Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the showdown of the 2019 Tour of Qatar! We have moved about 30km north from Doha, to Lusail, the object of a gigantic project! Lusail is a planned city having currently a lot of ongoing construction work, and it is planned to accommodate up to 450,000 people once everything is finished - which is more than Doha. The stage actually starts outside the town and finishes in the city, the road leading almost straight north.
We are here for the tour's epilogue, which will certainly reshuffle the GC. It is the day many specialists have been waiting for for a long time - and all this for roughly 5 minutes of riding. Which, however, is still 800 meters more than what we had last year. There is no wind right now, hopefully this won't change during the race, as it might have a huge influence given the small gaps!
We do expect those of the specialists who haven't already lost a lot of time to get at least into the GC Top 20, some may even get a minor Top 10 place. Most of the sprinters are bound to lose several seconds, and some may pay big for their lack of TT capabilities. But let's have a look at the current standings and the stats of some riders:
Rank
Time Difference
Rider
Prl
Res
Rec
182
+ 8'07
Van Winden
80
70
74
179
+ 5'44
Paillot
80
74
68
166
+ 5'20
Howson
80
74
72
93
+ 2'55
Yatsevich
80
81
67
92
+ 2'55
Gonzalez Salas
80
76
67
89
+ 2'55
Vlatos
81
71
67
87
+ 2'55
Sergent
80
74
71
53
+ 59
Sütterlin
80
77
67
37
+ 59
Dennis
81
75
67
33
+ 59
Stoltz
80
79
75
27
+ 59
Zmorka
82
75
72
26
+ 59
Fiedler
82
76
78
23
+ 59
Leung
82
77
69
22
+ 59
S. K. Andersen
81
76
64
20
+ 57
Kemboi
81
77
81
19
+ 56
Gesbert
65
75
74
18
+ 56
Kochetkov
58
69
69
17
+ 54
Kadri
60
67
66
16
+ 53
Teunissen
64
73
70
15
+ 44
Soupe
68
69
76
14
+ 38
Coquard
79
74
84
13
+ 36
Boeckmans
60
71
81
12
+ 35
Ewan
73
71
80
11
+ 35
Kennaugh
63
71
80
10
+ 32
Katrasnik
69
75
68
9
+ 32
Bewley
71
76
85
8
+ 24
Kristoff
73
71
76
7
+ 23
Guardini
59
69
71
6
+ 21
Howard
68
70
79
5
+ 21
Guerao
57
64
81
4
+ 18
Groenewegen
72
71
85
3
+ 15
Swift
70
70
82
2
+ 11
Van Stayen
60
71
80
1
15h59'08
Grosu
70
70
79
We will see three of the stage favorites very early in the race, and some of them are about in the middle of the start list. All of these will only have the stage win in their mind.
Starting with Sütterlin, however, we have eight 80+ prologue riders - and lots of riders just a tad weaker on paper - who are 27" (25" for Kemboi who got two bonus seconds) off the Top 10. This will be very hard work.
Coquard can be counted among the outsiders today as well - can he even have a shot at the podium? 23" missing for this, but some decent TTers ahead of him. On top, it's hard to see Grosu lose his lead, as he is clearly stronger than Van Stayen and just about as fast as Swift. Groenewegen, Kristoff and especially Coquard may ride faster today, but he's got a solid margin.
After five very hard days, we'll see if Recovery comes into play, and if yes, how much. If it is a factor, many of the top sprinters would have an advantage against most pure TTers, but resistance should be more important - this is what Bewley may hope.
In the fight for the white jersey, Ewan should be slightly stronger than Katrasnik today, and 3" are not really a big deal. However, Kemboi, S. K. Andersen and Leung are not that far back, either, so we should see a good fight! But only the race will give us the answer to all these questions - so let's get it started!
The first rider to start (and finish) the race is Korsaeth, who was unlucky on stage 2 having a flat tire late in the race and losing loads of time. He sets a time of 4'51.
His time is matched - and even improved by a few hundredth of a second - by israeli TT champion R. Goldstein.
But now, we have the first of the pre-stage favorites on track - and Van Winden bests his time by 1"!
His lead doesn't last for long, though, as Paillot is much faster and sets the new best time at 4'46!
Brändle with a nice effort finishes 4" back as well, but was a tad faster than Van Winden and is provisionally 2nd.
