Team KATUSHA’s Alexander Kristoff took his third stage victory in the 2016 Tour of Qatar. Kristoff was the best in the fifth and last stage (114,5 km from Sealine Beach Resort to Doha Corniche) after a high-speed sprint against Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data). A photo-finish had to decide who was the winner. After Kristoff and Cavendish finished Rob Jans (Wanty – Groupe Gobert), Yauheni Hutarovich (Fortueo – Vital Concept) and Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida). The six-second bonus for his second place gave Cavendish the Overall win ahead of Alexander Kristoff (+5”) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) (+8”). Sven Erik Bystrøm finished 8th Overall, Viacheslav Kuznetsov was 9th.
– That sprint was pretty hectic. A lot of teams were trying to take the lead. We did actually a very good job all day. We controlled the break and were able in the end to be in front at the last corner. There we had a good position. Dimension Data overtook us a little bit. We managed to stay together more or less. The last 500 meters were for them but I passed them again with 200 meters to go. Then Cavendish came by my side. I thought he got me but then… I think my body is just a little bit longer… That made the difference, – said Alexander Kristoff, who won the silver jersey of the best sprinter.
– Our plan today was to go again for the win. If you have the legs, you need to go on when you are in the winning mood. It was up to us to chase down the breakaway. We started to pull at 20 km from the Corniche in Doha, before entering the local circuit with ten laps. We had to do this. At the same time it was a signal to the other teams that we really wanted to win this stage. We took our resposibility. With success, – added team director Torsten Schmidt.
For Team KATUSHA the Tour of Qatar was a big success. Second Overall, three stage wins and points classification. The team will head now well motivated to the Tour of Oman (16-21 February).
– My results in Qatar are even better than last year, even if I did a worse time trial. The team did such a good job. Without them I would never have been able to win these stages because every day I had a very good lead out. We are ready for Oman, – concluded Alexander Kristoff.
