Tour of Qatar: Andre Greipel sprints to stage five win as Niki Terpstra retains overall lead

Andre Greipel claimed his third win of the season

Greipel (Lotto Belisol) made amends for being beaten by Tom Boonen on stage four by powering to his third win of the season.

He was the first man to launch his sprint for the line in Madinat al Shamal and was never really challenged, crossing the white stripe more than a bike's length ahead of second-placed Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge), with Theo Bos (Belkin) following in third.

Terpstra (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) finished in ninth to consolidate his 17-second lead at the top of the general classification over team-mate Boonen, who was eighth on the day.

It means Terpstra now only has to survive Friday's short sprint stage into the Doha Corniche to complete the first stage-race win of his career.

Britain's Ian Stannard (Team Sky) finished safely in the peloton to retain fourth place overall, 37 seconds down on Terpstra, while compatriot Andrew Fenn (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) remains ninth, 1min 18sec back.

Stage five result

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol, 3:48:53
2 Aidis Kruopis (Lit) Orica-GreenEdge, same time
3 Theo Bos (Ned) Belkin, st
4 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo, st
5 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling, st
6 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol, st
7 Sam Bennett (Ire) NetApp-Endura, st
8 Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, st
9 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, st
10 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale, st

General classification

1 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, 13:08:31
2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, +17secs
3 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol, +20
4 Ian Stannard (GB) Team Sky, +37
5 Michael Morkov (Den) Tinoff-Saxo, +48
6 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol, +56
7 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, +57
8 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, +1:05
9 Andrew Fenn (GB) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, +1:18
10 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Tinkoff-Saxo, +1:23