Here we see Howson's start - and he reaches the finish quite quickly: new 2nd place with 2" back. There is some wind - only 6km/h - blowing straight to the north now, which may have helped him.
Hepburn gets a good provisional 3rd, being 3" behind the still leading Paillot.
Wow, that's a surprise! O'Shea may have some advantage over Paillot due to the wind, but his new best time - 2" faster than the Frenchman - is still a huge effort! 4'44 is the new time to beat!
This stage is probably why he is here, and he delivers: Pluchkin matches the best time and is our new leader!
Wirtgen comes just two seconds short of the best time, which means only provisional 4th.
This guy has been working like crazy all week long, and still has the legs to deliver a great result: Provisional 3rd with 1" back for Prado!
Jungels matches the Mexican's time, but is just behind him - currently 4th.
Then, we have Golovash and Hamza both with a decent result, 3 seconds behind and currently 7th and 8th.
Russian ITT champion Yatsevich gets the same time as Paillot and Wirtgen, but is ranked just behind - currently on 7th position.
Another rider coming in with 4'44, and Gonzalez Salas sneaks in between Pluchkin and O'Shea! Good performance for him today!
Again a precious domestique coming in now - and Vlatos does so in style: New best time in 4'42! Still some of the pre-race favorites left, though, but he sure can be happy with his ride!
Sergent with a good race as well, but just a tad too slow. He comes in on P7, getting the same time as Prado and Jungels (4'45), but is behind both of them.
Huge bummer for Sütterlin, as he is 6" back, which means only P17 at the moment. However, we have to say that the wind has gone again, so there's hope that at least all riders who are in play for the GC do have the same conditions now.
Dennis may not be completely happy with his time of 4'46, either, which is just enough to be 11th right now.
Meyer gets the same time, but he might be happier with it than his compatriot. P12 for him.
And yet another pre-race favorite who completely messes up his race. Stoltz is 11 seconds back and won't even reach a Top 50 today!
Kwok does much better, being only 5" back, which is the same time as Malori, Vassdal and Wisniowski have reached before him. These four are currently P16-19.
But now, two of the top favorites in a row! First we have Zmorka, losing three seconds, getting him a rather disappointing 8th place.
Which now is P9, as Fiedler is two seconds faster - but still comes short of Vlatos' time by a tiny second! Provisional 2nd for the German!
Now we're entering the decisive phase of the U25 competition, as 3 of the next 4 riders are among the top favorites for this one! Leung comes first - and doesn't do too well. 5" back and a disappointing 22nd place currently, that's not what he was hoping for. Still, he takes the lead in the youth standings, so the others first have to deliver.
And S. K. Andersen does deliver! Two seconds faster, meaning the new leader in the race for White! And he gets a provisional Top 10 in this stage as well, as he is exactly 10th.
What a disappointment for Kemboi! He was two seconds ahead of the two aforementioned U25 competitors, but today he loses nine seconds and hence is only currently 3rd in the young riders' standings.
However, lots of the riders coming after him - almost exclusively sprinters - will probably do even worse.
Remember that Fiedler is the provisional GC leader, as Vlatos had lost almost 2 minutes on the first stage. Who can beat the German?
Coquard + 4" - Yes! The Frenchman's 21" advantage on Fiedler is more than enough to take over the hot seat, and he does send a strong signal out to his remaining competitors! He will almost certainly get a GC Top 10 now - could it be more?
Boeckmans, as expected, loses a lot of ground, more precisely 43" - not good enough to stay in the GC Top 20.
Ewan is the second-to-last competitor in the U25 standings, and he has got a 25" advantage on S. K. Andersen - which is easily enough, as the Australian only loses 13" today! Which means he takes the lead in the race for the white jersey, but in the GC is passed by Coquard.
Kennaugh wasn't expected to do especially well today - and he doesn't. 41" back means he loses a lot of places - bye bye Top 20.
We have the last rider in the youth competition on the road, and Katrasnik can afford to lose 16", meaning 3" to Ewan to keep his jersey. And the clock ticks... 13"...14"...15"...16"...17"... He loses 24" seconds in the end, which means he loses his jersey, but holds on to 2nd, ahead of S. K. Andersen! And he keeps clear of Fiedler to be provisional 3rd overall.
However, Bewley is just 20" back and passes the Slovene, but he still loses two spots to Ewan and Coquard.
