Belkin had  a mixed day in the Tour of Qatar. While new signing Barry Markus sprinted to third on the extremely fast stage, the team's GC rider Lars Boom broke a wheel and lost all hopes of a podium finish in the desert race.

Barry Markus held on and claimed third place in a record-fast Tour of Qatar stage three today. The Belkin Pro Cycling Team rider finished behind winner Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol). Markus had given up hope but still managed to connect with the Boonen and Greipel’s front group in the last six kilometres. 
 

“The pace was so darn high today,” said the young Dutchman, who placed second twice in Qatar last year. “The field was completely torn apart but we just kept driving and eventually we were able to bridge the gap.” 

The high speeds wore Markus out but he decided to push ahead one last time.

“I suffered all day long but thanks to good work by Robert Wagner and Graeme Brown I was still able to finish third. Any more than that wasn’t really in the cards for me. I’m happy with this result.” 

Boom loses place

Lars Boom broke his wheel coming into the finish and lost third place in the overall classification. 

“The roads were very bad today and several riders, not just ours, damaged their wheels, which had to be changed of course,” said Sports Director Jan Boven. “In the final, bad luck struck and Lars fell behind. It was too bad given his amazing time trial yesterday. He was in a good position. We had hoped to hold on to the third place but these things happen and there’s nothing you can do about it.” 

The group set a record average speed of 56 kilometres per hour, over 135 kilometres from Dukhan to Mesaieed, a mark never before reached in the Tour of Qatar. The Dutchman damaged his wheel in the final kilometres and lost his third place in the GC. 
 

The peloton expects more hard racing in the longest stage of the week tomorrow.

“We have to cover several laps on a circuit,” said Boven. “We’ll be aware as the roads will be bad again and we’ll have to handle several open and windy areas.” 

Starting at 12.45 CET you can follow tomorrow's stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live. You can read our preview here.