3rd Tour of Qatar - 2.3

Qatar, February 2-6, 2004

2003 results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners

The Stages

Stage 1 - February 2: Sealine Beach Resort - Doha Landmark, 150.5 km
Stage 2 - February 3: Al Zubarah - Doha Hyatt Plaza, 151 km
Stage 3 - February 4: Camel Race Track - Camel Race Track, 189.5 km
Stage 4 - February 5: Al Wakra - Al Wakra, 168.5 km
Stage 5 - February 6: Doha Golf Club - Doha Corniche, 163 km

Preview

While most riders are choosing to start their seasons with the Challenge Illes Balears, Etoile des Bessèges or the Tour de Langkawi this week, a sizeable chunk will be soaking up the sun and sand in Qatar, with the third edition of the Tour of Qatar taking place between February 2-6. Although not renowned as a cycling country, Qatar has demonstrated that it can host an international quality stage race, and together with the input of the Amaury Sport Organisation and Eddy Merckx, it is establishing itself as one of the desirable ways to start the season. There is also the matter of €106,810 in prize money that will be up for grabs.

There are a few changes to the format this year, notably with the addition of the Doha International GP on January 31, won by Simone Cadamuro (De Nardi). The Tour of Qatar itself starts on February 2, and will cover 822 km before finishing in Doha on February 6. Not all stages finish in Doha this year, which is another break with tradition.

The race is characterised by flat, fast and windy stages, with the general classification typically decided by small margins. Last year's race was won by Alberto Loddo (Lampre) just ahead of Olaf Pollack (Gerolsteiner), although the two riders finished on the same time.

Start list

Saunier Duval                      Fassa Bortolo
 
1 Alberto Loddo (Ita)              11 Fabian Cancellara (Swi)
2 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi)         12 Francesco Chichi (Ita)
3 David Canada (Spa)               13 Luca De Angeli (Ita)
4 Juan Jose Cobo (Spa)             14 Mauro Facci (Ita)
5 Angel Gomez (Spa)                15 Alberto Ongarato (Ita)
6 Manuele Mori (Ita)               16 Roberto Petito (Ita)
7 Francisco Ventoso (Spa)          17 Fabio Sacchi (Ita)
8 Oliver Zaugg (Swi)               18 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel)
 
Quick.Step-Davitamon               T-Mobile
 
21 Servais Knaven (Ned)            31 Daniele Nardello (Ita)
22 Tom Boonen (Bel)                32 Mario Aerts (Bel)
23 Davide Bramati (Ita)            33 Eric Baumann (Ger)
24 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel)        34 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger)
25 Nick Nuyens (Bel)               35 Tomas Konecny (Cze)
26 Bram Tankink (Ned)              36 André Korff (Ger)
27 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel)         37 Stephan Schreck (Ger)
28 Stefano Zanini (Ita)            38 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz)
 
Team Saeco                         Gerolsteiner
 
41 Dario Pieri (Ita)               51 Olaf Pollack (Ger)
42 Gabriele Balducci (Ita)         52 Robert Förster (Ger)
43 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita)             53 Marcus Fothen (Ger)
44 Stefano Casagranda (Ita)        54 Sven Krauss (Ger)
45 Salvatore Commesso (Ita)        55 Sebastian Lang (Ger)
46 Gerrit Glomser (Aut)            56 Volker Ordowski (Ger)
47 David Loosli (Swi)              57 Torsten Schmidt (Ger)
48 Jorg Ludewig (Ger)              58 Peter Wrolich (Aut)
 
Rabobank                           Team CSC
 
61 Marc Wauters (Bel)              71 Lars Michaelsen (Den)
62 Jan Boven (Ned)                 72 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den)
63 Kevin De Weert (Bel)            73 Bekim Christensen (Den)
64 Hans Dekkers (Ned)              74 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita)
65 Robert Hunter (RSA)             75 Tristan Hoffman (Ned)
66 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned)           76 Frank Hoj (Den)
67 Roy Sentjens (Ned)              77 Jimmi Madsen (Den)
68 Bobbie Traksel (Ned)            78 Michael Sandstod (Den)
 
AG2r Prévoyance                    Phonak Hearing Systems
 
81 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra)        91 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra)
82 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra)      92 Michael Albasini (Swi)
83 Stéphane Berges (Fra)           93 Bert Grabsch (Ger)
84 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra)           94 Uros Murn (Slo)
85 Stephane Goubert (Fra)          95 Gregory Rast (Swi)
86 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr)            96 Daniel Schnider (Swi)
87 Julien Laidoun (Fra)            97 Johann Tschopp (Swi)
88 Christophe Oriol (Fra)          98 Alexandre Usov (Blr)
 
Brioches La Boulangère             Lotto-Domo
 
101 Thomas Voeckler (Fra)          111 Peter Van Petegem (Bel)
102 Walter Beneteau (Fra)          112 Christophe Detilloux (Bel)
103 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra)       113 Leif Hoste (Bel)
104 Anthony Geslin (Fra)           114 Thierry Marichal (Bel)
105 Christophe Kern (Fra)          115 Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus)
106 Rony Martias (Fra)             116 Koos Moerenhout (Ned)
107 Alexandre Naulleau (Fra)       117 Leon Van Bon (Ned)
                                   118 Ief Verbrugghe (Bel)
 
Crédit Agricole                    De Nardi
 
121 Damien Nazon (Fra)             131 Serguei Gontchar (Ukr)
122 Stéphane Auge (Fra)            132 Ruggero Borghi (Ita)
123 Sébastien Hinault (Fra)        133 Simone Cadamuro (Ita)
124 Lilian Jegou (Fra)             134 Leonardo Giordani (Ita)
125 Sébastien Joly (Fra)           135 Matej Jurco (Svk)
126 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz)        136 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita)
127 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)         137 Igor Pugaci (Mda)
128 Bradley Wiggins (GBr)          138 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita)
 
Vlaanderen-T Interim
 
141 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel)
142 Koen Barbe (Bel)
143 Steven Caethoven (Bel)
144 Bart De Spiegelaere (Bel)
145 David Meys  (Bel)
146 Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel)
147 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel)
148 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel)

Past winners

2003 Alberto Loddo (Ita) Lampre
2002 Thorsten Wilhelms (Ger) Team Coast

Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com