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Tour of Qatar: Loddo takes fourth stage

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30.01.2008/ Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff) won tofays fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar. Loddo outsprinted all favourites at Al Khor. Loddo won the overall in 2003 and was the fastest man of a group of 40 riders. Overall leader Tom Boonen came in second and defended his overall lead.

© Tinkoff
Alberto Loddo outsprinted Tom Boonen (© Tinkoff )

The 131.5 kilometres long fourth stage started at the Khalifa Stadium and finished at Al Khor Corniche. Under a blue sky a pack of 130 riders took off north, the riders started fast, taking advantage of a tail wind on most of the stage. 

After 18 kilometres four riders attacked: Niki Terpstra (Milram), Roy Curvers (Skil-Shimano), Alexander Gottfried (Tinkoff) and Rubens Bertogliati (Saunier Duval - Scott). A few moments later, a counter-attacking group including Nico Eeckhout (Topsport Vlaanderen), Agnus Morton (Drapac Porsche), Omar Hasanin (Doha Team) and Hossein Jahanbanian (Iranian Cycling Federation) started moving closer. After 32 kilometers, the chasing group was 1' 20" behind while the bunch was 1' 35" adrift. The counter-attackers caught the escapees after 44 kilometres, the bunch was 1'15" adrift.

The average speed in the first hour of theb race was 52,1 km/h, the eight leaders reached the fist intermediate sprint at Al Jemailya (km 52). Hasanin outsprinted Curvers and Terpstra for bonus seconds and points. After 65 kilometres the race leaders reached their maximum lead: 1'30". A little bit later and like on the previous days, the Quick Step team decided to ease up the pace. Behind the breakaway group that only had left 15"on the bunch after 73 kilometres, the pack broke up into three groups.

After 74 kilometres the eight escapees were caught back by the first bunch. Of all the stage victory contenders, only Danilo Napolitano (Lampre), runner-up to Boonen on the two previous days was not part of the leading group of around 40 riders. The advantage of the Boonen group rapidly grew, from 35" after 87 kilometres to 1' 05" after 105 kilometres and finally 1' 40" with 20 kilometres to go. 

At the second bonus sprint at Umm Suwaiya (km 122), Greg Van Avermaet (Silence - Lotto) outsprinted Jurgen Roelandts (Silence - Lotto) and Steven De Jongh (Quickstep).

Getting closer to the finish at Al Khor Corniche, the Quick Step train started working for Boonen. But Italian Alberto Loddo finally surprised everyone, beating Boonen and Sebastian Siedler (Skil - Shimano) on the line. After winning a stage back in 2002 and even claiming the overall in 2003, 29 year old Loddo proved that it was possible to beat 'Tornado Tom' in Qatar. Boonen defended his overall leadership with an 18" advantage over De Jongh. Boonen also keeps command of the points classification while Van Avermaet, third overall, remains the best young rider.

Stage winner Alberto Loddo said: "It was a fantastic stage. It’s a huge satisfaction for me and the whole team. It’s the first race of the year. I really have to thank my team mate Trussov who did a fantastic job helping me to get into the wheels of the Quick Step riders in the last kilometre and a half. It’s great to win five years after triumphing here in Qatar. Racing in Qatar is rather special because it’s so windy. The speed is amazing during the whole stage and we ride at speeds of around 50km/h. It’s my second stage win here after 2002. The year starts well."

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Special Coverage Tour of Qatar 2008

