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3rd Tour of Qatar - 2.3
Qatar, February 2-6, 2004
Main Page Results Previous Stage
Stage 5 - February 6: Doha Golf Club - Doha Corniche, 163 km
Hunter finishes in style
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Robert Hunter (Rabobank) finished the third Tour of Qatar in fine style, taking the final stage and finishing atop the podium in the general classification. The South African won two of the five stages, beating Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) and Tom Boonen (Quick.Step-Davitamon), who held onto the silver and blue jerseys for the points and young rider classifications.
The final stage of the tour was held over 163 kilometres between the Doha Golf Club and Doha Corniche. From the drop of the flag, the tempo was extremely fast throughout the stage, with the top sprinters and their teams looking to control the bunch in what has been a hard-fought race. Still seeking a stage win, Robbie McEwen dispatched his Lotto-Domo teammates to put the pressure on Tom Boonen and race leader Hunter. The team's effort was not enough to shed McEwen's rivals, but it was enough to split the peloton into several groups and put nearly half the field in difficulty.
Boonen, although he was unable to win the final stage, showed himself to be the most consistent sprinter of the bunch by taking both intermediate sprints and securing his silver jersey of points leader. At each sprint McEwen was just behind, but unable to get the better of the big Belgian.
Finishing on a circuit, the race thundered to the Doha Corniche and McEwen's teammate Koos Moerenhout took his chances on a last ditch effort to break clear of the dwindling field. Quick.Step was not about to let a break go clear, and promptly reeled in the Dutchman.
In the end it was Robert Hunter who rocketed clear, dusting McEwen and Boonen and winning the stage ahead of Italian Francesco Chichi (Fassa Bortolo) and Wouter Van Mechelen (Vlaanderen-T Interim). Hunter claimed the final gold jersey at the head of a final classification whittled down to just 41 riders. A tough week for some as the Tour of Qatar perhaps begins to shed its moniker as an easy training race.
Photography
Images by AFP Photo/Karim Jaafar-STR
- Robert Hunter (Rabobank) takes the final sprint ahead of Francesco Chichi (l)
- Robert Hunter (Rabobank) is awarded the trophy and final gold jersey of the 3rd Tour of Qatar
Results
1 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 3.28.41 2 Francesco Chichi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 4 Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 5 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Team Saeco 6 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team CSC 7 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 8 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 9 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 10 Frank Hoj (Den) Team CSC 11 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 12 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Crédit Agricole 13 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 14 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Domo 15 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC 16 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 17 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Team Saeco 18 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 19 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 20 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 21 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon 22 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2r Prévoyance 23 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 24 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto-Domo 25 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 26 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Fassa Bortolo 27 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 28 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 29 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 30 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.08 31 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Team CSC 0.10 32 Leif Hoste (Bel) Lotto-Domo 0.12 33 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.14 34 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.17 35 Serguei Gontchar (Ukr) De Nardi 0.34 36 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 37 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.42 38 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Rabobank 15.55 39 Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 40 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 41 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank Oustide time limit HD Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim HD Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim HD David Meys (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim HD Bart De Spiegelaere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim HD Steven Caethoven (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim HD Koen Barbe (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim HD Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim HD Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) De Nardi HD Igor Pugaci (Mda) De Nardi HD Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) De Nardi HD Matej Jurco (Svk) De Nardi HD Leonardo Giordani (Ita) De Nardi HD Simone Cadamuro (Ita) De Nardi HD Ruggero Borghi (Ita) De Nardi HD Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Crédit Agricole HD Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Crédit Agricole HD Stéphane Auge (Fra) Crédit Agricole HD Ief Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Domo HD Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto-Domo HD Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo HD Alexandre Naulleau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère HD Rony Martias (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère HD Christophe Kern (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère HD Anthony Geslin (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère HD Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère HD Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère HD Alexandre Usov (Blr) Phonak Hearing Systems HD Johann Tschopp (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems HD Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems HD Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems HD Michael Albasini (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems HD Christophe Oriol (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance HD Julien Laidoun (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance HD Stephane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance HD Stéphane Berges (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance HD Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance HD Michael Sandstod (Den) Team CSC HD Jimmi Madsen (Den) Team CSC HD Bekim Christensen (Den) Team CSC HD Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) Team CSC HD Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank HD Hans Dekkers (Ned) Rabobank HD Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank HD Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner HD Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner HD Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner HD Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner HD Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner HD Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner HD Jorg Ludewig (Ger) Team Saeco HD David Loosli (Swi) Team Saeco HD Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Team Saeco HD Stefano Casagranda (Ita) Team Saeco HD Gabriele Balducci (Ita) Team Saeco HD Dario Pieri (Ita) Team Saeco HD Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) T-Mobile HD Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile HD André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile HD Tomas Konecny (Cze) T-Mobile HD Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) T-Mobile HD Mario Aerts (Bel) T-Mobile HD Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile HD Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon HD Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo HD Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo