Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr) doubled his tally of wins on the Doha Corniche with a well-executed sprint finish at the end of the sixth and final stage of the 2014 Tour of Qatar.
The 22 year-old Frenchman comfortably beat Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Bernie Eisel (Sky) at the culmination of the 113.5km run in to the capital of Qatar, reprising his win on the same course as a neo-pro in 2012.
"There were three or four sprint trains with Belkin, Tinkoff and Omega Pharma-Quickstep, so I had to stay together with them," Demare said at the finish.
"I took the wheel of a Tinkoff rider and it opened up on the right. I made the most of it and I launched my sprint. It was super."
Niki Terpstra finished safely in the pack to seal his overall win in what has been a tour de force for his Omega Pharma-Quickstep team.
With five of the top nine riders, the Belgian classics superstars unsurprisingly took the team prize.
As the icing on the cake, double stage winner Tom Boonen took second overall and the points classification while Andy Fenn finished ninth overall behind Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and Stijn Vandenbergh.
Ian Stannard took fourth overall and top British rider after a strong performance in the traditional preparation race for the spring classics.
Results
Tour of Qatar 2014, stage six: Sealine Beach Resort to Doha, 113.5km
1. Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr in 2-45-06
2. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
3. Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Sky
4. Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
5. Maher Hasnaoui (Tun) Skydive-Dubai
6. Silvan Dillier (Sui) BMC Racing
7. Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana
8. Sam Bennett (Irl) NetApp-Endura
9. Sebastian Lander (Den) BMC Racing
10. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF all at s.t
Final overall classification
1. Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quickstep in 15-53-36
2. Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep at 17 secs
3. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto-Belisol at 20 secs
4. Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky at 37 secs
5. Michael Morkov (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo at 48 secs
6. Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto-Belisol at 56 secs
7. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep at 57 secs
8. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep at 1-05
9. Andy Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quickstep at 1-18
10. Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol at 1-23
Related links
Andre Greipel wins Tour of Qatar stage five
Tom Boonen takes second win in Tour of Qatar
Wout van Aert’s cyclo-cross campaign still up in the air
Former Tour de France yellow jersey maker placed into receivership