Results Tour of Qatar 2008
 
stage 4
 
1 Alberto Loddo (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems                           2.44.33
2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step                                                
3 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Skil-Shimano                                       
4 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Credit Agricole                                        
5 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre                                                 
6 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                           
7 Kenny De Haes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                    
8 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                    
9 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                    
10 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                   
11 Luciano André Pagliarini Mendonca (Bra) Saunier Duval - Scott             
12 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas                                          
13 Roberto Longo (Ita) Lampre                                                
14 Robert Wagner (Ger) Skil-Shimano                                          
15 Roberto Petito (Ita) Liquigas                                             
16 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick Step                                          
17 Omar Hasanin (Syr) Doha Team                                              
18 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                     
19 Nicolaï Trussov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                              
20 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram                                              
21 Cycril Lemoine (Fra) Credit Agricole                                      
22 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas                                              
23 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                
24 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                      
25 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre                                                
26 Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott                                   
27 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas                                              
28 Martyn Maaskant (Ned) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                             
29 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Credit Agricole                                 
30 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Credit Agricole                                       
31 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram                                           
32 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Silence - Lotto                                  
33 Angus Morton (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                          
34 Curvers Roy (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                            
35 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas                                           
36 Hossein Jahanbanian (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                         
37 Alexander Gottfried (Ger) Tinkoff Credit Systems                          
38 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step                                          
39 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick Step                                       
40 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                  
41 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                    
42 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                       0.09
43 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                    0.11
44 Julian Dean (NZl) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                              0.16
45 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                            
46 Huub Duyn (Ned) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                                   
47 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Quick Step                                       0.21
48 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step                                           
49 Kilian Patour (Fra) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                            0.39
50 Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas                                       
51 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step                                        0.49
52 David Millar (GBr) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                             1.00
53 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step                                   1.53
54 Antonio Cruz (USA) BMC Racing Team                                     3.16
55 Abbas Saeiditanha (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                           
56 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                            
57 Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                               
58 Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team                                       
59 Rafaa Chitioui (Tun) Doha Team                                            
60 Peter Mc Donald (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                       
61 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Milram                                            
62 Dean Windsor (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                          
63 Koen Barbé (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                      
64 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval - Scott                            
65 Abdelbasat Hanachi (Alg) Doha Team                                     6.20
66 Aymen Ben Hassine (Tun) Doha Team                                         
67 Hossein Askari (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                           6.26
68 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Skil-Shimano                                         
69 Raul Alarcon Garcia (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott                        8.37
70 Amir Zargari (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                                
71 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Saunier Duval - Scott                           
72 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram                                         
73 Evert Verbist (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                   
74 Robbie Williams (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                       
75 Alberto Curtolo (Ita) Liquigas                                            
76 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                  
77 Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC Racing Team                                     
78 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                               
79 Volodymyr Dyudya (Ukr) Team Milram                                        
80 Matej Jurco (Svk) Team Milram                                             
81 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                              
82 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                         
83 Nikita Eskov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                 
84 Tareq Esmaeili (Qat) Doha Team                                            
85 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre                                           
86 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre                                                  
87 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                          
88 Hamad Afif (Qat) Doha Team                                                
89 Seyed Mostafa Seyed Rezaei Khormizi (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation         
90 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott                                 
91 Khaleel Abduljanan (Qat) Doha Team                                        
92 Taylor Tolleson (USA) BMC Racing Team                                     
93 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                           
94 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                     
95 Moosa Said (Qat) Doha Team                                                
96 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Silence - Lotto                                        
97 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram                                        
98 Hossein Nateghi (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                             
99 Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott                               
100 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre                                           
101 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre                                              
102 Ghader Mizbani Iranagh (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                     
103 Bernardo Riccio (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems                             
104 Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                      
105 Mathieu Heijboer (Ned) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                      
106 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                     
107 Jean-Paul Simon (Bel) Credit Agricole                                    
108 Gene Bates (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                           
109 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                      
110 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Saunier Duval - Scott                            
111 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                      
112 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                      
113 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                      
114 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                        
115 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                      
116 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                           
117 Frank Hoj (Den) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                             
118 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team                                        
119 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Credit Agricole                                   
120 Yohann Gène (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                       
121 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                        
122 William Bonnet (Fra) Credit Agricole                                     
123 Bert Roesems (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                       
124 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                     
125 Bart Vanheule (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                  
126 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                              
127 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                       
128 Eric Berthou (Fra) Credit Agricole                                       
129 Guido Trenti (USA) Liquigas