HD Luca De Angeli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo HD Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Saunier Duval HD Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval HD Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval HD Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval HD David Canada (Spa) Saunier Duval HD Alberto Loddo (Ita) Saunier Duval DNS Juan Jose Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval DNS Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval Points 1 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 30 pts 2 Francesco Chichi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 27 3 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 25 4 Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 23 5 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Team Saeco 21 6 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team CSC 19 7 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 17 8 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 15 9 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 13 10 Frank Hoj (Den) Team CSC 11 11 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 10 12 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Crédit Agricole 9 13 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 8 14 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Domo 7 15 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC 6 16 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 5 17 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Team Saeco 4 18 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3 19 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 2 20 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 1 Sprints Al Khor - 38.00 km 1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 3 pts 2 Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 2 3 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1 Doha - 107.50 km 1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 3 pts 2 Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 2 3 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 1 Young rider 1 Francesco Chichi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3.28.41 2 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 3 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 4 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 5 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 6 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 7 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2r Prévoyance 8 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 9 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 0.34 10 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Rabobank 15.55 11 Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 12 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank Teams 1 Team CSC 10.26.03 2 Lotto-Domo 3 Fassa Bortolo 4 Ag2R Prevoyance 5 Rabobank 6 Quick.Step-Davitamon 7 Phonak Hearing Systems 31.58 Final general classification 1 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 17.33.17 2 Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 0.08 3 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.12 4 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 0.13 5 Frank Hoj (Den) Team CSC 0.33 6 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Fassa Bortolo 0.34 7 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC 0.38 8 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon 9 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 0.40 10 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 11 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.44 12 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Domo 13 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.50 14 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.56 15 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.12 16 Francesco Chichi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1.29 17 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.30 18 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team CSC 19 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 20 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 21 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Team Saeco 22 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 23 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 1.32 24 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2r Prévoyance 1.42 25 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 2.11 26 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 6.47 27 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon 8.33 28 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto-Domo 9.08 29 Leif Hoste (Bel) Lotto-Domo 9.48 30 Serguei Gontchar (Ukr) De Nardi 10.46 31 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 10.48 32 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 15.24 33 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 16.39 34 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Rabobank 31.20 35 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Team Saeco 34.46 36 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 34.51 37 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Team CSC 34.56 38 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 35.49 39 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 43.17 40 Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 59.15 41 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems Points classification 1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 120 pts 2 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 116 3 Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 108 4 Francesco Chichi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 84 5 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 83 6 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 49 7 Frank Hoj (Den) Team CSC 47 8 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Crédit Agricole 35 9 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC 33 10 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 30 11 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team CSC 30 12 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto-Domo 30 13 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 25 14 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Fassa Bortolo 23 15 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Team Saeco 23 16 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 21 17 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon 20 18 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Domo 19 19 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole 19 20 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 17 21 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 16 22 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 14 23 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Team Saeco 12 24 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 10 25 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 10 26 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Rabobank 10 27 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 9 28 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2r Prévoyance 9 29 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 8 30 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 5 Young rider classification 1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 17.33.29 2 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.32 3 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.44 4 Francesco Chichi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1.17 5 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1.18 6 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 1.20 7 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2r Prévoyance 1.30 8 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 6.35 9 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 15.12 10 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 16.27 11 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Rabobank 31.08 12 Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 59.03 Teams classification 1 Fassa Bortolo 52.41.35 2 Lotto-Domo 0.06 3 Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.12 4 Rabobank 0.57 5 Team CSC 1.06 6 Ag2R Prevoyance 1.58 7 Phonak Hearing Systems 1.50.26
