We've had 5 continental races already this season, so now it's about time for the ProTour to begin! The Tour of Qatar is the now traditional season opener, with a short opening TTT, followed by 5 flat stages. Sprinters paradise maybe? Or not, with strong winds battering the country, anything could happen.

Focusing solely on the team time trial though, and the Cyanide bookmakers have come up with 5 favourites for the stage: Auber 93, Festina, Sony Ericsson, Jack Wolfskin and Lafarge. Auber of course, have the best time trialist in the race - Jerome Coppel, while Jack Wolfskin have Dominique Cornu, and Sony Ericsson have Sebastien Lang. In terms of having the better riders, based on pure TT stat (which is likely to take precedence in such a short stage), there are a few other teams who could challenge. Vesuvio have both Kittel and Ford, Nespresso has Fiedler, and La Gazzetta dello Sport have Van Winden. And then there's last years Top 2 - Wikipedia and B&O.

Kicking off the ProTour season are Cafe de Colombia. Nobody expected them to be here this season, before Lovkvist's dramatic win in Japan at the season end. But while Lovkvist is now gone, the team are here, and Andrew Tennant leads them across the line for a benchmark of 14'39


It doesnt last long though, as Bonnet leads one of the pre-stage favourites Lafarge to an 8 second lead


Domina Vacanze go a distant 3rd, at 37 seconds down


But here are Auber 93 - Look. French champion Coppel lead them early on, but it is Kai Reus on the front when they cross the line - and beat their French rivals to go 1st, with a 12 second lead


5th out of 5 for Warner Brothers - Carrefour. 52 seconds down.


Lipton turned up to the race having overlooked the fact that there was a TTT. With a lack of practice, they managed to stick many non-time trialists on front, so best rider Stundzia did not even get a chance to relay. Theyre not last though, 46 seconds down sees them ahead of Domina and Warner Bros


A similar mistake occured for La Gazzetta with their 3 time trialists starting 5th, 6th and 7th in the train. Flens did get a relay in though, while Vandewalle led over the finish. Its 4th place, 25 seconds down.


Now its Festina. Their manager had been confident of a strong showing here, but they cant match Auber. In fact, they barely beat Lafarge. Coming in 12 seconds down, beating Lafarge by only a fraction of a second.


Next up are Vesuvio-Accumalux. Kittel didnt get an opportunity to realy, but Ford, Barth and Clesen delivered a strong showing and they pull of a great ride to go 2nd! 11 seconds down on Auber still, but a better showing than expected


Carmeuse Cyclisme come next. But they finish last, 1 second behind Warner Brothers


A decent ride by Philips - TDC sees them go 5th, 18 seconds down


Wikipedia won this stage last year, but not this year, they are 2 seconds slower than Philips


Next are Jack Wolfskin, led by Cornu and Posthuma, but they cannot challenge Auber. They go 12 seconds down, with the same time as Festina and Lafarge


Energie-Diesel go 10th, 41 seconds down


Fiedler then leads Nespresso over the line in 6th, 17 seconds down


Wildcards Milka are next, and they take a provisional 10th - just 1 second behind Wikipedia and Cafe de Colombia


1 second slower than Milka are the team of Pearl Adidas


Team B&O are a further 5 seconds back, missing out on the Top 10


Another 12 seconds slower are the Starbucks-Radioshack team


And so to our final team Sony Ericsson - and theyre quick! Its going to be touch and go between them and Auber. Sebastian Lang powers the Swedish team over the line, and theres 3 seconds in it! But who has won?


It's Auber!

1	Auber 93 - Look	14'19
2	Sony Ericsson	+ 3
3	Vesuvio-Accumalux	+ 11
4	Festina - Corona	+ 12
5	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
6	Lafarge	s.t.
7	Team Nespresso	+ 17
8	Philips - TDC	+ 18
9	Wikipedia	+ 20
10	Café de Colombia	s.t.
11	Milka	+ 21
12	Pearl Adidas	+ 22
13	La Gazzetta dello Sport	+ 25
14	Team B&O	+ 27
15	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	+ 39
16	Energie - Diesel	+ 41
17	Lipton Ice Tea	+ 46
18	Domina Vacanze	+ 49
19	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	+ 52
20	Carmeuse Cyclisme	+ 53

For some reason in the GC, the Auber riders seem to have been granted an extra second. Its a bit odd, but there you go, lucky Auber.