General Classification after stage 4
 
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step                                          8.48.57
2 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick Step                                        0.18
3 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                 0.26
4 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                        0.32
5 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                  0.36
6 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                 0.56
7 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Silence - Lotto                                1.00
8 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick Step                                     1.09
9 Alberto Loddo (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems                              1.20
10 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step                                        1.26
11 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Skil-Shimano                                   1.27
12 Robert Wagner (Ger) Skil-Shimano                                       1.30
13 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                         1.36
14 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Credit Agricole                                    1.37
15 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                       
16 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step                                       1.40
17 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Credit Agricole                                 
18 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre                                             1.43
19 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                   1.44
20 Luciano André Pagliarini Mendonca (Bra) Saunier Duval - Scott          1.46
21 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Quick Step                                       2.08
22 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas                                        2.28
23 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step                                        3.00
24 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas                                       4.24
25 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram                                        4.30
26 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram                                           4.31
27 Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott                                4.36
28 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas                                           4.40
29 Roberto Petito (Ita) Liquigas                                             
30 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                         4.47
31 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                       4.50
32 Antonio Cruz (USA) BMC Racing Team                                     5.00
33 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Credit Agricole                                    5.09
34 Curvers Roy (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                         5.34
35 Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team                                    7.47
36 Omar Hasanin (Syr) Doha Team                                           8.04
37 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step                                   8.16
38 Martyn Maaskant (Ned) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                          9.00
39 Kenny De Haes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                9.07
40 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre                                         9.08
41 Nicolaï Trussov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                           9.09
42 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                  9.11
43 Roberto Longo (Ita) Lampre                                             9.26
44 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence - Lotto                               9.27
45 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas                                          10.12
46 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Credit Agricole                                10.17
47 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram                                     10.21
48 Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                   10.29
49 Julian Dean (NZl) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                             10.37
50 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre                                            10.38
51 Cycril Lemoine (Fra) Credit Agricole                                  12.06
52 Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas                                   12.29
53 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Silence - Lotto                                    13.02
54 William Bonnet (Fra) Credit Agricole                                  13.04
55 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                       13.07
56 Volodymyr Dyudya (Ukr) Team Milram                                    13.18
57 David Millar (GBr) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                                
58 Yohann Gène (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                    13.24
59 Mathieu Heijboer (Ned) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                   13.28
60 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Saunier Duval - Scott                         13.29
61 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                               13.40
62 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                              15.34
63 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Skil-Shimano                                     15.45
64 Dean Windsor (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                      16.27
65 Koen Barbé (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                  16.54
66 Huub Duyn (Ned) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                               17.05
67 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team                                     17.48
68 Frank Hoj (Den) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                          17.52
69 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                       
70 Robbie Williams (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                   18.03
71 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram                                    18.04
72 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                 18.20
73 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre                                           18.27
74 Bernardo Riccio (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems                          18.43
75 Alberto Curtolo (Ita) Liquigas                                        18.52
76 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                            19.14
77 Rafaa Chitioui (Tun) Doha Team                                        20.29
78 Eric Berthou (Fra) Credit Agricole                                    20.53
79 Evert Verbist (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                               20.56
80 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                               
81 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                   20.57
82 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                                   21.27
83 Alexander Gottfried (Ger) Tinkoff Credit Systems                      21.28
84 Angus Morton (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                      21.29
85 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                   22.17
86 Aymen Ben Hassine (Tun) Doha Team                                     22.20
87 Nikita Eskov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                             22.36
88 Hossein Askari (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                          22.50
89 Ghader Mizbani Iranagh (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                  23.39
90 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Saunier Duval - Scott                       24.40
91 Peter Mc Donald (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                   24.45
92 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre                                       24.58
93 Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                           25.03
94 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott                             25.06
95 Bert Roesems (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                    25.31
96 Bart Vanheule (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                               25.36
97 Taylor Tolleson (USA) BMC Racing Team                                 25.37
98 Matej Jurco (Svk) Team Milram                                         25.40
99 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                     25.41
100 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                           
101 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                        
102 Raul Alarcon Garcia (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott                      25.42
103 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                          25.49
104 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                         25.55
105 Guido Trenti (USA) Liquigas                                          26.22
106 Gene Bates (Aus) Drapac Porshe                                       26.28
107 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                     26.33
108 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Milram                                       27.15
109 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval - Scott                       27.20
110 Abbas Saeiditanha (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                      27.32
111 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                   27.56
112 Abdelbasat Hanachi (Alg) Doha Team                                   28.03
113 Hossein Nateghi (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                        28.09
114 Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott                          28.43
115 Hossein Jahanbanian (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                    28.46
116 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                    30.05
117 Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC Racing Team                                30.07
118 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                 30.11
119 Kilian Patour (Fra) Slipstream p/b Chipotle                          30.20
120 Seyed Mostafa Seyed Rezaei Khormizi (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation    30.24
121 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre                                             30.34
122 Jean-Paul Simon (Bel) Credit Agricole                                31.26
123 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                  31.55
124 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                 32.36
125 Amir Zargari (IRI) Iran Cycling Federation                           32.53
126 Tareq Esmaeili (Qat) Doha Team                                       37.19
127 Hamad Afif (Qat) Doha Team                                           38.18
128 Moosa Said (Qat) Doha Team                                               
129 Khaleel Abduljanan (Qat) Doha Team                                   38.27

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