Welcome to the third stage of the 2020 edition of the Tour of Qatar! We had two mass-sprint finishes - and we expect the third in a row today!
The stage starts in Al Thakhira, at the East cost of the Qatar peninsula. Gone are those romantic ages where fishermen and pearl divers lived here - as almost anything in Qatar, the city is now mainly focused on the oil industry.
With the finish line being only 80 kilometers away taking the direct path, the organizers added some additional work - or kilometers - for the riders, before they can finally cross the finish line in Madinat Al Shamal - the "City of the North", which says pretty precisely where it is located.
Underways, we will again have two intermediate sprints; one in Al Guwairiya, after about 60 kilometers. The second one just 25 kilometers later, with about 60km to go, in Al Zubara. Yesterday, the intermediate sprints were decisive in terms of GC lead - let's see if they play an important role once again!
We don't have any wind today, which must be good news for all those who are still tired after yesterday's super-fast race. And super-fast will probably be an exact description of the finale, where we again expect the best sprinters to fight it out.
Therefore, we don't have any new names on the favorites list today, just a different ordering: Yesterday's winner and yellow jersey Degenkolb comes first, followed by Van Stayen and Bewley. Coquard has slipped down to the second category after his mediocre start, along with Howard and Ahlstrand. Swift, stage one winner Grosu, Kennaugh and Vanderbiest complete the bookies' Top 10. Missing on this list are the likes of Holloway or Groenewegen - well, there are just too many great riders to list them all.
But that's enough words for the moment, let's jump right to the start line!
The good news was that there's no wind today. The bad news is that we get some rain instead - a rare view in the desert! Still, we're pretty positive that this won't hinder some riders to attack very soon...
...as soon as the start flag is waved, to be precise. The waterproof attackers are Müller, Naud, van der Hoorn and Politt. Some new names up front!
But as you can guess, that won't stay like this. De Gendt and Arashiro are aggressive whether it's dry or wet. Wohler and Kneisky are trying their luck, too.
But given the enormous quality in this front group, the sprinter teams are chasing hard for about 15 kilometers to reel them back in. We have seen Zoidl, Arissol, Orken, Suryadi and Clarke doing most of the work.
However, Arashiro doesn't like to ride inside the pack, and so he tries again, along with three of the first attackers: Wohler, Naud and van der Hoorn.
But now those who wanted to be ahead and didn't manage are chasing hard, starting with De Gendt, followed by Bohli and Yzeiraj. Fortunately for the pack, there are no crosswinds today, given their current formation...
The gap is still less than a minute, and some riders must really be hoping that the race calms down soon.
It doesn't, and so the first victim is Naud who simply can't keep up anymore. Definitely an unexpected sight of an Evonik rider. He'll soon be overhauled by Yzeiraj, who is still pulling the bunch.
Just as the Albanian abandons the chase, three new riders capitalize on the slow-down to attack: Teunissen, Per and Ji.
We can see that some meters ahead, van der Hoorn has lost contact with the leaders, too. Only Arashiro and Wohler remain up front.
But all of those six attackers finally regroup, with the fresher riders currently doing all of the work. In the pack, the pace has significantly dropped, so that we can finally assume we have found the Breakaway of the Day!
Per would be the big favorite if they make it to the line. Of the "fresher" riders, he's the best rouleur, and he's definitely the strongest sprinter. All of the six are really good on the flat, but only Wohler and Arashiro - both looking very tired already - have a decent sprint as well. Teunissen, Ji and van der Hoorn would likely have to try something else than waiting for the final sprint.
However, we're pretty far away from such a scenario. 90km are yet to be ridden, and the gap is still just one tiny minute.
And we can see why it doesn't really increase. Many sprinter teams are working - not pushing as hard as they can yet, but with half of the breakaway already showing strong signs of fatigue, even setting a medium level pace is enough to keep them at bay.
We see Van der Kooij, Tanfield, Arissol, Galdoune, Verschaeve and Zoidl working at the moment.
At least, the breakaway gets the first intermediate sprint. And it isn't a big surprise to see the three fresher riders getting the points:
1. Per - 6
2. Teunissen - 4
3. Ji - 2
Which means that Per is just two seconds behind Arashiro in the U25 standings with this result, moving up to 3rd. And there's another intermediate sprint coming along...
Meanwhile, Farfetch will likely have a talk with their wheel supplier tonight; Menten had to ride the whole race all alone yesterday, and now it's De Bod who's got a flat tire. Hopefully he'll be luckier than his teammate!
Wohler and van der Hoorn actually didn't sprint - it's not that they didn't want to, but they just couldn't. They haven't been able to re-join the four others, and they're quickly losing ground now.
This duo is 26" behind the leaders, with the peloton following 1'34" later - so the total gap has gone up to two minutes with about 80km remaining!
Per wins the second intermediate sprint as well, but Arashiro currently fends him off in the U25 standings, where he's the virtual leader by one second (with Kemboi currently 2 minutes behind, safe in the bunch).
