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Boonen scores a win in Qatar
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Belgian Tom Boonen (Quick Step) claimed his first stage win of this year's Tour of Qatar Tuesday, in the process taking the leader's jersey from Britain's Roger Hammond.
Boonen, of Quick Step, won a bunch sprint at the end of the third stage ahead of Italian Danilo Napolitano and Belgian Jurgen Roelandts.
Stage 3: Al Zubarah to Doha Golf Club, 137.5 km (85.4 miles)
Winner: Tom Boonen (Quick Step) wins the sprint ahead of Katusha's Danilo Napolitano, who was second on stage 2, also, when Roger Hammond won.
Race leader: Boonen leads Hammond by six seconds.
Average speed of winner: 54.26 kph (33.1 mph)
Points leader: Boonen has 56 points to Napolitano's 54
Best young rider (Under 25): Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam).
Best team:Cervélo TestTeam.
Peloton: 134 riders, no riders have left the race.
It was a successful day for Boonen on three fronts: as well as winning the stage and taking the race lead he learned that Belgian prosecutors will not be proceeding with charges against him following a positive test for cocaine in May last year.
“That really defined my year,” Boonen said. “I wanted to get 2009 off to a good start, not out of a sense of revenge, but with a desire to go forward.
“I know I behaved badly in some circumstances,” added Boonen. “In such cases all you can do is accept your mistakes and move forward.”
And move forward he did, and at a rate slightly faster than the rest of the field at the finish of stage 3 in Doha. With the wind on their backs for most of the day it did not take long for some of the race's big engines to force cracks in a peloton which, for 140km, averaged an impressive 54kph.
Shortly after the halfway stage a group of 27 riders, including all eight riders from Hammond's Cervélo team, pulled off the front. But Cervélo’s hard work trying to protect Hammond's yellow jersey proved futile.
In the finale the anticipated sprint duel between Boonen and Mark Cavendish (Columbia) failed to materialize, the Manxman suffering a puncture two kilometers from the finish.
That left Boonen to battle it out with Napolitano, who finished second for the second consecutive day with Hammond finishing sixth to drop back to second overall at 06sec behind Boonen.
"I didn't have much success in the first two stages," added Boonen, who now has 15 stage wins from the Tour of Qatar, including the overall title in last year’s race.
"I felt really good today,” Boonen said. “I wanted to see if a winter’s worth of hard training would pay off and it seems like it has.”
