Welcome to the kickoff stage of this year's Qatar Sprinter Party, also known as Tour of Qatar. The traditional PT season opener for stage racers is about to start, and you are hopefully as ready as the riders are!
The course isn't anything new, except for the final two kilometers - which were added to give the sprinter teams more space to build up their trains. The stage starts in Umm Salal, beneath the Barzan Towers, which are watchtowers built in the late 19th century.
The start line is just about 10km away from the finish line at the Doha Golf Club in Qatar's capital, but the riders will first have to do an incomplete 8 shape, comprising a total of 144.5km. They start in Northern direction, where they will reach the first intermediate shortly after the 8's intersection; 32.8km will be done by then.
After the Northern turning point, they reach the second intermediate sprint, with roughly 60km to go, before heading straight South towards Doha. After two 90 degree turns, we'll then have a long final stretch - a paradise for sprinter teams!
And then, we will know the first stage winner - and GC leader. Without any surprise, the bookies are going for Van Stayen, Degenkolb and Coquard as today's favorites, followed by Ahlstrand, Bib number 1 Bewley and Swift. Last year's winner Grosu, Kennaugh, Vanderbiest and Howard complete the top 10 list. If you bet your money on one of these, you'll have pretty decent chances of being right - but beware, last year the breakaway took the win on stage 1!
Will the pack keep the escapees at bay today? We'll find out in about three hours. Now everyone is ready, let's see who's got the best legs today!
Estonian Champion Tarvis definitely isn't a sprinter, and so he's trying a gutsy move right after the start.
He's soon overtaken by Arashiro, but both aren't really able to get clear of the bunch.
And indeed, they're quickly reeled in by Ariesen, followed by a Gazelle armada. What are they planning?
Well, in each case they weren't attentive enough to follow the next attackers, which are Laporte (yeah, that's the new Generali jersey, still not really used to it), Vincent, Lampaert, Arashiro again, and Yzeiraj.
Tarvis is fighting to join them, but is somehow between the attackers and the pack.
He didn't quite make it, and so he's chasing together with teammates Gabburo and Kolev.
But shortly before the intermediate sprint, they have to fold, with no more energy left in their tanks. Well, that was a lot of effort for not much success!
The intermediate sprint is won by Arashiro, which could already be worth the white jersey tonight.
1. Arashiro - 6
2. Vincent - 4
3. Laporte - 2
The pack is at just 1'03", so they aren't really out of reach yet. Nonetheless, it's pretty likely that they form today's Breakaway of the Day, so let's take a closer look at the group's members.
Arashiro is by far the best rouleur, and furthermore the second best sprinter of the group, which would likely make him the favorite for the stage win out of these five. However, he might lack some stamina and resistance. Laporte is a slightly stronger sprinter and a decent flat rider, too. Along with better physical stats than the Japanese, he could well be today's winner, too. Yzeiraj and Lampaert are both good flat riders as well, but they can't sprint and would need a long range attack. Just as Vincent, who's clearly the worst rouleur and would surley have hoped for some uphill sections - well, he should have chosen a different race then...
As we said before, Arashiro is in the pole position for today's white jersey with his bonus seconds - but Vincent is trailing by just one second so far - and both will have to hope that Kemboi doesn't take too many points at the finish line. Or, even better, get there ahead of the pack.
When speaking of the pack... The Gazelle DS must be very unhappy about how the stage unfolded so far, as he sends a total of five riders up front to chase down the breakaway! For a team with no sprinter, that's pretty... surprising.
However, maybe it was just some extra exercise, due to having missed the BotD. They stop chasing soon after, and the gap quickly goes up to 2'30". The sprinter teams take over, with Arissol, Speirs, Vassdal, Boudat, Verschaeve, Tanfield, Zoidl, Aular and Turek taking turns.
We have a very close race for the second intermediate sprint. After reviewing the live pictures, the officials award the points maximum to Laporte:
1. Laporte - 6
2. Arashiro - 4
3. Vincent - 2
This means that Arashiro has won 5 bonus seconds so far, against 3 by Vincent, so the white jersey seems to be within reach tonight.
