No, this is not a track meet, but looking at the past two days of racing in Qatar might lead you to believe it was.
First you have Britain’s Bradley Wiggins from Garmin – Slipstream scoring the first leaders jersey of the Tour of Qatar with a great ride in the prologue. A member of the British track team that has ruled the roost lately, Wiggins is also known for his time trialing ability on the road.
Fast forward to today and you have another Brit, Roger Hammond from the Cervelo TestTeam, taking the jersey from his compatriot with a brilliant solo move for the win.
On a windy day in Qatar, Hammond broke away from the leading group of riders with just under 3 kilometers from the finish line.
“We started attacking and I was the lucky one,” said Hammond to the BBC. “We knew it was going to be windy. We knew it wasn’t going to a be a sprint finish. We had to attack and that’s what we did.”
The flat desert roads took their toll on the peloton enabling Hammond to power away from the race and seal the deal on his first major victory since winning stage 2 at the Tour of Britain in 2006.
Results for the 136.5km second stage of the Tour of Qatar from Doha to Al Khor:
1. Roger Hammond (GBR) Cervelo 3hr 33min 00sec, 2. Danilo Napolitano (ITA) at 1sec, 3. Heinrich Haussler (GER) s.t., 4. Tom Boonen (BEL) s.t., 5. Angelo Furlan (ITA) s.t., 6. Murilo Fischer (BRA) s.t., 7. Andreas Klier (GER) s.t., 8. Xavier Florencio (ESP) 4, 9. Vicente Reynes (ESP) s.t., 10. Daniel Lloyd (GBR) s.t
Overall standings:
1. Roger Hammond (GBR0 Cervelo 3hr 39min 30sec, 2. Tom Boonen (BEL) at 6sec, 3. Heinrich Haussler (GER) 7, 4. Murilo Fischer (BRA) 9, 5. Andreas Klier (GER) 11, 6. Steven De Jongh (NED) 11, 7. Vicente Reynes (ESP) 13, 8. Angelo Furlan (ITA) 14, 9. Xavier Florencio (ESP) 14, 10. Daniel Lloyd (GBR) 14