Team Sky's riders finished in the main peloton as Tom Boonen powered to victory in the third stage of the Tour of Qatar
Bunch finish is marred by high-speed crash
Team Sky's riders finished in the main peloton as Belgian sprinter Tom Boonen powered to victory in the third stage of the Tour of Qatar at Mesaieed on Tuesday.
The 136.5km route from Dukhan turned into a dramatic bunch sprint and it was Quick Step rider Boonen who proved strongest, with Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo TestTeam) and Baden Cooke (Saxo Bank) filling the podium positions.
Russell Downing led home Team Sky as he finished 18th on the stage.
However the finish was marred by a pile-up further back in the peloton in the final 200 metres which saw several riders crash to the ground, with Milram's Gerald Ciolek reportedly suffering a broken collarbone in the incident.
Thankfully Team Sky's riders managed to avoid the melee, as Senior Sports Director Scott Sunderland explained: "It was a super-fast last few kilometres and then in the closing stages five or six riders came down.
"We'd had a team meeting beforehand and said we're here to do well but don't want to be taking any unnecessary risks at this stage of the season if it's not merited."
Working together
Team Sky had seen Kurt-Asle Arvesen ruled out of the race on Monday when he broke his collarbone at the start and Sunderland added: "It was a tough day yesterday but a little bit better today even though we had another four punctures on account of some rough road surfaces.
"The main thing now is for the riders to get to know each out on the road, and get used to communicating and working with each other on the bike in different race situations."
With the peloton finishing together it means Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil) retains his overall lead, nine seconds ahead of Geert Steurs (Topsport Vlaanderen). Boonen's time bonus takes him up from fourth to third, albeit one minute and 55 seconds behind Mol.
Earlier in the stage Steven Van Vooren (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Gatis Smukulis (Ag2R-La Mondiale) had tried to repeat Steurs and Mol's heroics from 24 hours earlier by launching a breakaway but, with crosswinds far less of a factor, they were reeled in with relative ease.