The pack is 2'02" behind at this point, with the sprinter teams not too worried yet, given that we've got 58.5km to go.
Nothing happens during the next 30 kilometers, except for the pack slowly closing in. With just one minute left, Lampaert and Arashiro decide it's time to go all in. 28km to go.
Under the 20km banner, they still have their 10" gap to the trio of Yzeiraj, Laporte and Vincent. The peloton is still one minute down - not much has changed in the last 10 kilometers.
We can now clearly see who feels strong today. ISA - Hexacta are pushing hard with Mraouni, Dlamini, Juarez, Santos and Arissol. Will Degenkolb be able to turn his teammates' work into a great result?
Moser - Sygic with Granjel Cabrera and Hnik, as well as Neilands and Dzamastagic for Evonik - ELKO are helping to chase down the escapees, too.
However, we're pretty surprised to see no Festina jersey in the chase - Coquard is nevertheless very well positioned, with Karatzios protecting him. The same holds for Kemboi with van den Berg just in front of him.
Arashiro and Lampaert were reeled in by their breakaway companions - but the Japanese gives it another try! The peloton is really closing in now, just 40" behind the race leader.
And with 10km left, it's just Arashiro left up front, the others being caught by the bunch. Moser seem to have a clear plan, now leading the pack onto the last 10,000 meters.
Just before the 5km arc, Arashiro is finally caught. Degenkolb's boys are again taking over in the pack, while all teams are about to set up their formations for the finale!
With 3km to go, we have a perfect train, consisting of Santos, Petit and Degenkolb. The German has Swift in his wheel.
On the side of the road, Bewley is in a less comfortable situation, having just Granjel Cabrera - who has already worked hard to chase down the breakaway - in front of him. Kennaugh has found his wheel, whereas Howard is somehow stuck behind Beukeboom and Baska.
Behind the Aussie, we have all the other big guns lined up: Grosu, Groenewegen, Van Stayen, Holloway, Coquard, Ahlstrand, Kemboi... Let's see who is able to find the right wheel before the red kite!
The trains of ISA - Hexacta and Moser are so strong that a group of 16 riders breaks free with just 2,000 meters remaining! They are, on the right (in riding direction):
Santos - Petit - Degenkolb - Swift, followed by Grosu and Holloway in the middle of the road. And on the other side:
Of the pre-stage favorites, we're missing one name - a big one: Coquard... Not a good way to start the season - but well, he's trying to jump away from the pack, maybe he'll still be in the mix for the stage win?
Under the red kite, Degenkolb is already about to overtake his final leadout Petit - isn't that a bit early? On the other side of the road, Volvo seem to do a better job, with Appollonio delivering a perfect leadout for Ahlstrand.
Swift still has Degenkolb's wheel and is now followed by Bewley, whose final leadout is done, as was to be expected. Lined up behind the Kiwi are Kennaugh, Howard, Groenewegen, Van Stayen, Grosu, Vanderbiest and Holloway.
Behind, Pedersen and Coquard are about to overtake the fading leadout riders, but they're about 200m behind Holloway - that will be a hard piece of work to come back from there! Silvestre, Enger and Kemboi are next in the line.
With 700m to go, Swift has already left behind a struggling Degenkolb. Ahlstrand and Bewley are about at the same level as the German, with Kennaugh, Howard, Groenewegen, Van Stayen, Grosu, Vanderbiest and Holloway coming next.
We're on the final 500 meters, and it's still looking good for Swift! Much better at least than for Degenkolb, who definitely hit the front too early and is losing spot after spot. The same holds for Bewley, too.
Howard has now drawn level with Ahlstrand, but Groenewegen and Kennaugh are almost side-by-side with the Aussie. Van Stayen and Grosu are next, whereas Vanderbiest and Holloway seem to be out of contention.
