Dry and sooo... flat.

Jerome Coppel need some good point haul to close the gap to the top teams

Also nice to see Magnus Cort is on Astana ! (new rider?)

Qatar should be a good race for the fast men to get there teeth in to

This is one of the races that will have reduced reports this season and Omloop will also be like that. I have to do this because otherwise fitting a season within a natural year is unfeasible.



Yes, Cort Nielsen is one of the new riders that got added this season as a rookie. 20 years old in the game if I remember correctly. I would not expect fireworks from him this season.



Who are you going to support with no Euskaltel...

I will just follow anyone

Stage 1: Dukhan - Al Khor Corniche



Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	3h55'32
2		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	s.t.
3		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
4		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.
5		Nacer Bouhanni	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
6		Alessandro Petacchi	Bora - Hansgrohe	s.t.
7		Ben Swift	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
8		Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto - Soudal	s.t.
9		Mark Cavendish	IAM Cycling	s.t.
10		Alexander Serebryakov	Team Katusha - Alpecin	s.t.

General Classification

1		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	3h55'27
2		Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg	Team Dimension Data	+ 1
3		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	+ 2
4		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	+ 4
5		Sebastian Langeveld	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
6		Jan Bakelants	Discovery Channel	s.t.
7		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	+ 5
8		Nacer Bouhanni	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
9		Alessandro Petacchi	Bora - Hansgrohe	s.t.
10		Ben Swift	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.

Points

1		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	46
2		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	45
3		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	37
4		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	30
5		Nacer Bouhanni	AG2R La Mondiale	28

Young

1		Jan Bakelants	Discovery Channel	3h55'31
2		Fabio Felline	UAE Team Emirates	+ 1
3		Adriano Malori	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
4		Moreno Hofland	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
5		Danny Van Poppel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.

Teams

1		BMC Racing Team	11h46'36
2		Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.
3		IAM Cycling	s.t.
4		Quick·Step Floors	s.t.
5		Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.

Renshaw is having a great start to the season

Stage 2: Qatar University - Qatar University



Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	3h14'07
2		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	s.t.
3		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
4		Nacer Bouhanni	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
5		Alexander Serebryakov	Team Katusha - Alpecin	s.t.
6		Mark Cavendish	IAM Cycling	s.t.
7		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.
8		Tyler Farrar	Discovery Channel	s.t.
9		Ben Swift	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
10		Michael Matthews	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.

General Classification

1		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	7h09'29
2		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	+ 2
3		Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg	Team Dimension Data	+ 6
4		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	+ 8
5		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.
6		Bryan Coquard	Team Dimension Data	s.t.
7		Sebastian Langeveld	Cannondale - Drapac	+ 9
8		Nacer Bouhanni	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 10
9		Mark Cavendish	IAM Cycling	s.t.
10		Alexander Serebryakov	Team Katusha - Alpecin	s.t.

Points

1		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	99
2		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	90
3		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	75
4		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	60
5		Nacer Bouhanni	AG2R La Mondiale	55

Young

1		Bryan Coquard	Team Dimension Data	7h09'37
2		Fabio Felline	UAE Team Emirates	+ 2
3		Adriano Malori	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
4		Moreno Hofland	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
5		Danny Van Poppel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.

Teams

1		Tinkoff	21h28'57
2		FDJ	s.t.
3		Astana Pro Team	s.t.
4		Team Katusha - Alpecin	s.t.
5		IAM Cycling	s.t.

The man is on fire (by the way its stage 2)

Oops, changed it.

We already talked about Alexander Kristoff in here

The last time that we talked about Alexander Kristoff he had completed a very good 2015 year with Euskaltel, which was his 3rd in the team. A bit more than 2 years later he is one of the indisputable leaders of the team alongside David Lopez and Hubert Dupont. His career has changed a lot and from being an anonymous rider for many years, he has now consolidated as an elite rider. Surely, the most important achievement he has are the two Milano - Sanremo wins in the last couple of years. That puts him as one of only 4 riders that are multiple monument winners.

2017 was clearly his best season so far but his results were achieved mostly in the early part of the season. He had scheduled the Paris - Nice as his race to prepare the assault to the Milano - Sanremo but it turned out to be much more than that. The Norwegian won a couple of stages in the first few days and ended up with a good gap that against all odds he was able to maintain in the following days. He then concatenated the overall win in the Paris - Nice with a successful defense of the title in Sanremo to clearly be the best rider of the early season.

