Tour of Qatar: Sir Bradley Wiggins loses 33 seconds as Jose Joaquin Rojas beats Tom Boonen on stage one
Sunday 8 February 2015 20:04, UK
Sir Bradley Wiggins finished 33 seconds down on his rivals as Jose Joaquin Rojas sprinted to victory on a wind-ravaged opening stage of the Tour of Qatar.
Wiggins, riding in his first race of the season, was caught on the wrong side of a late split in the peloton and finished well down the field in 80th place.
A reduced front group of 51 riders arrived at the finish for a bunch sprint, which Rojas won comfortably ahead of Tom Boonen in second place and Arnaud Demare in third.
Peter Sagan, making his debut for Tinkoff-Saxo, was fourth, while 2014 Tour of Qatar winner Niki Terpstra finished on the same time as the front-runners in 17th.
With bonus seconds taken into account, Rojas now leads Boonen in the general classification by four seconds, with Demare a further two seconds back in third.
Wiggins trails Boonen
Wiggins is 81st, 43 seconds behind Rojas and, potentially more importantly, 39 seconds adrift of four-time Tour of Qatar winner and fellow pre-race favourite Boonen.
Two of Wiggins’ compatriots and Team Sky team-mates fared better than he did. Luke Rowe finished 29th and Ian Stannard in 40th, both in the front group, leaving them 10 seconds off the pace overall.
The late split was the second time Wiggins had fallen foul of crosswinds, having found himself marooned in one of the rear groups on the road when the gusts blew the peloton to pieces with around 60km to go.
The bunch later came back together, but Wiggins would have no reprieve when the wind caused more havoc in the finale.
The race continues on Monday with a 194.5km second stage from Al Wakra to Al Khor Corniche.
Stage one result
1 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Movistar, 3:49:50
2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step, same time
3 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr, st
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo, st
5 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18, st
6 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing, st
7 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling, st
8 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana, st
9 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, st
10 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, st
Selected other
80 Bradley Wiggins (GB) Team Sky, +33
General classification
1 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Movistar, 3:49:40
2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step, +4secs
3 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr, +6
4 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step, +8
5 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida, +9
6 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo, +10
7 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18, same time
8 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing, st
9 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling, st
10 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana, st
Selected other
81 Bradley Wiggins (GB) Team Sky, +43
