Edvald Boasson Hagen changed out of the gold jersey quickly at the end of stage 4 of the Tour of Qatar. As the Dimension Data post-mortem took place around him, he sat quietly in a deck chair by the team car, already laying the garment out on his lap and smoothing it absent-mindedly with his hands.
The Norwegian had entered the day as the race’s seemingly impregnable overall leader, but a double puncture with eight kilometres remaining, just as the race was splitting up, proved ruinous. He lost 45 seconds to the front group and slips to 5th overall, all hopes of final victory quashed.
Mark Cavendish finished safely in the front group but was a late arrival at the impromptu debriefing, sinking into the vacant seat beside Boasson Hagen. The Briton’s presence was required post-haste at the podium to take possession of the gold jersey vacated by his teammate, but before hurriedly changing into fresh kit for the occasion, Cavendish threw an arm around Boasson Hagen’s shoulder and offered a sympathetic smile. What use were mere words?
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“To be honest with you, there’s not a lot you can do,” Dimension Data directeur sportif Roger Hammond told reporters of Boasson Hagen’s doomed attempt to chase back on. “They rode a perfect stage, they were in control all the time and then there was a puncture at the worst possible time. But what can you do only try to rectify it.”
For the first time all week, the wind was relatively gentle for most of stage 4 and Boasson Hagen had, for the most part, enjoyed an untroubled day in the gold jersey. Even as the bunch began to split on the final lap of the finishing circuit under the impetus of BMC’s forcing, the Norwegian was safely tucked into the front group when his race unravelled.
Boasson Hagen swiftly procured a replacement front wheel from the neutral service car when he punctured with 8 kilometres remaining, but no sooner had he remounted than he had to stop by the roadside once again. This time, teammate Youcef Reguigui handed over his bike, while Mark Renshaw, Tyler Farrar and Jay Thomson dropped out of the front group to aid his pursuit, but to no avail.
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