1. Per - 6
2. Arashiro - 4
3. Ji - 2
Now, that's a really new picture! Festina have obviously decided that they need to work harder today if they want to finally get a good result, and so they're doing the whole chasing stuff together with Moser.
Their work isn't too successful right now, as they have lost a few more seconds and are now trailing the leading foursome by 2'12".
And by the way, De Bod has caught the peloton in the meantime and has already taken his position in front of Kemboi.
With 50 kilometers to go, the breakaway adventure comes to a premature end for Wohler and van der Hoorn. ISA - Hexacta have now jumped in for the chase, too. The gap is down to 1'42".
If only...
... the organizers had decided to shorten the race, then the escapees would take the stage. They can see the red kite and the finish line just a few kilometers from where they are - but the race is still 33km long.
With the pack only 1'10" behind, it is likely that they won't be the first to reach that line that seems to be so close right now...
Meanwhile, Bauhaus and Ballerini have joined the chase, now that their teammate isn't up front anymore. Still, it's mainly Festina with Kastrantas, Bouglas and Ioannidis, as well as Moser with Granjel Cabrera, Soupe and Turek doing most of the work.
With 27.5km to go and the pack trailing by only a minute, Teunissen tries his luck all alone.
To no avail, as almost always. His solo lasts for exactly 3km, then he is reeled in by his companions. At least, the breakaway riders have gained a few seconds on the pack by this acceleration - will it be enough?
Still 20 kilometers remaining, and the bunch is cutting off second by second of the breakaway's lead. 48" left - that will be a hard piece of work!
But the peloton shows no mercy and reels them in under the 10km banner.
As always in the first two stages, more and more ISA riders can be seen at the front as closer as we get to the finale. Moser are a well-known leadout team, too, whereas Festina really seem to have finally found their legs!
Not much has changed in the previous five kilometers - but we can now see a surprising presence of King Power riders at the front. Sure, Hsu is a decent sprinter - but the riders we see are Nielsen and Leung... That's probably just to ensure that the latter - among the epilogue favorites - doesn't lose time by a suddenly occurring gap.
Now, that's great cycling! ISA - Hexacta, Moser - Sygic and Festina - OAKA all have built up a perfect sprint train with 3,000m remaining! The other top sprinters seem to be happy enough with taking the wheels of Degenkolb, Bewley and Coquard - let's see which way proves to be more successful today!
With 2km to go, the three trains are still rocking and rolling, and those behind should hurry up before those up front really take off! Groenewegen is trying to hold Coquard's wheel, whereas Grosu chooses to follow Bewley.
Kemboi is behind Groenewegen, followed by Howard. Vanderbiest leads Swift and Pedersen on these final 2,000 meters, whereas Kennaugh, Van Stayen, Enger and Ahlstrand are slightly further behind. And Holloway is not even in the first 50 positions!
Here we go, the sprint is on! We see a perfect leadout by Soupe, Petit and Bouglas for their respective leaders! Let's try to get an overview of the current positions under the red kite:
Bouglas
Petit
Soupe
Degenkolb
Bewley
Coquard
Grosu
Groenewegen
Kemboi
Howard
Vanderbiest
Swift
Santos
Silvestre
Farantakis
Leung
Nielsen
Granjel Cabrera
Kennaugh
Just as yesterday, Kennaugh has somehow missed the decisive moment. But it's much worse for Van Stayen, Ahlstrand and Holloway, as they're even further back! What a great chance for Degenkolb to increase his overall lead!
With just 700m to go, leadout rider Bouglas is still in front - but his man Coquard has just left his slipstream! Bewley and Degenkolb have done so a little earlier and are already side-by-side with their leadouts!
Groenewegen following Coquard and Kemboi behind Bewley have picked perfect wheels, whereas Grosu is a bit stuck behind a fading Soupe.
Howard and Vanderbiest are desperately trying to somehow catch a wheel, whereas Swift and Silvestre are again doing a senseless duel - one on the left, the other on the right side of the road.
Leung and Nielsen are falling behind as expected and are about to be caught by Kennaugh, whereas the other missing "big guns" are nowhere to be seen yet.
Only 500m to the line - and guess who has hit the front? Of course, it's race leader Degenkolb! However, he's leading only by a very tight margin on Bewley, and both Coquard and Grosu seem to be faster right now. Groenewegen and Kemboi are next, with Howard and Vanderbiest slowly catching up.
Swift and Silvestre - well, you can see on your own. Mr. fintas should definitely send them to a very basic tactics course... Or IS that in fact their strategy?
100m later, it's hard to say who's in the lead. One of Bewley, Grosu, Degenkolb and Coquard, that's for sure - but which one? Remember, Grosu is just 3" behind Degenkolb, so this definitely is a fight for the race lead in addition to the stage win! Bewley being 11" back needs to hope those two somehow fade a bit in the end.
