(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Bristling with confidence after his stage win on Monday, Katusha rider Alexander Kristoff yesterday produced another late surge to grab the win in stage four of the Tour of Qatar where overnight leader Niki Terpstra retained his lead despite a sluggish ride.
The 27-year-old Norwegian edged Slovakia's Peter Sagan in a photo-finish at Mesaieed after the riders completed a distance of 165.5km.
Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin), Adam Blythe (Astana) and Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) completed the top five after the pack reached the finish line 25 minutes ahead of schedule.
Several crashes were recorded much before the final sprint yesterday. Among the riders that went down included Lars Boom (Astana), Theo Bos (MTN-Qhubeka) and Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky).
None of the riders suffered any serious injury as all of them finished the stage behind Kristoff who seemed pleased with his well-timed surge at the end.
"I lost my team-mate near the end but we managed to do
good. In the last 300m I was struggling. I couldn't sprint as I was down a bit. I was leading and was barely able to hold off Sagan who was coming fast," Kristoff said.
"I wasn't sure if I won or not and that's why I couldn't celebrate," he said with a smile. "Yes, the peloton came really fast. I was hit by the winds. I will try to keep the yellow jersey," he added.
"Tomorrow (Thursday) is a new day. I will try again for a stage again. I think tomorrow will be a hard day as there could be a lot of crosswinds. Maybe we will see a small group at the end," the Norwegian added.
"I will try to win as it is a not easy. I shouldn't make a mistake. I hope I can be in the first group. I hope I can do it tomorrow," he said.
"I am very happy. I did not come here thinking I could win stages but now I have two. I am really where I should be. I feel good. It was a lot of headwind. It was quite in the pack. You get a lot of thrust. It could be different tomorrow. I have to be focused and ready to fight," Kristoff said.
Earlier yesterday, the picturesque site of Al Thakhira, just north of the city of Al Khor, welcomed the riders for the start of stage four.
After their time-trial effort on Tuesday, the 139 riders, including Terpstra, took off at 11.34am for a 165.5km ride to Messaieed.
After 10km, despite a fast pace, three riders managed to take off: Jacp Venter, Dmitriy Gruzdev and Jarl Salomein.
Their lead reached 3'40 as team Etixx Quickstep took control of the chase. The first intermediate sprint (at 76.5km mark) was claimed by Salomein ahead of Venter and Gruzdev while the pack remained 3' adrift.
The pack kept good control of the escapees and slowly moved closer. The second bonus sprint (at136.5-km mark) was won by Gruzdev in front of Salomein and Venter while the gap had dropped down to 1'15.
Eventually, the front three were caught by the pack with 20km to go. Fighting against the strong head wind all the way to Mesaieed, the peloton remained bunched without the slightest rider attempting a final attack.
When the time for a bunched sprint came, Kristoff powered to the line, beating Sagan and Arndt. Thanks to his second stage win, the Norwegian took command of the points classification and will be wearing the silver jersey in today's s penultimate stage.
The overall leader's golden jersey remains on the shoulders of Terpstra, but due to a slight gap in the pack, the Dutchman loses two precious seconds on his closest rival.
Terpstra now has a 6-second lead over Maciej Bodnar and 12 seconds over Ian Stannard. Great Britain's Luke Rowe remained the best young rider and keeps his white pearl jersey.
Krsitoff said he was surprised with his early-season dominance.
"I am surprised I have done so well. Normally I am a slow starter. I did not expect this. The plan is to win again and I know it is going to be hard. It has gone well two times so why not," Kristoff said.
"For me this is a training race to get in better shape. I have been coming here. I feel better this year. I had a good bike and good training. I feel better on the bike than previous years. Such things make a difference," Kristoff said.
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