Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won stage two of the Tour of Qatar after going shoulder to shoulder with Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) in a thrilling sprint to the line.
A photo finish was needed to confirm the Norwegian as the stage winner and showed he won it thanks to a perfect late bike throw at the line. Roy Jans (Wanty Groupe Gobert) was third with Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) fourth after a late crash, 400 metres from the finish, scattered the peloton and left numerous riders on the ground.
With no barriers along the road side at that point and a strong side wind blowing, some riders went to their left following a gap in the curb, before a touch of wheels brought several riders down, including Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18), Graeme Brown (Drapac) and best young rider jersey wearer Søren Kragh Andersen (Giant-Alpecin).
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Only the leading six or so riders were ahead of the crash, with Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) leading out the sprint before finishing fifth. Kristoff opened his sprint early into the headwind and Cavendish took up the challenge and came out from his slipstream. They stayed shoulder-to-shoulder all the way to the line, with neither claiming victory because the sprint was too close. After a close study of the photo finish, Kristoff was awarded the victory.
Despite finishing second, Cavendish retained the leader’s gold jersey. Kristoff is now second at five seconds, with Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) third at 14 seconds.
How it happened
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