Team Tinkoff-Saxo again proved that they master the art of crosswind racing better than most when the team put 5 riders in the front group in today's dramatic stage of the Tour of Qatar. Michael Mørkøv sprinted to 2nd behind Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and is now poised for a high overall result.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step may have received most of the praise after today's dramatic stage of the Tour of Qatar but another team also put on a show in the Qatari desert. In the 24-rider front group, Team Tinkoff-Saxo had 5 of its 8 riders as Daniele Bennati, Michael Mørkøv, Matti Breschel, Karsten Kroon and Christopher Juul Jensen all made the split.

The team has a strong history of excelling in the crosswinds, most recently demonstrated in the legendary stage to St-Armand-Montrond in last year's Tour de France. Today they were rewarded for their efforts with a 2nd place for Mørkøv who was well-placed on the wheel of stage winner Tom Boonen but failed to beat him in the sprint.

“I’m proud about being part of what we did today, attacking in the crosswind 55 kilometres from the finish line and we managed to keep the chase group behind us," Mørkøv said. "In the sprint, I was on Boonen’s wheel but he was simply too strong to go around. However, I’m happy with the result and especially with our way of riding today."

Sports director Lars Michaelsen was full of praise for his team.

“The guys really showed high-class  teamwork out there," he said. After a lot of crosswind fighting and splits in the first 65 kilometres, everything came back together. But in the final part, our boys went to the front and blew everything to pieces and 24 riders made the cut where we had five riders. Even though the BMC squad were chasing, we held onto the lead. I’m really happy about the effort and the dedication, the boys showed today."

Mørkøv is now 4th on GC, 20 seconds behind overall leader Niki Terpstra, and being a good time trialist he will look to improve on that ranking in tomorrow's 10.9km time trial.

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