Christian Knees (Ger) Milram
59 Martin Müller (Swi) Milram
60 Artur Gajek (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
61 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
62 Hans Dekkers (Ned) Ag2R Prévoyance
63 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Skil-Shimano
64 Christoph Meschenmoser (Ger) Skil-Shimano
65 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner
66 Paride Grillo (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
67 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux
68 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner
69 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC
70 David Vitoria (Swi) Phonak
71 Moisés Aldape Chavez (Mex) Panaria-Navigare
72 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank
73 Michiel Elijzen (Ned) Cofidis
74 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
75 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
76 Kenny De Haes (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
77 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis 14.24
78 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz) Cycling Team Capec
79 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Unibet.com
80 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank
81 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis
82 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
83 Bart Vanheule (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
84 Miguel Rubiano Chávez (Col) Panaria-Navigare
85 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank
86 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
87 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Rabobank
88 Felix Odebrecht (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
89 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner
90 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
91 Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
92 Arno Wallaard (Ned) Skil-Shimano
93 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano
94 Luis Laverde (Col) Panaria-Navigare
95 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis
96 Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
97 Frank Hoj (Den) Gerolsteiner
98 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Panaria-Navigare
99 Lubor Tesar (Cze) Wiesenhof-Akud
100 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
101 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Française Des Jeux
102 René Weissinger (Ger) Skil-Shimano
103 Ilya Chernyshov (Kaz) Cycling Team Capec
104 Carlo Westphal (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
105 Thomas Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
106 Alexey Lyalko (Kaz) Cycling Team Capec 19.31
107 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
108 Camille Bouquet (Fra) Unibet.com
109 Valeriy Dmitriyev (Kaz) Cycling Team Capec
110 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
111 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Cycling Team Capec
112 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Unibet.com
113 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Cycling Team Capec
114 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
115 Gilles Canouet (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
116 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Unibet.com
117 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
118 Alexey Zaitsev (Kaz) Cycling Team Capec
119 Tim Klinger (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
120 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Milram
121 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
122 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Panaria-Navigare
123 Christian Leben (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
124 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis
125 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Unibet.com
126 Martin Mares (Cze) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
127 Sergio Marinangeli (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
128 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
129 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak
130 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Cofidis
131 Chris Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto
132 Aivaras Baranauskas (Ltu) Ag2R Prévoyance
133 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
DNF Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank
DNF Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto

GC:
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step 2:56'24"
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 0.04
3 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak 0.05
4 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak 0.06
5 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step 0.07
6 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak 0.09
7 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 0.10
8 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak
9 Nick Ingels (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
10 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner
11 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano
12 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 0.13
13 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano
14 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano 0.16
15 Guido Trenti (USA) Quick-Step 0.20
16 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step 0.22
17 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step 0.36
18 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick-Step 0.36
19 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud 1.43
20 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto
21 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC
22 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux
23 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
24 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 3.20
25 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Milram
26 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak
27 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step
28 Stefan Cohnen (Ned) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
29 Koen Barbé (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
30 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Milram
31 Evert Verbist (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
32 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick-Step
33 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
34 Martin Pedersen (Den) Team CSC
35 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram
36 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 4.20
37 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC
38 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Rabobank
39 Kasper Klostergård (Den) Team CSC
40 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Française Des Jeux 12.33