Emotional win for Steurs at Qatar’s 2nd stage
A year after the sad death of Frederik Nolf during the 2009 Tour of Qatar, his Topsport Vlaanderen former team mate Geert Steurs claimed victory on stage 2 of the race. After breaking away after only two kilometres with Wouter Mol, the Belgian managed to stay clear of the chasing pack. The overall leader’s golden jersey changes shoulders and goes to Mol (Vacansoleil).
128 riders on 16 teams started today’s very windy stage. After a minute of silence in memory of Franco Ballerini, the pack took off from the Camel Race Track facing strong north winds. Just before reaching the official start of the race, Norway’s Arvesen (Sky Team) was forced to pull out after crashing and injuring his shoulder.
Two kilometres into the stage, Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil), despite the strong face wind, broke away from the pack and was rapidly caught by Geert Steurs (Topsport Vlaanderen). Both escapees saw their advantage grow: 3’ at km 7 and a maximum 22’40 at km 36. The Garmin and Cervelo teams then decided to take on the chase and the gap dropped down.
As the riders headed right and witnessed a more favourable wind, the pack broke up into several groups. In a first group of 28 men was title holder Tom Boonen (Quick Step) as well as the likes of Haussler (Cervelo Test Team), Gilbert (Omega Pharma Lotto), Farrar (Garmin) and Ballan (BMC) while golden jersey Boasson Hagen (Sky Team) was struggling in a second pack.
At the first intermediate sprint (km 53.5) claimed by Mol ahead of Steurs, the Boonen group pack led by Hulsmans (Quick Step) remained 16’15 adrift. Meanwhile the gaps increased between the different bunches of the main field. Boasson Hagen’s deficit on Boonen went from 30” to over a minute. The second bonus sprint at km 96 was again won by Mol ahead of Steurs as the Boonen group led by Haussler, with 20 riders left, closed in, at 9’’03.
With 25 kilometres to go, the escapees could still enjoy a 5’30 advantage but were to carry on losing time as they entered the city of Doha. With just over 5 kilometres to go, Haussler tried his luck and took off on a counter-attack. The front men reached the final 3km mark with a 2’20 lead over Haussler and 2’25 over the Boonen group. Well enough to consider final victory.
Geert Steurs eventually made it first to the finish line claiming the longest stage of the 2010 event. An emotional moment for the Belgian a year after his former Topsport Vlaanderen team mate Frederik Nolf passed away during the Qatar event. Third place goes to Germany’s Kluge some 1’51 adrift. The golden jersey goes to Wouter Mol who can now enjoy a 9” advantage over Steurs and 2’02 over Kluge, while Boonen has to settle for 4th spot at 2’05. Former race leader Boasson Hagen is now 42nd overall, at 9’33.
Brief Results:
| Standing | Rider | Bib | Team | Time | Gaps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | STEURS Geert | 153 | TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-MERCATOR | 3h 31′ 00″ | |
| 2. | MOL Wouter | 132 | VACANSOLEIL PRO CYCLING TEAM | 3h 31′ 00″ | + 00′ 00″ |
| 3. | KLUGE Roger | 103 | TEAM MILRAM | 3h 32′ 51″ | + 01′ 51″ |
| 4. | HAUSSLER Heinrich | 11 | CERVELO TEST TEAM | 3h 32′ 54″ | + 01′ 54″ |
| 5. | GILBERT Philippe | 41 | OMEGA PHARMA – LOTTO | 3h 32′ 55″ | + 01′ 55″ |
| 6. | HAMMOND Roger | 14 | CERVELO TEST TEAM | 3h 32′ 55″ | + 01′ 55″ |
| 7. | BOONEN Tom | 1 | QUICK STEP CYCLING TEAM | 3h 32′ 55″ | + 01′ 55″ |
| 8. | HUNT Jérémy | 15 | CERVELO TEST TEAM | 3h 32′ 55″ | + 01′ 55″ |
| 9. | NAPOLITANO Danilo | 75 | KATUSHA TEAM | 3h 32′ 55″ | + 01′ 55″ |
| 10. | BURGHARDT Marcus | 82 | BMC RACING TEAM | 3h 32′ 55″ | + 01′ 55″ |
General Classification:
| Standing | Rider | Bib | Team | Time | Gaps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | MOL Wouter | 132 | VACANSOLEIL PRO CYCLING TEAM | 3h 40′ 51″ | |
| 2. | STEURS Geert | 153 | TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-MERCATOR | 3h 41′ 00″ | + 00′ 09″ |
| 3. | KLUGE Roger | 103 | TEAM MILRAM | 3h 42′ 53″ | + 02′ 02″ |
| 4. | BOONEN Tom | 1 | QUICK STEP CYCLING TEAM | 3h 42′ 56″ | + 02′ 05″ |
| 5. | BURGHARDT Marcus | 82 | BMC RACING TEAM | 3h 42′ 57″ | + 02′ 06″ |
| 6. | GILBERT Philippe | 41 | OMEGA PHARMA – LOTTO | 3h 43′ 09″ | + 02′ 18″ |
| 7. | NAPOLITANO Danilo | 75 | KATUSHA TEAM | 3h 43′ 09″ | + 02′ 18″ |
| 8. | O’GRADY Stuart | 38 | TEAM SAXO BANK | 3h 43′ 31″ | + 02′ 40″ |
| 9. | FARRAR Tyler | 61 | GARMIN – TRANSITIONS | 3h 43′ 32″ | + 02′ 41″ |
| 10. | VELO Marco | 7 | QUICK STEP CYCLING TEAM | 3h 43′ 38″ | + 02′ 47″ |
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Tags: 2010 tour of·BMC·BMC Racing·cervelo·cervelo test team·katusha·Milram·Qatar·Quick Step·Saxo Bank·sky team·Team Milram·Tom Boonen·topsport vlaanderen·tour of qatar·tour of qatar stage 2 results·vacansoleil
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