Dear spectators, this is day number two here in Qatar, where sunny weather and a moderate breeze are awaiting us. Grosu won yesterday's opening stage, and he'll surely be among the favorites once again.
But before we get to the finish line, there's some work to do. Actually, the riders could have taken the direct way, which would have been about 80 kilometers - but no. From the starting location - Dukhan, where Qatar's first oil well was drilled back in 1937 - the riders will head south to Umm Bab. But that's just to add some kilometers, as they'll make a U-turn and ride back towards the start line.
From there, they will ride North-East to Al-Jumayliyah, passing by the first intermediate sprint in Umm Al Quhab after 67 kilometers. It is on this section that they will face crosswinds blowing currently at about 20km/h.
The next section, South-East to the second intermediate sprint in Al Oturiya, will be very fast, given the tailwind. From there, about 40km are remaining, whereof the last 15 will again be a tailwind section. The finish line is in Ar Rayyan, Qatar's biggest city, just 10km North of Doha. Today's winner will be celebrated just outside the Al-Gharafa stadium.
That's all you need to know about today's route. Now, a word or two about the favorites. Well, they are pretty much the same as yesterday, except that the bookies replace Vanderbiest by Groenewegen. Van Stayen, Degenkolb and Coquard are the top favorites once again - the first of them delivered yesterday, can another one claim at least a podium spot today?
We'll soon find out - let's jump directly to the start line for some more action!
3 - 2 - 1 - Go! Per is the first one to launch an attack, but of course he isn't the only one with such plans. Ji, Teunissen, Christensen and Hennessy are jumping in, too.
Arashiro, one of those never-tiring riders, wants to try to extend his lead in the U25 standings and joins the front group, too, followed by De Gendt.
But that isn't all yet. Kneisky and Yzeiraj - another one of yesterday's attackers - are trying to join the leaders.
The next one is Oliveira, jumping to Per's wheel - but as you can see, the pack isn't too happy and is pushing hard, led by Ballerini and Aular.
And after almost 20km of chasing, Soupe closes the gap, and we're back to "Gruppo Compatto". Well, not completely, as Menten suffered a puncture 10km ago, and due to the very high speed until now is already 3'30" back.
And it won't be an easy task for him to come back, as the pace goes up once again with the next attacks. This time, we have Tennant, Fominykh, Anderberg, Vlasov and again De Gendt up front.
But Arashiro isn't amused at all about having missed that split, and so he leads the pack at the turning point.
However, even the Japanese eventually tires out and has to fold. Per takes over, trying the same thing - but finally he abandons, too.
Meaning we have our Breakaway of the Day! Let's take a look at them. It's actually hard to differentiate between them, as all are decent to strong rouleurs, and none of them can really sprint. De Gendt has the best stamina, Anderberg has the highest resistance and is the strongest flat rider, together with Tennant. Fominykh and Vlasov might be the weakest members, but not far off the others. So if they should have a shot at the stage win, it would be a really interesting fight!
But for now, we have a fight for the first intermediate sprint. Anderberg wins it easily, whereas the others cross the line abreast. Let's see what the judges decide.
1. Anderberg - 6
2. De Gendt - 4
3. Fominykh - 2
Which means that Anderberg joins Vincent in the U25 standings, trailing Arashiro by 2" - but of course, he's the virtual leader, given the current gap to the pack.
The said pack is still just 1'37" behind, which can't be called a comfortable lead. Zoidl leads the bunch across the line.
This high speed is obviously very bad news for Menten, who trails by more than 7 minutes now. He might have a hard time making the time limit, if the pace doesn't drop at some point...
By the way, there was almost no wind at all on the expected crosswind section - only now that the riders get into the tailwind part, it's coming up again.
We have a very early catch today, given that there are still more than 40km to go - and one intermediate sprint remaining! Will the big guns already step into action, or will they wait for the finish line?
Most of the work was done by Indosat, Aegon and Festina today. By the way, am I the only one thinking that the Aegon riders' arms look like smurf arms? What an idea to wear long-arm jerseys in the desert...
And indeed, we do have some big names competing for the second intermediate sprint - and how crazy are those car and motorbike drivers?!?
Anyway, Degenkolb shows that he's got the legs today, winning this sprint ahead of Kennaugh.