Groenewegen is moving very fast and is almost level with the four leaders, and Kemboi isn't much further behind, either. Howard and Vanderbiest are struggling to gain enough ground, whereas Bouglas is still in the mix for a Top 10, too!
Behind, we can see that Kennaugh has still not overtaken the King Power duo, with the others being even further down the road.
With 200m to the line, Bewley is slightly fading, but Grosu, Degenkolb and Coquard are still on one line - with Groenewegen almost there, too!
Kemboi isn't far off, either, but the fastest moving guy right now is Vanderbiest with 73km/h, against 68km/h from most others!
Just 100 meters remaining - and from this perspective, it seems that Coquard has taken the lead now! However, it's a very, very close race between him, Degenkolb and Grosu - and let's still not write off Bewley and Groenewegen!
Kemboi is still in 6th place, while Vanderbiest struggles to find enough space to fully use his great speed! On the other side, Howard is moving fast, too, but might be running out of road!
Only a few meters to the line, and Coquard is still very slightly ahead! Grosu and Degenkolb are still in the mix, while Groenewegen and Bewley seem to be fighting for 4th - but beware of Kemboi who has saved some energy for a last push!
Howard and Vanderbiest are currently 7th and 8th, with the Berg duo still fighting each other!
And we have the 3rd different winner on the 3rd stage, as Bryan Coquard is able to fend off all attacks!
In a very close race, Eduard Grosu pips John Degenkolb for 2nd - which means that they now both have the exact same overall time! Let's see what that means for the yellow jersey...
4th place will go to Groenewegen or Bewley - let's see who gets it!
It's Dylan Groenewegen! He looked for quite a long time like he could actually even challenge for the win, but just didn't have the speed in the end. Sam Bewley on the other hand wasn't able to capitalize enough on a great leadout and has to settle for 5th.
Salem Kemboi crosses the line in 6th position, extending his lead in the U25 standings, whereas Leigh Howard still hasn't found his great legs from last year and takes 7th, after two 6th places on the first two days.
Romain Vanderbiest wasn't able to hold Kemboi's wheel and then was unable to catch up later, finishing 8th.
Ahead of Fabio Silvestre, who again beats Ben Swift - the PCT duo finishes 9th and 10th - way behind the best PCT rider that again was Kemboi.
Georgios Bouglas then celebrates his teammate's win (and his great leadout) instead of fighting for 11th, which goes to Geoffrey Soupe ahead of Adrien Petit.
Joanis Albert Nielsen shows some sprinter talent, finishing even ahead of a completely disappointed Peter Kennaugh. Chun Wing Leung is 16th.
Michael Van Stayen then wins the sprint of the losers, ahead of Jonas Ahlstrand, Dan Holloway and Gabriel Chavanne, who concludes today's Top 20.
Again, we had some top shots missing the decisive move - for some it was a first, for others already the second time. There's definitely a lot to be discussed in some team hotels tonight, whereas others will surely be celebrating!
Festina - OAKA definitely belong to the latter category, as they have finally found a working strategy, perfectly rounded off by Bryan Coquard's stage win! Believe it or not - it's his first one here in Qatar!
In a very close finale, he beats Eduard Grosu and John Degenkolb by a few inches and is definitely back in the fight for the overall win!
Which is of course true as well for Eduard Grosu, who claims back the jersey he lost yesterday! He has the exact same overall time as 2nd place John Degenkolb, but as he got a 1st, 2nd and 11th place, his tie-breaking value is one point better than the German's who was 1st, 3rd and 11th... What a tense race!
But it doesn't stop there, as we have not just two, but three riders 16" back! Sam Bewley, Bryan Coquard and Dan Holloway are 3rd to 5th - which will be a big relief for today's winner, as he's by far the strongest prologue rider among those.
He may have lost the overall lead, but at least John Degenkolb keeps the points jersey. His 52 points are almost, but not completely matched by Eduard Grosu's 50. Sam Bewley in 3rd place is already 17 points down - but with three stages yet to be done, everything is still possible!
Which is very likely not the case in the race for the white jersey, as Salem Kemboi is just one class above the rest. In seconds, that's currently 11 ahead of Yudai Arashiro and 12 ahead of David Per - but none of them can challenge him in the sprints or in the epilogue. I can already hear some managers challenging PCT wildcards...
Unfortunately, the organizers are still unable to get the team standings right, putting the last team first... So there's no picture of the leading team, but we already had one of their riders on the podium, as it's still ISA - Hexacta! They lead 18 "tie-breaking points" ahead of Moser - Sygic, and 75 ahead of Grieg-Maersk. But for sure, the final stage will completely reshuffle things here...
And that's all for today. We saw Bryan Coquard's redemption after two disappointing results, he have two riders leading the GC with the same time - and we had once again several big names missing out on the decisive move. Who will do well tomorrow? Who will fail? We will see!
Tour of Qatar 
