2011 Tour of Qatar
The 10th Tour of Qatar ( Tour of Qatar ) was a cycling stage race. It was held for the women from 2 to 4 February and for the men from 6th to 11th of February.
The men's race
The Tour of Qatar was part of the UCI Asia Tour and was classified in category 2.1. The bicycle race was held in six stages over a distance of 714 kilometers. It started with a team time trial in the capital, Doha Cultural Village. The route offered no topographical difficulties, so that sprinters dominated the tour.
The victory secured the Australian Mark Renshaw of HTC -Highroad just ahead of his compatriot Heinrich Haussler ( Garmin- Cervélo ) and Italian Daniele Bennati of the Leopard Trek.
Participant
The organizer Amaury Sport Organisation won ten ProTeam for the event. In addition, there were still the Professional Continental team Skil- Shimano, TopSportWetten Vlaanderen- Mercator, FDJ, Geox - TMC, Farnese Vini- Neri sottoli and An Post - Sean Kelly at the start. The nominees are ten German, an Austrian and three Swiss.
Stages and race course
The Tour of Qatar started with a short prologue time trial in the Cultural Village of the capital Doha. The Dutch specialist Lars Boom here was able to secure the golden jersey before world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara. The first leg across the peninsula on which, as in all other sections of queuing two intermediate sprints, ended in a sprint of a large group that had formed after a wind edge and was able to pull to the rest of the field five minutes. Thanks to the Zeitbonifikationen in the target took over stage winner Tom Boonen ( Quick Step Cycling Team ) the golden jersey. The following day, Boonen could scarce defend it only by one second, as the German - Australian Heinrich Haussler, on the eve Second, the mass sprint won, while Boonen got no more time credit in sixth.
The third stage was in the south of Doha several times between Al Wakra and Mesaieed back and forth, again the wind played an important role. After a wind edge of which divided the field, and also in consequence, many drivers could no longer follow the pace of the first group. Again, this Team Garmin - Cervelo rider Heinrich Haussler make the sprint successfully and also took the overall lead because Tom Boonen had fallen due to a defect. The field was torn apart the next day just before the finish. Stage winner Mark Renshaw (HTC -Highroad ) took gold because Haussler received no Bonifikation fourth. As Renshaw Also on the final day, the ushered the pros back in the capital, Doha, valuable time bonuses at the two intermediate sprints worked, he was finally able to win the race, even if he and Haussler could not intervene in the struggle for the victory, the located the Italian neo- pro Andrea Guardini of Farnese Vini- Neri sottoli secured.