After having done a lot of work yesterday, Moser and ISA were hiding in the pack until now. But with just about 20km to go, they're now controlling the bunch - and they surely want to do better than yesterday!
Nothing has changed in the last 15 kilometers, the same two teams are still sharing the work. But the other teams are slowly moving their sprinters into position, too. The next two kilometers will be decisive for positioning!
Just 3 kilometers to go and ISA have almost vanished from the front - only Feng is remaining there. Then, we already have the Moser train with Baska, Soupe and Bewley - that's definitely working better than yesterday!
Ahlstrand has found the perfect wheel, following Bewley. Swift and Kemboi are behind him, followed by Van Stayen and Groenewegen.
Well, ISA haven't really disappeared, just the tempo riders. Now, they have a perfect train with 2,000m remaining: Santos - Petit - Degenkolb. The train Baska - Soupe - Bewley is still rolling fast - but Granjel Cabrera is actually by Bewley's side instead of being ahead of him.
We then have Ahlstrand, Swift, Van Stayen and Groenewegen following Bewley, whereas Kemboi is in between the two trains, with no leadout. Enger is trying to catch Degenkolb's wheel, closely followed by race leader Grosu.
Coquard, Howard, Holloway, Kennaugh and Vanderbiest are slightly further behind, but just a few meters behind Grosu, so nothing's lost yet.
Just as yesterday, the ISA - Hexacta leadout is so strong that there's a gap behind the first 16 riders - let's take a look at their positions:
Petit
Soupe
Degenkolb
Bewley
Howard
Kemboi
Ahlstrand
Holloway
Enger
Swift
Grosu
Silvestre
Baska
Van Stayen
Groenewegen
Coquard
I wonder what Berg are doing, as Silvestre is not even trying to lead out Swift, but is going for glory on his own!
Again, we have some big names missing in this front group; today they are Kennaugh and Vanderbiest. Appollonio and many other presumed leadout riders are absent, too - ISA - Hexacta just broke their plans!
With 700 meters to go, we still have Petit up front, with Soupe just behind him. Both Degenkolb and Bewley have somehow lost their leadout's wheel, but that shouldn't be an issue for the final meters!
Howard is about to overtake Degenkolb, while we have Holloway, Ahlstrand and Kemboi on the next line. Enger leads out Grosu, who's in a Berg sandwich. Van Stayen, Groenewegen and Coquard have a long way to the front - can they find another gear?
Degenkolb hits the front with 500m remaining! Howard, Holloway and Bewley are slightly behind, followed by Ahlstrand, Kemboi and fading leadouts Soupe and Petit.
Enger, Grosu and Silvestre are almost side by side, whereas Swift seems to struggle finding a gap.
Coquard, Groenewegen and Van Stayen don't look to be able to gain a lot of ground right now, they should better speed up a bit!
Just 300m to the line, and Degenkolb is still ahead! Howard seems to have the edge over Holloway, Bewley and Ahlstrand for 2nd, while Kemboi tries to find a breach in the first row.
Silvestre and Swift are almost level - strange team tactics. Grosu is fighting to keep his jersey, but has already been overtaken by Coquard now.
Van Stayen is still trying to move up, whereas Enger and Groenewegen don't seem to have the best of days, still behind the two leadouts Petit and Soupe.
Only 200 meters remaining, and Degenkolb still preserves that tiny advantage! Howard still seems to be 2nd, with Bewley and Holloway fighting for 3rd, Ahlstrand being not far away, either. And even Kemboi seems to have found some space - can he even hit the front?
Swift and Silvestre are still fighing in a team-intern duel, whereas Coquard is about to overtake both of them. Grosu isn't as strong as yesterday, trying to hold off Van Stayen now.
As we hit the final 100 meters, someone has slightly faded - but it's not Degenkolb, who is still ahead, but Howard! Bewley is now ahead of him, and both Ahlstrand and Holloway are moving faster, too. Kemboi has a really strong finish as well!
Coquard is now more or less level with Swift, Silvestre being slightly ahead. Grosu still has the edge over Van Stayen, with Groenewegen and Enger hopelessly behind.
What a sprint by John Degenkolb! The German took the front position with 500m to go, and held off all the attacks! Today, he rounds off a great team effort - well done!
