The 4th stage of the Tour of Qatar saw Jaco Venter go on the offensive, attacking with Dimitry Gruzdev (Astana) and Jarl Salomein (Topsport-Vlaanderen) after just 10km of racing. The trio built a lead of up to 3’45” at one stage before the prevailing winds ignited the chase from the peloton.
The escape was not to be despite the brave effort from the attackers. The sprinters teams nullified the gap with 18km remaining and a nervy bunch sprint then ensued. Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung were in the mix for the finale and with 8km we were in control of the peloton.
Coming into the finish though the fight for position intensified and in the end Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) took the victory on the line, edging Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) into 2nd place and Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) was 3rd across the line. Niki Terpstra (Etixx-Quickstep) held on to his overall lead.
Jaco Venter – Rider
Jens Zemke – Head of Performance