1	Kai Reus	Auber 93 - Look	14'18
2	Pierre Rolland	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
3	Pim Ligthart	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
4	Maxime Bouet	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
5	Mathieu Drujon	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
6	William Ford	Auber 93 - Look	+ 2
7	Sebastian Lang	Sony Ericsson	+ 4
8	Cameron Meyer	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
9	Dmitri Muravjev	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
10	Jakub Danacik	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
11	Serge Pauwels	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
12	Martin Mortensen	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
13	Jerome Coppel	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
14	Viktor Renäng	Sony Ericsson	+ 6
15	Florian Morizot	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
16	Freddy Johansson	Sony Ericsson	+ 9
17	Marcel Barth	Vesuvio-Accumalux	+ 12
18	Marcel Kittel	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
19	Denis Galimzyanov	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
20	Ben Gastauer	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
21	Michael Ford	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
22	Roman Maksimov	Festina - Corona	+ 13
23	Vladimir Bileka	Festina - Corona	s.t.
24	Lucas Schädlich	Festina - Corona	s.t.
25	Kristof Goddaert	Festina - Corona	s.t.
26	Ramunas Navardauskas	Festina - Corona	s.t.
27	Patrick Gretsch	Festina - Corona	s.t.
28	Nick Clesen	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
29	Michael Van Stayen	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
30	Joost Posthuma	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
31	Dominique Cornu	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
32	Hans Dekkers	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
33	Koen De Kort	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
34	William Bonnet	Lafarge	s.t.
35	Ludovic Bret	Lafarge	s.t.
36	Mitch Docker	Lafarge	s.t.
37	Ronan Van Zandbeek	Lafarge	s.t.
38	Adrian Laidler	Lafarge	s.t.
39	Sam Bewley	Festina - Corona	+ 14
40	Marcel Sieberg	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
41	Nico Schinker	Vesuvio-Accumalux	+ 15
42	Benoît Vaugrenard	Jack Wolfskin	s.t.
43	Dimitri Champion	Lafarge	s.t.
44	Mathieu Bernaudeau	Festina - Corona	+ 16
45	Sébastien Minard	Lafarge	s.t.
46	Jason Donald	Jack Wolfskin	+ 17
47	Jan Hopman	Vesuvio-Accumalux	+ 18
48	Nolan Hoffman	Team Nespresso	s.t.
49	Hernâni Broco	Team Nespresso	s.t.
50	Jacob Fiedler	Team Nespresso	s.t.
51	Michael Schär	Team Nespresso	s.t.
52	Roberto Traficante	Team Nespresso	s.t.
53	Maurice Schreurs	Philips - TDC	+ 19
54	Michael Mørkøv	Philips - TDC	s.t.
55	Niels Scheunemann	Philips - TDC	s.t.
56	Aleksandr Serebriakov	Philips - TDC	s.t.
57	Jens Mouris	Philips - TDC	s.t.
58	Saulo Lay	Team Nespresso	s.t.
59	Martin Pedersen	Philips - TDC	+ 20
60	Luigi Sestili	Lafarge	s.t.
61	Lars Ytting Bak	Philips - TDC	+ 21
62	Blake Caldwell	Wikipedia	s.t.
63	Danny Pate	Wikipedia	s.t.
64	Artjom Timofeev	Wikipedia	s.t.
65	Ivan Kovalev	Wikipedia	s.t.
66	Tyler Farrar	Wikipedia	s.t.
67	Ivano Lo Cicero	Team Nespresso	s.t.
68	Hugues Mottin	Team Nespresso	s.t.
69	Juan Esteban Arango	Café de Colombia	s.t.
70	Paul Healion	Café de Colombia	s.t.
71	Andrew Tennant	Café de Colombia	s.t.
72	Óscar Pereiro Sio	Café de Colombia	s.t.
73	William Germán Rodríguez Parra	Café de Colombia	s.t.
74	Zdenek Stybar	Milka	+ 22
75	Michael Vanderaerden	Milka	s.t.
76	Juan Pablo Forero	Milka	s.t.
77	Thomas De Gendt	Milka	s.t.
78	Tiziano Dall'Antonia	Milka	s.t.
79	Marco Pinotti	Café de Colombia	s.t.
80	Martin Reimer	Philips - TDC	+ 23
81	Olivier Kaisen	Wikipedia	s.t.
82	Jukka Vastaranta	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
83	David Vitoria	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
84	William Walker	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
85	Tanel Kangert	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
86	Thor Hushovd	Milka	s.t.
87	Tom Leezer	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
88	Jimmy Casper	Milka	+ 24
89	Andreas Klöden	Café de Colombia	s.t.
90	Aggrey Sebright	Wikipedia	+ 25
91	Yoann Offredo	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
92	Jaime Alberto Castañeda	Café de Colombia	s.t.
93	Rafael Rodríguez Segarra	La Gazzetta dello Sport	+ 26
94	Kristof Vandewalle	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
95	Alex Dowsett	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
96	Dennis Van Winden	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
97	Sergio Marinangeli	La Gazzetta dello Sport	s.t.
98	Christian Meier	Wikipedia	s.t.
99	Aleksandr Efimkin	Milka	s.t.
