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Loddo pips Boonen in Qatar

Published: Jan. 30, 2008
Loddo pips Boonen at Qatar
Loddo pips Boonen at Qatar
Photo: AFP

Maybe Tom Boonen is mortal after all.

After winning the opening two stages of the 7th edition of the Tour of Qatar (three if you count Sunday’s opening’s time trial), Boonen was relegated to second in Wednesday’s 131.5km fourth stage when a brisk wind and a surprisingly strong Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff) took him down a notch.

“I knew the arrival and my teammate Steven (De Jongh) put me in the perfect place, but the head wind hit me with about 50 meters to go,” Boonen said. “It was right in my face and I lost 5kph in my sprint. Loddo was glued on my wheel and he could profit and easily came around me.”

Sebastian Siedler (Skil-Shimano) came through third while Chris Sutton (Slipstream-Chipotle) posted his third-straight top 10 with sixth in another windy day that saw the peloton split into two large groups.

Boonen retained the overall lead with an 18-second advantage over De Jongh with Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) slotting into third at 26 seconds. Sutton is battling for the podium with fourth at 32 seconds back.

The stage started in front of the Aspire Center – Qatar’s multi-billion, world-class training center that hosts 11 Olympic sport disciplines – and pushed north and west across the peninsula’s barren wastelands to the Al Khor Corniche.

Wind picked up during the day and became a major factor as the peloton fractured under the high speeds once again set by QuickStep and Silence-Lotto.

“This race is not easy. Some think it is because there are no mountains, but the speeds are very fast,” said veteran Maarten Den Bakker (Skil-Shimano). “I really didn’t even want to come, but one of our riders became sick and they called me. It’s a nervous race. For me, it’s too early in the season to be so nervous!”

Only about 50 riders made the selection as echelons formed about midway through the stage as desert winds kicked up yet again.

One of those missing out was Tony Cruz (BMC), who had an ill-timed puncture just as the bunch was splitting up.

“Tony had really bad luck when his flat tire came just as the bunch was coming apart. We asked the whole team to wait for him, but it was very difficult to try to pull back the lead group,” said BMC sport director John Lelangue. “He tried to cross alone when it was getting close, but then the front group sped up again. It was too bad. Well, now we can forget about the GC and now we will attack to try to make a break succeed.”

Cruz tumbled out of contention for a top 10 when the second group rolled across the line more than eight minutes in arrears. American Mike Sayers (BMC) was the day’s lone abandon.

There was another frustration for Sutton, who’s battling Van Avermaet for the best young rider’s jersey. The Belgian prospect snagged a three-second time bonus at the day’s second intermediate sprint to move four seconds ahead of Sutton in GC and in the young rider’s category.

Sutton finished two spots ahead of Van Avermaet in the sprint, but was out of the time bonuses.

For Loddo, the win is huge for what’s his first year on the second-year Tinkoff Credit Systems team. Last year, he roared through the Tour of Langkawi riding with Gianni Savio’s team, but moved over to Tinkoff this season.

“My teammates did great work to put me on Boonen’s wheel for the final sprint. I waited for the right time to attack,” the happy Loddo said. “It’s great to have this win so early in the year for my new team.”

Boonen’s train will have a chance to get back on track with the 2008 Tour of Qatar’s longest stage with 170km from Al Khor Academy to the Al Khor Corniche.