In short
| Stage winner | Tom BOONEN |
 (maillot or) |
Glenn BAK |
 (maillot argent) |
Leon VAN BON |
 (maillot bleu) |
Mikel GAZTANAGA |
All classifications
| Stage |
|---|
 |
|
• Individual time • Individual points • Best young • Best team |
|
| Overall |
|
|
• Individual time • Individual points • Best young • Best team |
Stage by stage
| 1 | Sunday 28 January | 6 km |
| Corniche de Doha | team TT | |
| 2 | Monday 29 January | 135.5 km |
| Al Wakra > Qatar Olympic Committee | ||
| 3 | Tuesday 30 January | 140 km |
| Dohat Salwa > Khalifa Stadium | ||
| 4 | Wednesday 31 January | 139.5 km |
| Camel Race Track > Doha Golf Club | ||
| 5 | Thursday 1 February | 160.5 km |
| Al Zubarah > Mesaieed | ||
| 6 | Friday 2 February | 134 km |
| Sealine Beach Resort > Doha Corniche | ||
| Total | 715.5 km | |
The race
Tuesday 30 January 2007| stage 3 | Dohat Salwa > Khalifa Stadium - 140 km |
|---|
Boonen does it again
The third stage of the 2007 Tour of Qatar saw Tom Boonen triumph for the second consecutive day. After covering the 140kms of a windy course, the Belgium once again proved he was the fastest of the pack, beating his arch rival Alessandro Petacchi to the line.
The film of the stage
Stage 3: Dohat Salwa – Khalifa Stadium,140 km
134 riders at the start, 17 teams
Good weather conditions: slightly cloudy, windy
Without Tom Steels who suffered a broken collarbone after falling during yesterday’s sprint, the remaining 134 riders of the Tour of Qatar took off from Dohat Salwa on the western coast of the country, enjoying a strong rear wind for the first 60 kilometres of the race. Indeed during the first hour of racing, 57.5 kms were covered by the pack. The first attempt of Frenchman Bichot (AGR) after only 2 kilometres proved to be vain as he was caught just 5 kms later. Several other riders then tried to break away but the pack led by the sprinter’s team never let the slightest attempt take off for too long.
A bunched pack therefore reached the first bonus sprint of the day (km 35) where Steegmans (QST) claimed maximum points ahead of Tjallingii (SKS) and Rosseler (QST). These three riders were joined by 8 others and carried on their effort for a few kilometres before being caught by a pack led by the Milram and Rabobank teams. The second intermediate sprint (km 59) was won by Chicchi (LIQ) ahead of Nazon (A2R) and Sieberg (MRM).
As the riders started heading east back to Doha and had to face a strong head wind, the pace slowed down (33.4 kms covered during the 2nd hour) and one man managed to break away. Paul Healion (SKT) indeed gave it a go at kilometre 82 and saw his lead rapidly increase: from 1’35 at km 85 to 5’20 at km 94. Two other riders decided to break away at kilometre 94: Baumann (TMO) and Feillu (AGR) while the front man from Ireland enjoyed a maximum 7’ advantage over the pack at km 99.
From then on, the gap started dropping and the counter-attacking riders moved closer to the stage leader. At km 106, Baumann and Feillu were just 3’ adrift and the pack at 5’20. Seven kilometres later, Healion was caught by his followers as the pack was 2’15 behind. Healion first and then his two late breakaway companions were caught with under 10 kms to go. It was then time to prepare for a bunched sprint. Tom Boonen made the best of his excellent early season form to power to his second straight win, beating Alessandro Petacchi (MRM) and Bernhardt Eisel (TMO). The Belgian keeps control of the overall leader’s golden jersey.
LE MAGAZINE
Tom Boonen: ’’Important to beat Petacchi’’
I already said before the start of this Tour of Qatar that it would be very important for me to be able to sprint against Alessandro Petacchi, and important to be able to beat him. Today, I again managed to do so and I’m very satisfied. If you look at the last few seasons, I haven’t really had the opportunity to sprint against him. Here, with my Quickstep team, we have the opportunity to see how he sprints, how he prepares… We also have the possibility to work on a strategy to beat him. To win two sprints against Petacchi, so early in the season is very good for the moral.