Stannard finding his racing legs and confidence in Tour of Qatar

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Still in the hunt after two stages of the Tour of Qatar, Ian Stannard probably couldn’t be happier with his comeback to racing in 2015.

The British rider finished 10th in a demanding stage 2 and sits 10 seconds off the overall leader, Katusha's Alexander Kristoff. With Tuesday’s individual time trial to come, Stannard has every chance of pulling himself into the overall fight for the race.



Stage 2 from Al Wakra to Al Khor Corniche saw Etixx-QuickStep provide a textbook lesson in echelon racing. They split the field within the opening few kilometres and although the majority of the peloton were able to regain contact, the Belgian squad repeated the feat every time the race was buffered by crosswinds.

Stannard missed the initial split but brought himself back into contention. From there he matched the favourites pedal stroke for pedal stroke.

“I didn’t’ have the best of starts today, to be honest. I was in one of the back groups but I managed to come back with one of the echelons and from there I managed to survive,” he told Cyclingnews.

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“I’m not entirely comfortable in the bunch yet after my crashes last year but I’m sure that after this race I’ll be alright. It’s been tough. I missed a whole year’s racing nearly and it’s been hard but I’m back to where I was, I think, and I’ll go from there.



“Last year, I really felt like I’d stepped up and I just want to keep some momentum going. Hopefully that will start once we get into Belgium.”



“When you have two big crashes like that you can be a little nervous in the bunch. You hear a noise or a brush of wheels and you think ‘Jesus Christ’. I’m sure that will settle down after this race.”



Tuesday’s individual time trial of 10.9 kilometres will provide Stannard with perhaps a truer indication of where his form lies. Not only that but it will determine whether he can challenge for the overall honours at this race.



“My time trial legs come out sometimes, don’t they? Hopefully they can come out tomorrow. "ll get on the bike, do my best and then see where I am.”

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