Another of the characteristics that define Kristoff is his versatility to win in many various scenarios. That is the only way to have 25 wins in his career so far without the need to be always the reference sprinter in the flat. If we have to highlight any results that are missing in his career, we could point out the fact that he is still to win stages in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España. He probably also has among his targets a cobbled classic like the Gent - Wegelgem, where he was 2nd in 2017.

This is the 4th season that Kristoff is among the top riders and his win in the GC of the Tour Down Under proves that he is still in top shape at his 32 years of age. Euskaltel will probably need to rework their squad next season as both David Lopez and Hubert Dupont finish their contracts. It is not the case for Kristoff that still has 2 more seasons with the Spanish team. The relationship between Kristoff and the team has been very fruitful and it would not be strange that the rider stays with the team as a director once his racing days are over.

Best results:

Tour de France	3 stages (2015, 17)
Tour de Suisse	3 stages (2015, 16)
Road World Championship	2nd (2017), 4th (2016)
Milano - Sanremo	1st (2016, 17)
Paris - Nice	1st (2017), 3 stages (2014, 17), Points (2017)
Tour de Romandie	2 stages (2015, 16)
Volta a Catalunya	1 stage (2015)
BinckBank Tour	3rd (2015)
Tour Down Under	1st (2018), 2nd (2016), 2 stages (2016, 18), Points (2018)
Tour de Pologne	9th (2016), 3 stages (2014, 16), Points (2014)
Tour of Beijing	3 stages (2015, 16), Points (2015)
Gent - Wevelgem	2nd (2017)
GP Ouest France - Plouay	3rd (2015)
EuroEyes Cyclassics	1st (2015), 9th (2017)

UCI World Tour Rankings:

- 2010 Team Garmin - Cervelo: 109th (1.11 pts)
- 2011 Sky ProCycling: 134th (1.12 pts)
- 2012 Sky ProCycling: 155th (0 pts)
- 2013 Euskaltel - Euskadi: 125th (3.29 pts)
- 2014 Euskaltel - Euskadi: 68th (36.35 pts)
- 2015 Euskaltel - Euskadi: 13th (289.79 pts)
- 2016 Euskaltel - Euskadi: 17th (280.93 pts)
- 2017 Euskaltel - Euskadi: 5th (464.12 pts)

Stage 3: Lusail - Lusail (ITT)



Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Tony Martin	Lotto - Soudal	15'38
2		Tom Dumoulin	Cannondale - Drapac	+ 28
3		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	+ 29
4		Manuele Boaro	Astana Pro Team	+ 30
5		Jean-Christophe Peraud	Discovery Channel	+ 31
6		Jérôme Coppel	Quick·Step Floors	s.t.
7		Adriano Malori	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
8		Fabian Cancellara	Cannondale - Drapac	+ 33
9		Michael Rogers	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
10		Geraint Thomas	Tinkoff	+ 34

General Classification

1		Tony Martin	Lotto - Soudal	7h25'15
2		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	+ 29
3		Tom Dumoulin	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
4		Manuele Boaro	Astana Pro Team	+ 32
5		Adriano Malori	Astana Pro Team	+ 33
6		Jérôme Coppel	Quick·Step Floors	s.t.
7		Jean-Christophe Peraud	Discovery Channel	s.t.
8		Michael Rogers	Vacansoleil - DCM	+ 35
9		Fabian Cancellara	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
10		Peter Velits	Discovery Channel	+ 36

Points

1		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	99
2		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	92
3		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	83
4		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	75
5		Nacer Bouhanni	AG2R La Mondiale	55

Young

1		Tom Dumoulin	Cannondale - Drapac	7h25'44
2		Manuele Boaro	Astana Pro Team	+ 3
3		Adriano Malori	Astana Pro Team	+ 4
4		Peter Velits	Discovery Channel	+ 7
5		Fabio Felline	UAE Team Emirates	+ 13

Teams

1		Cannondale - Drapac	22h17'40
2		Discovery Channel	+ 11
3		Quick·Step Floors	+ 18
4		Astana Pro Team	+ 20
5		Lotto - Soudal	+ 24

Stage 4: Al Zubarah Fort - Madinat Al Shamal



Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Michael Matthews	Cannondale - Drapac	4h12'03
2		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	s.t.
3		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.
4		Mark Cavendish	IAM Cycling	s.t.
5		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
6		Ben Swift	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
7		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
8		Francesco Gavazzi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
9		Tyler Farrar	Discovery Channel	s.t.
10		Nacer Bouhanni	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.

