A mere wheel-length separated Tinkoff-Saxo and Peter Sagan from the win on stage 4 of Tour of Qatar. The Slovak champion and team captain broke out of the slipstream of his rivals in the final sprint and surged for the line but missed less than a half meter to Alexander Kristoff, who took his second stage win. Second in the GC, Maciej Bodnar, gained vital time on race leader Niki Terpstra.

In the wake of the stage, Tristan Hoffman, Sport Director at Tinkoff-Saxo, was pleased with the result and seconds gained.

“It was a great day. Of course, it would have been even better if Bodnar had taken seven additional seconds and if Sagan had finished 50cm further ahead. But we can only be satisfied. Peter showed that he has the speed and Bodnar took 5 seconds, which gives us confidence in the all-important stage tomorrow”, says Tristan Hoffman.

Maciej Bodnar finished on the right side of a split in the speeding peloton that occurred during the last kilometer. The 5 seconds gained could come in handy already at tomorrow’s stage, according to Bodnar, who is looking for early success in his first race for Tinkoff-Saxo.

“We fought hard in the finale to position ourselves in the peloton and I was able to gain 5 seconds in a race that will be decided by small time differences. So our effort was really worthwhile, as we distanced ourselves from Astana and got closer to Terpstra. There have been splits in the peloton on all stages, so we knew that we had to stay focused – especially in the last tricky part. Tomorrow will be the most important day of the entire race and we have to grasp the opportunities that arise”, comments Maciej Bodnar.

The 165,5km stage 4 from Al Thakhira to Mesaieed was once again carried out on long, exposed roads with crosswinds on the first part of the stage. A three-man breakaway was established during the opening kilometers but stood little chance against the peloton led by the sprinter’s teams.

Leaving the wide and straight roads of the desert, the peloton entered into the absolute finale at high speed on tricky roads with especially roundabouts stretching out the peloton. In the final sprint it was Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), who timed his burst for the line ideally with Peter Sagan coming in at second and Nikias Arndt in third place. Tristan Hoffman explains about the last part of the stage:

“After a long stretch with headwind, we entered the main key point of the stage with 6km to go. We had 7 roundabouts before the sprint, so it was all-important to be positioned in the front of the bunch. Our boys did great and decided to take to the front at the right moment. If you move up too early, you’ll just get squeezed in again in a sprint like this. We look forward to tomorrow and hope to gain the last marginal there”.

Stage 5 in Qatar is the penultimate stage and will challenge the riders with 153 kilometers. Heavy winds are once again expected to affect the stage.