Tom Boonen will head to the Tour of Qatar looking to win it for a fifth time this year. He is already the record stage holder with 20 wins to his name.

"I really like the Tour of Qatar, it's a race that is perfectly suited to my strengths," Boonen said. "The wind is a fundamental factor in this competition; whether you want to or not, it forces you to always try to stay out in front and never underestimate any racing situation. Luckily, pedalling in the wind is one of the things OPQS excels in. I'm really looking forward to this race."

Boonen is hell bent on getting his revenge for a poor 2013 which saw him win just once, he has already shown good form in the Tour de San Luis and is going to use Qatar as another stepping stone to achieve success in his beloved Cobbled Classics.

He can do a good time trial on his day and this is why many thik he has a good shot at winning overall. His DS Wilfied Peters had this to say about the race: 

"Normally, the stages end up in tight final sprints with just a few riders. They are unusual sprints because after hours of battling the winds, riders come in to the sprint very tired. ... There will also be a 10.9 km time trial to be ridden on a normal road bike in which Niki could figure prominently. We are setting out with the desire and ambition to come back with a good result."

Omega Pharma-QuickStep for Tour of Qatar: Tom Boonen, Andrew Fenn, Iljo Keisse, Nikolas Maes, Gert Steegmans, Niki Terpstra, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Stijn Vandenbergh.

Katusha and UnitedHealthcare also announced their terams for the race.

United Healthcare for Tour of Qatar: Alessandro Bazzana, Robert Förster, Ken Hanson, Aldo Ilesic, Chris Jones, Martijn Maaskant, John Murphy, Kiel Reijnen.

Katusha for Tour of Qatar: Marco Haller, Vladimir Isaychev, Alexander Kristoff, Aliaksandr Kuchynski, Viacheslav Kuznetsov, Rudiger Selig, Gatis Smukulis and Alexey Tsatevich.