Kristoff Tackles Two, Cav Recovers Lead

Feb 11, 2016 – Norwegian Alexander Kristoff sprinted to the fourth stage victory in the Tour of Qatar on Thursday, as his compatriot Edvald Boasson Hagen lost the overall leader’s gold jersey to Mark Cavendish.

AFP/Kåre Dehlie Thorstad

Kristoff added to Tuesday’s second stage win by pipping his Katusha team-mate Jacopo Guarnieri and Belgian Greg van Avermaet to the line. The 28-year-old, who won three stages and the points classification in Qatar last year, is now fourth and just nine seconds behind overall leader Cavendish.

Cavendish finished fifth to retake the lead he lost to his Dimension Data team-mate Boasson Hagen on Wednesday. Boasson Hagen won the third stage, but he suffered a puncture on this 189 kilometer ride and lost 45 seconds to Cavendish.

The Briton takes a slender two second lead over van Avermaet into Friday’s fifth and final stage to Doha, as he looks to regain the gold jersey that he first won in 2013.

Final kilometers of Stage 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4AC3iA7d44

Results Stage 4:
1. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 3:57:12
2. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
3. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team Katusha
4. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18
5. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
6. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
7. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:00:06
8. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:08
9. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:09
10. Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha

General Classification:
1. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 10:51:13
2. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:02
3. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:06
4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 0:00:09
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:00:19
6. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:30
7. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 0:00:41
8. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team Katusha 0:00:49
9. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:00:50
10. Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:58