With a 10.9km time trial and plenty of windy racing, the Tour of Qatar appeared to be perfectly suited to Fabian Cancellara but today the Swiss lost all hopes of an overall wind. Having been held up in a crash, he missed the selection and not even most of the team waiting for him was enough to bring him back in contention.

Yesterday many were surprised not to see Trek chase down the breakaway that stayed away to the finish on the first stage of the Tour of Qatar but despite losing time Fabian Cancellara was still a potential overall winner of the race. After being held up behind a crash in today's crosswind drama, all hopes for a win have now been crushed.

Some of the most challenging racing can be found in Qatar and the 160-kilometer second stage was proof of that. With a little over 50 kilometers remaining the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team hammered the front the moment the road direction changed, turning into a blustering crosswind section, and leaving in its wake chaos, crashes, and echelons that would not rejoin by the end.  

It was an unlucky day for the Trek team. A huge crash occurred meters before the critical turn into the crosswinds, which took down Markel Irizar and caused Fabian Cancellara to brake hard, losing contact to the front leaders.  Even with most of the team waiting for Cancellara the damage was insurmountable, and by the finish he would roll in with the fourth echelon, over seven minutes behind.

“Definitely today was not our day,” said Markel Irizar. “First I had two flat tires just before the crosswinds started, and then the crash. We tried to be in good position, and Fabian was on my wheel when the crash happened. When I came back from the crash I saw the whole team was waiting for him. At that time all our options were gone. I am really lucky that nothing is broken, at first I thought it was my collarbone.”

Trek Factory Racing’s Jasper Stuyven finished with the second group only 30” behind the first echelon, and recounted the critical moment of the race.

“It was not tricky before the turn, as it was a headwind before that and we could sit in the bunch," he said. "But 500 meters before the turn Omega Pharma smashed the hammer down, and it got very nervous which resulted in a big crash. We lost each other there. We were not sure if Fabian was with Popo [Yaroslav Popovych] in the first echelon. I was with Hayden [Roulston] and [Grégory] Rast.”

“It’s not a good feeling [to be in the second group] - you know at that point it does not make sense to wait because it’s not one guy that is going to make a difference anymore," he added. "You arrive at the finish, and maybe it looks nice to be in the second echelon, but we lost Fabian and the others - with me in the second group, this means nothing for the team.”

Earlier, Stijn Devolder had also crashed, tumbling over a rider that had gone down in front of him, a result of a gnarly hole in the road. Devolder escaped with a lot of scrapes and bruises, and a painful, swollen hand, but was able to get up and finish the race.  

Tomorrow the team should be able to lick its wounds and recover with a short 10.9-kilometer time trial.  Although all hope of winning the general classification may be over, the stage is perfect for Fabian Cancellara to rebound from the team’s disastrous day, and come away with a sound result.

Starting at 12.45 CET you can follow the time trial on CyclingQuotes.com/live. You can read our preview here.