Tour of Qatar: Alexander Kristoff wins stage four as Niki Terpstra sees lead cut and Ian Stannard stays third
Wednesday 11 February 2015 14:10, UK
Britain’s Ian Stannard consolidated third place at the Tour of Qatar but Niki Terpstra saw his overall lead cut on a flat fourth stage won by Alexander Kristoff.
Norwegian Kristoff claimed his second stage victory of the six-day race by beating Peter Sagan into second place, Nikias Arndt into third and Britain’s Adam Blythe into fourth.
The peloton split apart in the closing kilometres, with the first 14 riders crossing the line five seconds ahead of the main bunch.
Maciej Bodnar, who is second overall, was the only rider in general classification contention to make it into the front group, meaning his deficit to Terpstra is reduced from 11 seconds to six.
Wiggins loses more time
Stannard led the second group over the line in 15th place and although he also lost time to Bodnar, he remains 12 seconds off the gold jersey in third place.
Fellow Team Sky rider Luke Rowe has fallen from fifth to sixth overall after being leapfrogged by Kristoff, who picked up 10 bonus seconds for his win.
Sir Bradley Wiggins, meanwhile, lost time on the leader for the fourth day in succession, finishing in a third group 17 seconds down on the winner and 12 seconds behind the gold jersey in 81st place.
The race continues on Thursday with a 153km fifth stage from Al Zubara Fort to Madinat Al Shamal.
Stage four result
1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, 4:15:57
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Giant-Alpecin, same time
3 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Giant-Alpecin, st
4 Adam Blythe (GB) Orica-GreenEdge, st
5 Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF, st
6 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling, st
7 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana, st
8 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana, st
9 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Movistar, st
10 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st
Selected others
12 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, st
15 Ian Stannard (GB) Team Sky, +5secs
30 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step, st
25 Luke Rowe (GB) Team Sky, st
81 Sir Bradley Wiggins (GB) Team Sky, +17
General classification
1 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step, 12:09:44
2 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, +6secs
3 Ian Stannard (GB) Team Sky, +12
4 Greg van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing, +19
5 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, +21
6 Luke Rowe (GB) Team Sky, +33
7 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo, +37
8 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling, +39
9 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana, +41
10 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step, +42
Selected other
75 Sir Bradley Wiggins (GB) Team Sky, +10:14
