Tour of Qatar 2016: Kristoff wins stage 4, Cav once again leader

At 189 kilometres, stage 4 in the Tour of Qatar leads to Madinat Al Shamal. Shortly after a brilliant move by BMC in the finale leader Boasson Hagen punctures. He can't make it back to the pack. Kristoff powers to the win with Van Avermaet second and Cavendish fifth. The man from Man is (once again) in the golden jersey. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results stage 4 Tour of Qatar

1. Alexander Kristoff (nor)
2. Greg Van Avermaet (bel) s.t.
3. Jacopo Guarnieri (ita) s.t.
4. Sam Bennett (irl) s.t.
5. Mark Cavendish (gbr) s.t.
6. Manuel Quinziato (ita) s.t.
7. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (rus) + 0.06
8. Soren Kragh Andersen (den) + 0.08
9. Moreno Hofland (nld) + 0.09
10. Michael Morkov (den) s.t.

34. Edvald Boasson Hagen (nor) + 0.45

GC after stage 4
1. Mark Cavendish (gbr)
2. Greg Van Avermaet (bel) + 0.02
3. Manuel Quinziato (ita) + 0.06
4. Alexander Kristoff (nor) + 0.09
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (nor) + 0.19
6. Soren Kragh Andersen (den) + 0.30
7. Sam Bennett (irl) + 0.41
8. Sven Erik Bystrom (nor) + 0.49
9. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (rus) + 0.50
10. Michael Schär (swi) + 1.15

Race report
Half an hour into the race and McNally, Zhakarov, Gretsch, Turgot, Eaton, Van Hecke, De Vries, Kurek and Koep are off. They race to a maximum advantage of over 2 minutes.

When BMC puts the hammer down the peloton breaks and another consequence is that the escapees’ gain shrinks in no time. With 90 km’s to go the breakaway is history. After being around 1 minute down at point, the chasing peloton closes in and eventually joins the front of the race.

Van Hecke, Gretsch and McNally give it another go and they escape, this time in the company of Asselman. The quartet races to a 3 minutes gain. But then the pack accelerates to bring the gain 1 minute down. So the escapees are on a leash and they are brought back in time.

When BMC and LottoNL increase the pace with 10 km’s left the peloton breaks. A little later leader Boasson Hagen punctures and he doesn’t make it back to the pack.

Katusha shreds the front group to pieces in the last kilometre and Kristoff outsprints each and everyone. Van Avermaet is second, Cavendish fifth. The Briton takes the leaders jersey from his teammate Boasson Hagan and enjoys a 2 seconds lead over Van Avermaet and a 9 seconds leads over Kristoff. Only one day left to race/sprint…