General Classification

1		Tony Martin	Lotto - Soudal	11h37'18
2		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	+ 29
3		Tom Dumoulin	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
4		Manuele Boaro	Astana Pro Team	+ 32
5		Adriano Malori	Astana Pro Team	+ 33
6		Jérôme Coppel	Quick·Step Floors	s.t.
7		Jean-Christophe Peraud	Discovery Channel	s.t.
8		Michael Rogers	Vacansoleil - DCM	+ 35
9		Fabian Cancellara	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
10		Geraint Thomas	Tinkoff	+ 36

Points

1		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	145
2		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	114
3		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	105
4		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	101
5		Mark Cavendish	IAM Cycling	79

Young

1		Tom Dumoulin	Cannondale - Drapac	11h37'47
2		Manuele Boaro	Astana Pro Team	+ 3
3		Adriano Malori	Astana Pro Team	+ 4
4		Peter Velits	Discovery Channel	+ 7
5		Fabio Felline	UAE Team Emirates	+ 13

Teams

1		Cannondale - Drapac	34h53'49
2		Discovery Channel	+ 11
3		Quick·Step Floors	+ 18
4		Astana Pro Team	+ 20
5		Lotto - Soudal	+ 24

Stage 5: Sealine Beach Resort - Doha Corniche



Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	2h34'11
2		Mark Cavendish	IAM Cycling	s.t.
3		Michael Matthews	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
4		Tyler Farrar	Discovery Channel	s.t.
5		Johan Vansummeren	Quick·Step Floors	s.t.
6		Bernhard Eisel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.
7		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
8		Ben Swift	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
9		Danny Van Poppel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.
10		Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto - Soudal	s.t.

General Classification

1		Tony Martin	Lotto - Soudal	14h11'29
2		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	+ 24
3		Tom Dumoulin	Cannondale - Drapac	+ 29
4		Manuele Boaro	Astana Pro Team	+ 32
5		Adriano Malori	Astana Pro Team	+ 33
6		Jérôme Coppel	Quick·Step Floors	s.t.
7		Jean-Christophe Peraud	Discovery Channel	s.t.
8		Michael Rogers	Vacansoleil - DCM	+ 35
9		Fabian Cancellara	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
10		Geraint Thomas	Tinkoff	+ 36

Points

1		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	159
2		Marcel Kittel	UAE Team Emirates	146
3		Mark Renshaw	BMC Racing Team	132
4		Mark Cavendish	IAM Cycling	116
5		Kenny Van Hummel	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	105

Young

1		Tom Dumoulin	Cannondale - Drapac	14h11'58
2		Manuele Boaro	Astana Pro Team	+ 3
3		Adriano Malori	Astana Pro Team	+ 4
4		Peter Velits	Discovery Channel	+ 7
5		Fabio Felline	UAE Team Emirates	+ 13

Teams

1		Cannondale - Drapac	42h36'22
2		Discovery Channel	+ 11
3		Quick·Step Floors	+ 18
4		Astana Pro Team	+ 20
5		Lotto - Soudal	+ 24

UCI World Tour rankings riders (after Tour of Qatar)

1		Alexander Kristoff	Euskaltel	79.35
2		Lloyd Mondory	Quickstep	61.59
3		Tony Martin	Lotto	60.5
4		Marcel Kittel	UAE	60.5
5		Francisco Ventoso	Movistar	54.68
6		Emanuele Sella	Movistar	51.38
7		Tom Dumoulin	Cannondale	45.33
8		Michael Matthews	Cannondale	40.93
9		Mark Renshaw	BMC	36.85
10		Manuele Boaro	Astana	33.55
11		Mauro Finetto	Euskaltel	32.05
12		Adriano Malori	Astana	25.3
13		Jerome Coppel	Quickstep	22.7
14		Maxime Monfort	Quickstep	22.39
15		Jure Kocjan	BMC	20.9

UCI World Tour rankings teams (after Tour of Qatar)

