Mark Renshaw started the day just 4 seconds back, yet the overwhelming opinion was that it was Haussler's race to lose. Well now it looks like Haussler is the one looking up, and the stage is set tomorrow for an all-or-nothing sprint for the Tour of Qatar.This is thanks to the solid work by HTC-Highroad to get their man Renshaw (who became the team sprinter after Cavendish suffered his 2nd scary crash of the season) into perfect position for the sprint. Renshaw got onto Daniele Bennati's back wheel and then it was all a formality from there and the only question was which type of celebration he would select.
Bennati came home 2nd, and once again came within spitting distance of victory but fell just short. Tom Boonen, who is competing only for stages after a mechanical yesterday that took him out of contention, finished 3rd.
But even more impressive than the sprint itself is the work HTC-Highroad did make it that way. After the daily breakaway, which contained a dangerous group of riders (including Burghardt, Steegmans, and Rasch), was caught then Bernhard Eisel went to work.
The big Austrian policed the front and fended off attacks from Maarten Tjallinghi and the ever dangerous Bradley Wiggins within the last 15k after the field came together. Without his work on the front, we probably would have been looking at a completely different result on the day and Renshaw would still be behind in the standings. Renshaw himself said in a tweet:
"Burnie Eisel is the best teammate you can have!"
He wasn't kidding. He may have to rely on him tomorrow as well to set up for what will likely be a sprint to decide the Tour.
With 10 seconds available to the stage winner, Haussler's 6 second deficit is very much within reach. Renshaw and his team will probably be on defense, and I wouldn't expect to see them in a hurry to chase down any breakaways unless someone in the top 12 is in it. A successful breakaway (assuming they keep the gap down) would be a good result for Renshaw because that eliminates all the bonus seconds available at the finish.
I'd also keep an eye on the intermediate sprints.
Stage Results1. Mark Renshaw
2. Daniele Bennati
3. Tom Boonen
General Classification
1. Mark Renshaw
2. Heinrich Haussler -6
3. Daniele Bennati -15
4. Juan Antonio Flecha -24
5. Roger Hammond -36
6. Jeremy Hunt -37
7. Gabriel Rasch -40
8. Bernhard Eisel -1:03
9. Marcus Burghardt -1:31
10. Gert Steegmans -1:33
11. Johan Van Summeren -1:38
12. Nikolas Maes -1:39
Points
Heinrich Haussler (50)
Young Rider
Nikolas Maes
Team Standings
Garmin-Cervelo
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