Belgium's Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won the third stage of the Tour of Qatar around Doha on Tuesday, beating Italian sprint king Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) for the second consecutive day.

Austria's Bernard Eisel (T-Mobile) took third spot behind Boonen who strengthened his grip on the leader's gold jersey.

Boonen said afterwards: "I was in about 50th place with three kilometers to go, which was too far back, but Matteo Tosatto helped me get up to the front. I then let the Milram team do the work before waiting for the right moment to start my sprint."

Healion held a lead of more than seven minutes - but it wasn't enough

Photo: Graham Watson

Boonen refused to go overboard about his victory over Petacchi, who spent much of last year injured.

"Petacchi had not sprinted for eight months," said Boonen, who added that he himself was already in great condition. The Belgian rider now has a 13-second lead over Petacchi in the overall standings with Quick Step's Steven De Jongh third at 0:17.

The day started off at a blistering pace with 57km covered in the first hour before attacks started in the middle of the 140km stage, leaving Ireland's Paul Healion (Murphy-Gunn) with more than a seven-minute lead with 40km to go.

Although it was an impressive lead on paper, Healion was not able to hang on. A strong headwind did him no favors and the peloton swallowed him up to set up a mass sprint for the line.

Wednesday's 139km fourth stage sees the riders start at Camelodrome with a finish at the Doha golf club.

Top 10
1. Tom Boonen (B) Quick Step, 140km in 3:25:06
2. Alessandro Petacchi (I), Milram, same time
3. Bernhard Eisel (G), T-Mobile, s.t.
4. Aurelien Clerc (Swi), Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
5. Stefano Zanini (I), Predictor-Lotto, s.t.
6. Graeme Brown (Aus), Rabobank, s.t.
7. Rene Haselbacher (A) , Astana, s.t.
8. Gregory Henderson (NZ), T-Mobile, s.t.
9. Linas Balciunas (Lit), Agritubel, s.t.
10. Robert Forster (G), Gerolsteiner, s.t.

Overall
1. Tom Boonen (B) Quick Step, 6:33:09
2. Alessandro Petacchi (I), Milram, at 0:13
3. Steven De Jongh (Ned), Quick Step, at 0:17
4. Gert Steegmans (B), Quick Step, at 0:21
5. Francesco Chicchi (I), Liquigas, at 0:24
6. Jean-Patrick Nazon (F), Ag2r, at 0:25
7. Marco Velo (I), Milram, at 0:25
8. Wilfried Cretskens (B), Quick Step at 0:25
9. Murilo Fischer (Bra), Liquigas, at 0:27
10. Bernhard Eisel (A), T-Mobile, at 0:27