Francesco Chicchi took his second stage win of this year's Tour of Qatar today on the final stage to Doha Corniche whilst Wouter Mol wrapped up the overall win.
The Italian sprinter was best placed to take advantage of another chaotic sprint with no one team able to take control of proceedings along the Corniche.
With the four-man break caught with four kilometres remaining, Sky grouped at the front of the field determined to set up Norwegian powerhouse, Edvald Boasson Hagen.
Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard all took turns in setting the pace, but once again, as with so many teams' lead-out attempts in Qatar, it proved much too premature. Sky was swamped within two kilometres of the line by Quick Step and then Garmin.
Boonen once again took the initiative from yet another precipitous lead-out from Cervélo, surging towards the line for what looked like would be his third stage win in this year's race.
Several metres back, Chicchi was biding his time. Waiting for Boonen to hit the head of the field, he used the draft of the riders in front to launch himself at the line. The Italian surged forwards, squeezing past the left of Boonen to edge out Saxo Bank's Juan José Haedo on the line. So unexpected was Chicchi's move, it caught the TV cameras off guard, focused as they were Haedo and Matt Goss.
Dutchman Wouter Mol was once again well placed to finish with the main field to capture the overall race lead, the biggest career win to date. Mol is a surprise winner of the race, capitalising on time gained on stage two to take the race lead and never relinquish it.
Tour of Qatar, stage six: 123km, Al Wakra-Doha Corniche
1. Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas
2. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin
3. Juan José Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank
4. Matt Goss (Aus) Columbia
5. Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur Sojasun
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky
7. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step
8. Roger Kluge (Ger) Milram
9. Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervélo
10. John Murphy (USA) BMC
Final General Classification
1. Wouter Mol (Ned) Vaconsoleil
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