Talented young sprinter Barry Markus got his career as a Belkin rider off to a perfect start when he returned to the scene of his big breakthrough in last year's Tour of Qatar. In the sprint for 6th behind the successful breakaway, the Dutchman was only beaten by Tom Bonnen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and the team regretted the misses opportunity.

Dutchman Barry Markus began his 2014 campaign with a seventh place in stage 1 of the Tour of Qatar. The new Belkin Pro Cycling Team rider placed second in the group sprint behind Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s Tom Boonen. 

Boonen’s team-mate Niki Terpstra topped the five-man breakaway to win the stage and become the race’s leader. 
 

The riders fought hard in stage one. Strong headwinds wrecked the peloton and tore it into pieces. 

“After around 40 kilometres the peloton broke for the first time,” said Sports Director Jan Boven. “With 30 kilometres to go, however, almost everything came back together at the front. We only lacked Jetse Bol and Theo Bos. They didn’t have a super day. 

“Unfortunately, Belkin and the rest of the pack were not alert enough to reel in the breakaway. Too bad, as Barry sprinted well. A second place behind Boonen is fine. We did what we could given the tough day.” 
 

Boven said that he expects a similar kind of scenario in the second stage tomorrow. 

“It’ll be a bit of the same story,” he explained. “The wind will make it another day of fighting.”

The team still has Lars Boom well-placed on GC and with a time trial coming up on stage 3, a good overall result is still within reach for Belkin.

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