100	Matteo Bono	La Gazzetta dello Sport	+ 27
101	Enrico Franzoi	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
102	Jonas Aaen Jørgensen	Team B&O	+ 28
103	Casper Jørgensen	Team B&O	s.t.
104	Troels Vinter	Team B&O	s.t.
105	Morten Reckweg	Team B&O	s.t.
106	Alex Rasmussen	Team B&O	s.t.
107	Daniele Bennati	La Gazzetta dello Sport	+ 29
108	Romain Vanderbiest	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
109	Rick Flens	La Gazzetta dello Sport	+ 30
110	Tom Veelers	Team B&O	s.t.
111	Kobe Vanoverschelde	Team B&O	+ 31
112	Juraj Sagan	Team B&O	+ 35
113	Carlos Alberto Ospina	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	+ 40
114	Rik Kavsek	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
115	Tom Criel	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
116	Fabien Bacquet	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
117	Oscar Freire	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
118	Elia Viviani	Energie - Diesel	+ 42
119	Jesus Tendero	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
120	Pedro Nicácio	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
121	Davide Viganò	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
122	Claudio Corioni	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
123	Matthew Crane	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
124	Leonardo Duque	Energie - Diesel	+ 44
125	Arnaud Coyot	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	+ 45
126	Eloy Teruel	Energie - Diesel	+ 46
127	Radomir Simunek	Team Starbucks-RadioShack	s.t.
128	Matt Rowe	Lipton Ice Tea	+ 47
129	Drasutis Stundzia	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
130	Jérôme Baugnies	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
131	Aleksandr Mironov	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
132	Adam Petrie-Armstrong	Lipton Ice Tea	s.t.
133	Francisco Javier Echarri	Energie - Diesel	s.t.
134	Emanuele Rizza	Lipton Ice Tea	+ 48
135	Daniel Fleeman	Domina Vacanze	+ 49
136	Baden Cooke	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
137	Isaac Speirs	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
138	Tony Martin	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
139	Koldo Fernandez	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
140	Sven Nooytens	Lipton Ice Tea	+ 50
141	Björn Schröder	Domina Vacanze	+ 51
142	Óscar Avelino	Lipton Ice Tea	+ 52
143	Tiago Pinto	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	+ 53
144	Diego Gallego	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
145	Sergei Kolesnikov	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
146	Alexis Castro Rodriguez	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
147	Mauro Facci	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	s.t.
148	Danilo Wyss	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
149	Kevin Hulsmans	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	+ 54
150	Jurgen Roelandts	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
151	Jaime Suaza	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
152	Gorik Gardeyn	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
153	Wouter Weylandt	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
154	Aurélien Clerc	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
155	Rudi Van Houts	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	+ 56
156	Steven Caethoven	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
157	Clément Lhotellerie	Carmeuse Cyclisme	s.t.
158	Mauro Da Dalto	Domina Vacanze	s.t.
159	Alexandre Aulas	Carmeuse Cyclisme	+ 57
160	Gianluca Coletta	Warner Brothers - Carrefour	+ 58
161	Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn	Team 1	+ 2'36
162	Kim Michely	Team 1	s.t.
163	Adrien Niyonshuti	Team 1	s.t.
164	Saydou Sow	Team 1	s.t.
165	Sebastian Batchelor	Team 1	s.t.

Young Rider

1	Pierre Rolland	Auber 93 - Look	14'19
2	Pim Ligthart	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
3	Maxime Bouet	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
4	William Ford	Auber 93 - Look	+ 2
5	Cameron Meyer	Sony Ericsson	+ 4
6	Jakub Danacik	Sony Ericsson	s.t.
7	Jerome Coppel	Auber 93 - Look	s.t.
8	Viktor Renäng	Sony Ericsson	+ 6
9	Freddy Johansson	Sony Ericsson	+ 9
10	Marcel Barth	Vesuvio-Accumalux	+ 12
11	Marcel Kittel	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
12	Denis Galimzyanov	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
13	Ben Gastauer	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
14	Michael Ford	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.
15	Roman Maksimov	Festina - Corona	+ 13
16	Lucas Schädlich	Festina - Corona	s.t.
17	Kristof Goddaert	Festina - Corona	s.t.
18	Ramunas Navardauskas	Festina - Corona	s.t.
19	Patrick Gretsch	Festina - Corona	s.t.
20	Nick Clesen	Vesuvio-Accumalux	s.t.