But who will come second? Bewley, Holloway and Ahlstrand all seem to be able to get that place, but even Kemboi could still do it! Howard will likely have to settle for 6th, despite a great sprint - that's PT level, my friends!
OK, OK, I won't make a guess here. Sam Bewley, Jonas Ahlstrand and Dan Holloway are crossing the line in a photo finish - we'll have to wait for the judges to announce the exact order! What is sure is that they are 2nd, 3rd and 4th - but the order could actually decide on the GC lead!
Behind, Salem Kemboi narrowly outsprints Leigh Howard for 5th, whereas the Berg riders and Coquard are fighting for 7th through 9th.
The final Top 10 spot will probably go to either Van Stayen or Grosu - or can Groenewegen produce an incredible lunge?
Fabio Silvestre finally wins the fight against Ben Swift; the PCT sprinters take 7th and 8th, and may have a talk with their DS tonight...
Bryan Coquard gets another disappointing result, claiming 9th. Disappointing, that's true as well for Michael Van Stayen in 10th, Eduard Grosu in 11th, Dylan Groenewegen in 12th and Sondre Holst Enger in 13th position.
The remaining Top 20 riders are:
14.
Geoffrey Soupe
15.
Adrien Petit
16.
Peter Kennaugh
17.
Jo Kogstad Ringheim
18.
Soren Kragh Andersen
19.
Emerson Santos
20.
Jodok Salzmann
We do have so many great sprinters that some of them will always walk away with a disappointing result. But if it happens twice in a row, as was the case for Coquard, you might need to rework your plans. The good news is that there are still three flat stages to do better - let's see if he can indeed be finally in the mix tomorrow!
But now, it's still today. And we still haven't got the full results. Let's just recap: Degenkolb has won 28 bonus seconds today - thanks to that intermediate sprint. Grosu got none, so he lost his jersey today.
The only one who could actually end up ahead of Degenkolb is Holloway - who needs 13 bonus seconds to draw level with the German, meaning that he needs to be 2nd or 3rd. We'll see... Let's first celebrate the stage winner, as there's absolutely no doubt about this one!
And that winner is John Degenkolb! After a stunning leadout job delivered by his teammates, he was able to ride to line honors, resisting all the attacks. Congratulations to him and ISA - Hexacta! It was stage win number 6 for him in Qatar - more to come?
We still don't know the full podium yet, so we can't name 2nd and 3rd places - and the ceremony continues with the best U25 rider!
And this one is the clear pre-race favorite, who is very, very likely to keep that jersey until the end: Salem Kemboi! The Kenyan champion got enough bonus seconds today to take a 5" lead over Yudai Arashiro, and 7" ahead of Leo Vincent. Hampus Anderberg, who won the first intermediate sprint, failed to finish inside the peloton and hence falls out of contention.
But now, finally, we get the news that the GC leader will step onto the podium. It is...
... John Degenkolb! He leads one tiny second ahead of Dan Holloway, who therefore missed out on the podium today, finishing 4th. Eduard Grosu is 3rd in the GC standings, 3" behind - exactly those three seconds from the bonus sprint...
John Degenkolb leads the point standings with 36 points, too, ahead of Eduard Grosu and Dan Holloway who both have 30 points.
And to make it an almost one-team-show, ISA - Hexacta now lead the team standings, too - not a big surprise with 3 riders in the Top 20.
For completion, let's name today's full podium: John Degenkolb wins ahead of Jonas Ahlstrand and Sam Bewley. It was a truly narrow race, with millimeters deciding between 2nd and 4th. All of them - and many more - will want to strike back tomorrow!
That's it from an exciting stage. We saw a very, very fast race, with a breakaway reeled in even before the second intermediate sprint - which finally allowed Degenkolb to claim the race lead.
We saw two great sprint trains that worked out really well today, with Degenkolb winning and Bewley claiming 3rd. The fine-tuning worked! And we saw poor Milan Menten, losing contact with the pack after 10km - but he made the time limit, having almost 10min to spare!
All in all, we can say that John Degenkolb's dream of a 3rd overall win is more alive than ever - but I know some other guys who won't let him win that easily... Be prepared for more fun tomorrow!
Tour of Qatar 
