Roy Jans, third in bunch sprint Tour of Qatar

Roy Jans took an impressive third place in today's Tour of Qatar stage. The rider from Limbourg, Belgium only got beaten by Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data).

“I am very happy with this third place. When you see the names that are behind me in today's stage result, I just can not be unhappy. The level of sprinters in this race is really high." 

The day's stage took the peloton around a loop with start and finish in Doha (135km). The riders partly rode the world championships course. The echelons are always specific to the racing in Qatar. It makes the races really fast.

“Everyone is suffering here. Yesterday I saw all the echelons in the race. Today I found myself in the second echelon with Cavendish and Greg Van Avermaet. This reassured me that we would get back to the front of the race." 

This is exactly how the scenario unfolded and the stage ended in a bunch sprint. 

“In the final, Marco Marcato was my last lead-out rider but Mark McNally, Danilo Napolitano and Simone Antonini also did a great job today. Some riders crashed behind me but I didn't notice and didn't hear it. I was on my limit but heard them coming from behind. Maybe I rode a little bit too much in the wind, which came from the side and was pretty fierce today. I accelerated again and had just enough power to sprint to third. After that I was à bloc." 

“Tomorrow we'll have a short time trial but the day after that we'll have a long day in the desert again where echelons will happen. I hope to get another good result in the final two stages in Qatar." 

Kenny Dehaes
Kenny Dehaes crashed early on in yesterday's stage. The Flemish rider finished the race but had a serious wound to the knee.

“Today however, I mostly suffered from pain in the back and the ribs. Tomorrow we'll have that time trial so I hope to recover a little to be better in the final two days. The legs are feeling good."