And we surely expected more from Kristoff, who loses 23" to the very probable stage winner Vlatos, making him lose one place to Coquard.
Guardini's ITT reputation isn't the best - and he confirms it. 46" puts him in this stage's bottom 10. He's still on P21 in the provisional GC, though. 6 riders left.
And it's a very close race for the provisional lead! Howard was 17" ahead of Coquard before this stage, meaning he could lose 21" today to match the Frenchman's time! And it's 18"...19"...20"...21"...22"! He comes one second short, and slips into 2nd provisional GC!
Guerao, as expected, loses plenty of time - almost a minute! What a pity, given that he did a great job in the previous stages!
And we've got a new virtual GC leader! Groenewegen loses 18" today - meaning he saves a gap of 6" on Coquard! Can he get a GC podium here?
Yes, he can, as Swift loses 25"! However, the Brit stays clear of Coquard as well and is currently 2nd in the provisional GC! Two riders remaining...
And Van Stayen performs as expected as well, meaning he loses 43". Which makes him fall back to 8th, but at least he secures a GC Top 10 with one single rider remaining...
Given his direct opponents' rather mediocre performances, Eduard Grosu never was in danger of losing his GC lead - he loses 25" today, making him win the 2019 Tour of Qatar by 11" ahead of a surprising Dylan Groenewegen! Ben Swift keeps 3rd, whereas Bryan Coquard just had too many no-shows in the previous stages - it was a good stage result for him nonetheless!
But let's not forget today's winner, Festina - OAKA's Panagiotis Vlatos! Sure, the wind was on his side today, but he simply delivered a great race - and gets his team the win their sprinter failed to bring home!
Jacob Fiedler then was the best of those specialists not having lost any time before - but the sprinters' bonus seconds just weighed too much, as he finishes 11th in GC. Aleksandr Pluchkin on 3rd place shows that his form is not too bad, and gets the PCT another stage podium in this race.
And now let's applaud the big - and deserved - winner of the 2019 Tour of Qatar: Eduard Grosu from team eBuddy! He got Top 10 places in all but one sprint stages, thereof yesterday's decisive win. Today, he did what he had to do to secure the win - Congratulations!
On 2nd position, we have Dylan Groenewegen who gets a very big result for Aegon - Lavazza! Today, he delivered a great race and jumped from 4th to 2nd. Just as Grosu, he got two stage podiums - no win, but those bonus seconds were finally enough to get him a GC podium as well!
1st and 2nd overall are just like in yesterday's stage - 3rd however goes to Aker - MOT's Ben Swift! He was very strong on stages 1 and 3, got 2nd and 1st in these two stages, then wore the leader's jersey for two stages - but it didn't bring him any luck. He got no more good results since his stage win, but it was finally good enough to hold on to 3rd GC.
The next positions are taken by sprinters as well:
4. Bryan Coquard
5. Leigh Howard
6. Alexander Kristoff
7. Caleb Ewan
8. Sam Bewley
9. Michael Van Stayen
And on P10, we have the suprise winner of stage one, who still gets a huge GC result: Gasper Katrasnik!
From 11th to 20th, we then have exclusively good TTers:
11. Fiedler
12. S. K. Andersen
13. Zmorka
14. Meyer
15. Dennis
16. Leung
17. Kwok
18. Wisniowski
19. Vassdal
20. Sütterlin
As expected, today's stage saw no more changes in the points standings, where Eduard Grosu wins ahead of Ben Swift and Michael Van Stayen.
Caleb Ewan wins the U25 standings, as was already mentioned during the race. He didn't get any great stage results, but all of these "minor" bonus seconds and a decent performance today were enough to finally pass stage 1 surprise winner Gasper Katrasnik. The Slovene will surely not be completely unhappy with 2nd, though. And on 3rd place, we have Soren Kragh Andersen, who got a Top 10 today and was the strongest of the young riders in this stage.
They've always been well-known for their strong TT squad - and this pays off today, as Bennelong - Mitchelton wins the team standings! Of course, O'Shea's great 5th stage rank helped a lot, but if your 3rd best riders comes in 19th, that's really a strong team performance! They win this competition ahead of Grieg - Maersk and Festina - OAKA.
And that's all from the Tour of Qatar's 2019 edition! See you all next year, and let's see if some sprinters will get their revenge later into the season!
Tour of Qatar 
