Cervélo TestTeam sprinter Kirsten Wild won the final stage of the Tour of Qatar today in a sprint finish on the Doha Corniche. The stage win, along with her time bonuses throughout the race, were enough for her to successfully defended her overall title from last year. Italian Giorgia Bronzini finished second with American Lauren Tamayo finishing a strong third for the US Team.
"It was a pretty exciting day today," explained Wild. "We started with 4 seconds behind leader Bronzini and I was able to close that gap by 1 second in the intermediate sprints. Then I knew that it all depended on the last sprint. My teammates did an incredible job in the final. They brought me into the perfect position and I was able to win the sprint."
Wild's win in Qatar marks the first victory in 2010 for the Cervélo TestTeam.
"It was an exciting race today, early in the stage there was a break from Lisa Brennauer (German National Team)," said described Cervélo Sports Director Egon van Kessel. With the defending champion in striking distance of a second consecutive win, van Kessel knew the race would look to Cervélo to reel her in.
"She achieved a maximum gap of three and half minutes and then the other teams forced us to close the gap," explained van Kessel. "After we took her back Emilia Fahlin (HTC - Columbia) attacked and because she was still dangerous in the General Classification, leader Giorgia Bronzini's team (Italian National Team) was forced to close the gap."
Fahlin's move forced the Italian's team to expend energy that would later work to Wild's advantage in the end. "That [pulling Fahlim back] took a lot of effort on their part and in the final we took over the lead and brought Kirsten into a perfect position where she was able to win both the stage and the GC."
With the good start to the season, Wild is ready to get on with the business at hand, adding, "This was a great team effort and a perfect start for the 2010 season. I came through the winter well and with this team we are really confident about the season ahead. Tomorrow we travel to Portugal to prepare ourselves for the classics season that begin on February 28 with the Omloop het Nieuwsblad."