Dutchman Lars Boom (Rabbobank) opened his account early today at the Tour of Qatar, dramatically beating world champion Fabian Cancellara into second place during the race's opening prologue over the cobbled streets of Doha's Cultural Village. The final step on the day's podium went to Boom's compatriot Tom Veelers (Skil-Shimano), with Team Sky's Juan Antonio Flecha and Alex Dowsett putting in a strong effort and picking up fourth and fifth respectively.
Today's start of the Tour of Qatar marked a decade of the Gulf race's existence on the calendar. A total of 126 riders took the start for the 2.5 kilometer effort, with wind and a technical course punctuating the presence of cobblestones. Flecha was the first of the top five to start, and his time of 3 minutes and 13 seconds remained at the top until the specialists began to fire out of the start gate.
In the end, it was Boom who pulled off the upset, beating Cancellara by a clear 4 seconds to take the first Golden Jersey of this year's race, with his win also giving him the lead in the points competition. Sky's Dowsett earned the Best Young Rider's jersey for his efforts.
Tomorrow's first stage will see the riders set out 145.5 kilometers between Dukhan and Al Khor Corniche. With their sixth and seventh place finish in today's prologue, the Quick Step pair of Gert Steegmans and Tom Boonen have demonstrated they have to form to challenge in the sprints. HTC Highroad, meanwhile, have to rely on Irish road race champion Matt Brammeier and Australian sprinter Mark Renshaw after the team's logical captain, Mark Cavendish, crashed during his effort and ended the day last overall.
2011 Tour of Qatar Prologue Results:
1. Lars Boom (Rabobank) 3'07"
2. Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) @ 4"
3. Tom Veelers (Skil-Shimano) @ 5"
4. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) @ 5"
5. Alex Dowsett (Sky) @ 6"
6. Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) @ 6"
7. Tom Boonen (Quick Step) @ 7"
8. Maarten Wynants (Rabobank) @ 7"
9. Tomas Vaitkus (Astana) @ 8"
10. Matthew Brammeier (HTC-Highroad) @ 9"
11. Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad) @ 9"
12. Roger Kluge (Skil-Shimano) @ 9"
13. Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 10"
14. Nikolas Maes (Quick Step) @ 10"
15. Tom Stamsnijder (Leopard-Trek) @ 10"
16. Joost Posthuma (Leopard-Trek) @ 11"
17. Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing) @ 11"
18. Tanel Kangert (Astana) @ 11"
19. Gediminas Bagdonas (An Post-Sean Kelly) @ 12"
20. Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) @ 12"