Etixx - Quick-Step rider Nikolas Maes was the top finisher in 22nd place at 165.5km Tour of Qatar Stage 4, from Al Thakhira to Mesaieed, on Wednesday. Teammate Tom Boonen, in the Silver (points) jersey, was 23rd. The race came back together with a little less than 20km to go in the stage, and there was little action until the finish line in a day with not much crosswind.

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won the race, with Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) placing 2nd and Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) finishing 3rd. Boonen suffered a mechanical and was unable to contest the sprint.

Niki Terpstra remains the race leader of Tour of Qatar, with a 6" advantage over Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff-Saxo) and 12" over Ian Stannard (Team Sky) but a split saw him lose 5 seconds to the Pole. He earned the race lead with a Stage 3 ITT victory the day before.

Etixx - Quick-Step looks next to 153km Stage 5, from Al Zubara Fort to Madinat ash-Shamal, on Thursday.

"Tomorrow is another day, and it's a hard day coming up as it is every day at Tour of Qatar," Terpstra said. "Always take it day-by-day. We will continue to defend the Gold jersey. We need to just stay focused."