Tour of Qatar Stage 3

Three time Tour of Qatar winner Tom Boonen (Quickstep) took the podium for the third stage outside of Doha, the capital of Qatar.



Boonen reportedly hit 72.8 km/hr (45 mph!) in the sprint finish, which he said was one of the fastest of his career. That incredible speed enabled him to edge ahead of Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo Test Team) and Baden Cooke (Team Saxo Bank).

The top American in the field today was Taylor Phinney of the Trek-Livestrong development team. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) finished 9th, John Murphy of BMC came in 13th. Other American finishers are Justin Williams (Trek-Livstrong), Ben King (Trek-Livestrong), Jackson Stewart (BMC), Julian Kyer (Trek-Livestrong) and Danny Pate (Garmin-Transitions).

In the GC, Boonen holds 3rd place, nearly 2 minutes behind yellow jersey wearer Wouter Mol of Vacansoleil Cycling.

More:

* Gulf Times: Boonen takes third stage of Tour of Qatar.

* Cycling News: Tour of Qatar Stage 3 results.