1		Movistar Team	118.8
2		Quick Step Floors	118.25
3		Euskaltel - Euskadi	114.4
4		Cannondale - Drapac	105.05
5		UAE Team Emirates	64.35
6		BMC Racing Team	61.6
7		Lotto - Soudal	60.5
8		Astana Pro Team	58.85
9		Discovery Channel	34.1
10		Vacansoleil - DMC	17.05
11		Team Sunweb	13.75
12		HTC - Highroad	11.55
13		IAM Cycling	6.05
14		Team Sky	5.5
15		Team LottoNL - Jumbo	4.95
16		Ag2r - La Mondiale	2.75
17		Trek - Segafredo	1.65
18		Team Katusha - Alpecin	1.1

UCI Pro Continental rankings riders (after Tour of Qatar)

1		Geraint Thomas	Tinkoff	11
2		Anthony Roux	Cofidis	1.1
3		Haimar Zubeldia	Tinkoff	0.55
4		Alessandro Petacchi	Bora	0.55

UCI Pro Continental rankings teams (after Tour of Qatar)

1		Tinkoff	11.55
2		Cofidis, Solutions Credits	1.1
3		Bora - Hansgrohe	0.55
4		Orica - Scott	0
5		FDJ	0
6		Dimension Data	0

The Germans in total control in Qatar and a nice feature on Kristoff

Pretty fine race from Lloyd i'd say

Favorites:

- Lloyd Mondory (Quickstep Floors)
- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Soudal)
- Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana Pro Team)
- Gregory Rast (IAM Cycling)

Other riders with a shot at the podium are Kenny van Hummel and Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL - Jumbo), Tom Boonen (BMC Racing Team), Stefan van Dijk and Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil - DMC) and Johan Vansummeren (Quickstep Floors).

Previous winners

First

Second

Third

Startlist


Route Preview

Gent - Gent



Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Sylvain Chavanel	FDJ	5h04'20
2		Lloyd Mondory	Quick·Step Floors	+ 3'56
3		Björn Leukemans	Lotto - Soudal	+ 4'11
4		Ian Stannard	Team Sunweb	s.t.
5		Grégory Rast	IAM Cycling	s.t.
6		Tom Boonen	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
7		Yoann Offredo	IAM Cycling	s.t.
8		Geraint Thomas	Tinkoff	s.t.
9		Sebastian Langeveld	Cannondale - Drapac	+ 4'25
10		Michael Van Staeyen	Astana Pro Team	+ 6'53

UCI World Tour rankings riders (after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad)

1		Lloyd Mondory	Quickstep	94.59
2		Alexander Kristoff	Euskaltel	79.35
3		Tony Martin	Lotto	60.5
4		Marcel Kittel	UAE	60.5
5		Francisco Ventoso	Movistar	54.68
6		Emanuele Sella	Movistar	51.38
7		Tom Dumoulin	Cannondale	45.33
8		Michael Matthews	Cannondale	40.93
9		Mark Renshaw	BMC	36.85
10		Manuele Boaro	Astana	33.55
11		Mauro Finetto	Euskaltel	32.05
12		Björn Leukemans	Lotto	27.5
13		Adriano Malori	Astana	25.3
14		Jerome Coppel	Quickstep	22.7
15		Maxime Monfort	Quickstep	22.39

UCI World Tour rankings teams (after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad)

1		Quick Step Floors	151.25
2		Movistar Team	118.8
3		Euskaltel - Euskadi	114.4
4		Cannondale - Drapac	107.8
5		Lotto - Soudal	88
6		BMC Racing Team	72.6
7		UAE Team Emirates	64.35
8		Astana Pro Team	59.95
9		Team Sunweb	35.75
10		Discovery Channel	34.1
11		IAM Cycling	30.8
12		Vacansoleil - DMC	17.05
13		HTC - Highroad	11.55
14		Team Sky	5.5
15		Team LottoNL - Jumbo	4.95
16		Ag2r - La Mondiale	2.75
17		Trek - Segafredo	1.65
18		Team Katusha - Alpecin	1.1

UCI Pro Continental rankings riders (after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad)

1		Sylvain Chavanel	FDJ	44
2		Geraint Thomas	Tinkoff	16.5
3		Anthony Roux	Cofidis	1.1
4		Haimar Zubeldia	Tinkoff	0.55
5		Alessandro Petacchi	Bora	0.55

UCI Pro Continental rankings teams (after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad)

1		FDJ	44
2		Tinkoff	17.05
3		Cofidis, Solutions Credits	1.1
4		Bora - Hansgrohe	0.55
5		Orica - Scott	0
6		Dimension Data	0

Trust Mondory to score points