Niki Terpstra won the opening stage of the 2014 Tour of Qatar – in a solo victory in Dukhan Beach today.
After winning the first intermediate sprint around the 20 kilometer mark, Terpstra set-off on his own, but was soon joined by his teammate Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Jalong with Jurgen Roelandts, Michael Schär and Martin Elmiger.
Despite the breakaway group’s inability to create anything more than a 30-second gap over the peloton, the combined efforts of FDJ, Sky, Orica-GreenEDGE, Belkin and Tinkoff-Saxo, were still unable to reel the escapees in.
With 5 kilometers remaining, the breakaway group still remained outside the reach of the peloton. Elmiger was the first to attack inide the final kilometer. However, Terpstra was quick to react to his move. And, while, the Swiss rider began to fade, Terpstra initiated an unstoppable attack of his own in the final 200 meters.
Roelandts beat Schär on the line to claim second place, while Elmiger followed in fourth.
With bonus points that he picked during the intermediate sprint, combined with today’s stage finish, Terpstra now leads the overall classification with a 9-second lead over Roelandts.
Top 10 Finishers
1. Niki Terpstra 3.13.42
2. Jurgen Roelandts +0.01
3. Michael Schär
4. Martin Elmiger
5. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck +0.07
6. Tom Boonen
7. Barry Markus
8. Arnaud Demare
9. Michael Van Staeyen
10. Marcel Sieberg
General Classification
1. Niki Terpstra 3.13.26
2. Jurgen Roelandts +0.09
3. Michael Schär +0.12
4. Martin Elmiger +0.17
5. Alexander Kristoff +0.21
6. Sam Bennett +0.22
7. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck +0.23
8. Tom Boonen
9. Barry Markus
10. Arnaud Demare
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