A lot can change in just 200 meters - and a lot has changed! Swift is fading and is now on one line with Kennaugh, Howard and Groenewegen - but Van Stayen has hit the front with just 300m left!
Grosu is still in the Belgian's slipstream, now closely followed by a very strong Holloway!
We can say that disaster has struck those with a leadout train; all of Degenkolb, Bewley and Ahlstrand are running out of gas way too early!
Only 200 meters to go, and we now see defending champion Grosu propelling himself out of Van Stayen's slipstream and drawing level!
Behind the two leaders, Kennaugh, Howard, Groenewegen and Holloway are fighting for 3rd place, whereas Swift is fading, too.
Further behind, we can see Coquard approaching - but that's way too late.
The finish line is already in sight, we only have 100 meters to go! Grosu now has a small margin on Van Stayen - but beware of Holloway, who's clearly the fastest man right now!
Kennaugh, Groenewegen, Howard and Swift are trying to fight back, but they might be running out of road!
What an amazing start for defending champion Eduard Grosu, as he wins the opening stage of the 2020 Tour of Qatar! He chose the right wheel and then perfectly timed his sprint - congratulations!
Michael Van Stayen finishes second, whereas Dan Holloway takes a great 3rd place - in a PT race, even after his decline. Hats off!
Behind, Groenewegen, Kennaugh and Howard are fighting for the next spots, whereas Ahlstrand has found some more energy and is challenging Swift for 7th place.
Dylan Groenewegen has a solid start in the race, finishing just outside the podium spots. Peter Kennaugh gets the final Top 5 position, followed by Leigh Howard.
Ben Swift finally holds off Jonas Ahlstrand for 7th. Sam Bewley takes a disappointing 9th place, while Romain Vanderbiest rounds off the Top 10.
John Degenkolb... What to say... His team did an amazing job, first chasing the breakaway, then setting up a perfect train - but they were just too early. Their leader lands even outside the bonus second spots, finishing 11th today.
But it's an even bigger disappointment for Salem Kemboi and Bryan Coquard, who finish 14th and 15th, behind leadouts Davide Appollonio and Adrien Petit. Fabio Silvestre, Mads Pedersen, Sondre Holst Enger, Emerson Santos and Raul Granjel Cabrera round off the Top 20.
At least, there's one big consolation: Although the clock stopped at 22" when Kemboi crossed the line, the judges decided to not award any time gaps today.
But now, let's head over to the victory ceremony:
Stage win, GC leader, points leader - welcome on stage, Eduard Grosu! The Romanian was the last rider to wear these two jerseys last year - and he's the first to wear them in 2020! His team's strategy worked like a charm, having Lampaert in the breakaway all day long and therefore not doing any work in the pack. Despite having good leadout riders with him, he decided to go train surfing once again - and he executed it to perfection!
Let's see if - unlike last year - the winner of stage one can keep his jerseys for more than one day - Michael Van Stayen and Dan Holloway, 2nd and 3rd today, along with many others will definitely try to beat him tomorrow!
The strongest young sprinter missed the decisive move today, and so Yudai Arashiro gets the first white jersey due to the bonus seconds he collected on the road! Leo Vincent is 2nd, two seconds down. Let's see if these two will attack again to increase the gap to Salem Kemboi, who despite being the best U25 finisher today trails by 5 seconds, just like all other contenders.
All teams finished with exactly the same final time, but Volvo acc. by Spotify had the best combined three places, with their riders finishing 8th, 12th and 21st. It's probably not much of a consolation for a mere 8th place by their leader, though... ISA - Hexacta and wildcard team Berg Cycles are on the next spots. But it is very, very likely that something decisive in these standings will happen only on the final day.
And that's it from the opening day. 9/10 of the bookies' favorites finished in the Top 11 today - with Coquard missing out on the Top 10 just as last year. We're sure that some riders - and especially some teams - will want to do better tomorrow, so stay tuned for some more world-class sprinting action!
Tour of Qatar 
