Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep) put himself in a perfect position to defend his title at the Tour of Qatar when he delivered a dominant performance to win the time trial on the third stage. The Dutchman beat specialists Fabian Cancellara (Trek) and Bradley Wiggins (Sky) by 8 and 9 seconds respectively and took a comfortable overall lead at the halfway point of the race.

Last year Niki Terpstra won the Tour of Qatar overall by winning the first stage from a late breakaway and defending himself well in the stage 3 time trial. Today he put himself in the perfect position to make it two in a row but this time it will be the time trial that will be the foundations of a potential overall victory.

After having made the selections in the windy first two stages, Terpstra went into the 10.9km time trial on the Lusail Motor Circuit as one of two riders tipped to take the overall lead. Alongside Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff-Saxo), he was the strongest time triallist among the riders who had made the key selection on stage 2 and those two were expected to battle it out for the golden jersey.

However, few had expected Terpstra to be in contention for the stage win as he was up against strong rivals like world champion Bradley Wiggins and Fabian Cancellara who were expected to battle it out for the daily honours. In his first race with the rainbow jersey, Wiggins seemed to be in a good position when he beat previous leader Matthias Brändle (IAM) by 9 seconds but it was Cancellara who did best of the giants when the Swiss went one second better.

As everybody expected the pair to occupy the first two positions, the battle for the overall win started and Ian Stannard (Sky) delivered a major surprise when he stopped the clock in a time that was just 1 seconds off Wiggins’ mark. However, he quickly lost his provisional leadership as Bodnar powered across the line in a time that was 1 second faster to slot into third just behind Wiggins.

All eyes were now on Terpstra and the Dutchman was on a storming ride. When he crossed the line, he stopped the clock in a time of 14.03, going 8 seconds faster than Cancellara and taking a comfortable lead.

None of the later starters were expected to challenge for the stage honours and sprinters Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) all lost more than 45 seconds to the Dutchman. Hence, Terpstra could step onto the podium as a surprise winner of the stage.

Furthermore, he took the overall lead with a comfortable 11-second margin over Bodnar while Stannard is third, 12 seconds further adrift. Kristoff is the best sprinter in sixth but as he has already lost 36 seconds, it will be virtually impossible to take that time back only by virtue of bonus seconds.

Terpstra faces his first jersey defence in tomorrow’s fourth stage which is another typical day in Qatar. It brings the riders over 165.5 windy kilometres on flat desert roads but as it will mostly be a headwind, it could be the first real bunch sprint of the race.

A flat time trial

After the dramatic second stage, it was time for another very crucial stage in the Tour of Qatar when the riders tackled the 10.9km time trial on the Lusail Motor Circuit. The out-and-back course had several turns and roundabouts, making it a very technical affair that would suit a combination of time triallists and more explosive riders.

Again the riders took the start in very hot and windy conditions and the first rider to roll down the ramp was Maximilano Richeze (Lampre-Merida) who stopped the clock in 15.56 to set the first mark of the day. However, he was quickly beaten by several riders and it was Albert Timmer (Giant-Alpecin) who was the first to go beyond the 15-minute mark with a time of 14.56.

Best time for Boom

Much was expected from Lars Boom (Astana) who had never finished outside the top 2 of a Tour of Qatar time trial, and the Dutchman didn’t disappoint as he stopped the clock in a time of 14.33 to take a comfortable lead. Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) slotted into second with a tie of 14.53 but for some time no one was even close to Boom’s time.

Specialists like Johan Le Bon (FDJ), Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEDGE), Lieuwe Westra (Astrana), Andrey Amador (Movistar), Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) and Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEDGE) were all off the pace. However, Boom was finally beaten when former Hour Record holder Matthias Brändle (IAM) stopped the clock in 14.21.

Wiggins lowers the mark

Guillaume van Keirsbulck (Etixx-QuickStep) had been the fastest at the intermediate check but the Belgian lost ground in the second half, stopping the clock in 14.23 to slot into second. However, all eyes were now on Bradley Wiggins (Sky) who had hit the course to show off the rainbow jersey for the first time.

Wiggins fully lived up the expectations as he stopped the clock in 14.12 to take a comfortable lead.  The next few riders were not able to challenge the Brit but Fabian Cancellara (Trek) hit the course just 19 minutes after the Brit.

Cancellara goes faster

The Swiss champion proved that his time as time trial specialist is not done yet as he managed to beat the world champion by just 1.02 second. Christoper Juul Jensen (Tinkoff-Saxo), Ruben Plaza (Lampre-Merida) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) all had good rides to make it into the top 10 but none of them were close to challenging Cancellara.

Andriy Grivko (Astana) had a decent ride to finish just outside the top 10 and that performance was ultimately good enough to move him into the overall top 10. As opposed to this, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was slightly off the pace and he could only manage 13th.

Great ride by Stannard and Bodnar

Stannard was now on the course and he created a major surprise when he slotted into third, just 2 seconds behind Cancellara but he was quickly relegated by Bodnar who was just 0.03 second behind Wiggins. At this time Terpstra was already on the course and he powered across the line just 4 minutes later to take a comfortable lead.

Nelson Oliveira (Lampre-Merida) was off the pace and now Terpstra only had to wait for the many sprinters to finish. Luke Rowe (Sky) did a decent ride which moved him into fifth in the overall standings while Sagan delivered a disappointing performance as he could only manage 28th.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) did the time trial of his life to slot into 9th but the focus was now on Boonen and Kristoff who were trying to limit their losses. The lost 49 and 45 seconds respectively, meaning that Terpstra could be crowned the winner of the stage.