Kristoff rides into Tour of Qatar lead with stage 2 win.

Norwegian Alexander Kristoff won the second stage of the Tour of Qatar on Monday, and also took the gold jersey as race leader, after a 187.5-kilometer ride from Al Wakra to Al Khor Corniche.

The 27-year-old from Oslo won a bunch sprint, after a high-tempo stage, as he held off Italian Andrea Guardini and Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium.

Etixx-QuickStep launch desert warfare in Qatar but Kristoff wins battle.

However predictable it might have been, the sight of Tom Boonen and his Etixx-QuickStep team hitting the front at the start of stage 2 of the Tour of Qatar still sent the majority of the peloton running for cover.

With the wind up, Belgium’s premier force split the race in the opening kilometers with a volley of accelerations that saw only thirty riders make the initial front group.

After an hour of racing, the peloton finally re-grouped but the early skirmishes through the barren sandstorms of Qatar were merely a taste of what was still to come.

After Movistar had resumed their position at the front of the field in support of race leader José Joaquin Rojas, Etixx were on the march once more.

Tour of Qatar 2015 Live Dashboard.

Stage 3 start time: Tuesday 13:40 AST (2:40 AM PST);

Earliest live video: 3:30pm local (1:30pm CET, 7:30am U.S. Eastern, 4:30am PST);

Estimated finish: 16:16 AST (5:16 AM PST).

Cancellara: Tour of Qatar is a special race.

Fabian Cancellara was one of the main victims to lose time on stage 2 of the Tour of Qatar after the race split on several occasions in the crosswinds.

Alexander Kristoff won the stage, sprinting clear from a 15-man front group to win his first race of the season, after Etixx-QuickStep had launched a series of race-splitting moves.

“It was a pretty chaotic and nervous. They went full gas that’s how it is in Qatar. If you miss a split then you’re out.”

Wearing white jersey, Sagan poised to challenge Qatar GC.

Tinkoff-Saxo’s Peter Sagan rode through a desert sandstorm on Monday to position himself for a run at the GC lead in the Tour of Qatar.

The race serves up a 10.9km individual time trial on Tuesday, which may be the opportunity Sagan needs to seize the yellow jersey.

The Slovak now sits seventh overall, 10 seconds back, wearing the white jersey of best young rider after finishing fourth on stage 2, a day that saw the peloton lashed by a sandstorm and heavy crosswinds.

Tour of Qatar news shorts: Katusha scores first win of the year in Qatar.

Battaglin crashes out; Van Avermaet looks ahead to TT; Start order for stage 3.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Tour of Qatar 2015 - Feb 8-13 (Stages & Results),

Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages),

Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages),

Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages),

UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages),

Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Results),

Ladies Tour of Qatar 2015 - Feb 3-6 (Results),

UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results),

UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results),

Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results),

Tour de France 2014  - July 5-27 (Results),

Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results).

More ...

Zach McDonald Defends Cyclocross Tokyo Title over Past Winner Ben Berden: Race Report and Results.

Cyclocross Tokyo champion for the second straight year, Zach McDonald summed up the event: “I love coming to this race. This course is awesome! The short laps are fun.

It’s a little demoralizing halfway through the race because you see ‘seven to go’ but the course is awesome and the fans are amazing.

Even though it was cold and raining; there’s a ton of people out here.”

Heavy rain that began late morning continued to pour through the Women’s and Men’s Elite races and didn’t let up until the racing was almost over.

Analysis: At last Cavendish has the lead-out he needs.

t was like the Champs-Élysées in 2009 or 2011: Mark Cavendish sitting on the end of a slick, fast and committed lead-out train, delivered to the final 200 meters, then unleashing his sprint and winning.

Okay, so the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard is not the Champs-Élysées. But there were signs at the Dubai Tour, which finished on Saturday with Cavendish claiming two stages and overall victory, that for the first time in a couple of years, and a couple of teams, the sprinter might have the kind of support he needs.

Life beyond cycling: does Drapac’s public image match reality?

In 2014 Drapac Professional Cycling made the long-awaited step up from the Continental ranks to become Australia's only Professional Continental team.

With the promotion came significant challenges and despite some good results, the team's opening season at ProConti level didn't deliver the success it was looking for.

Rojas wins opening stage at Tour of Qatar.

Boonen and Sagan crash mid-race in Tour of Qatar opener.

Hour Record finale was journey into unknown for Dennis.

After the UCI redrafted the regulations on the use of time trial bikes for the Hour Record last year, Ondřej Sosenka’s 2005 mark of 49.7 kilometers suddenly seemed like rather low-hanging fruit and the successful attempts of Jens Voigt and Matthias Brändle, who shifted the target to 51.852 kilometers in October, hardly altered that perception.

Jack Bobridge fell short of Brändle’s distance last week, however, and his disappointment put the Austrian’s effort – and the Hour Record itself – in its proper context.

Riding alone for sixty minutes without dropping below a speed of over 32 miles per hour is, quite simply, beyond the capabilities of the vast majority of riders in the professional peloton.

Tinkov: This could be Contador’s final season.

Tinkoff-Saxo owner Oleg Tinkov has indicated that 2015 could be Alberto Contador’s final season as a professional rider.

The Spaniard, who is out of contract at the end of the current season, is targeting the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double but has been on the fence as regards to his long-term future.

Tinkoff stressed that he would want the 32-year-old to re-sign with the Russian team for at least another year but told Cyclingnews that he would not pressure Contador into making a decision.

“It’s his decision. If he wants to continue then we’ll be more than happy to have him with our team but I don’t know if he’s decided to continue.

We’ve not discussed it yet. This might be his last season, I don’t know. It could be...’

The Bike of The Future.

Wireless gear shifting and disc brakes are here whether as prototypes or esoteric options for a bike-build. We can see these trends and extrapolate from them to see the bike of the future.

Electronic shifting has been around for some time but, like a roofrack mounted on a sports car, it can still feel like an unwelcome accessory.

Manufacturers are beginning to address this with more integration as cables and battery packs can be placed inside the frame now but we still see the CPU unit attached to the stem with a cable tie.

If it has to dangle in the open air you’d hope there would be a more elegant solution like a proprietary clip based on a headset spacer but better still, imagine a stem cap containing a USB port that connects to a CPU unit hidden in the stem or fork steerer so that the battery can be charged anywhere.

Our bike of the future will probably have wireless shifting too. Maybe this won’t be as liberating as we might imagine because it could mean four separate items to charge.

Filippo Pozzato: out to prove he’s no ‘prima donna’.

Filippo Pozzato wants to bounce back after a quiet 2014 season, return to his best and prove to his team that he is not simply a “prima donna.”

“I’m fit, yes. I’m skinnier, yes. It’s so I can look good on the beach!” Pozzato told Cycling Weekly.

“I’m joking! I didn’t change my training, but I changed my diet. I also made sure to begin my season in Argentina and make sure I race in February, when last year I was in a training camp.”

The 33-year old Italian said that he wanted to race more in the early season to be ready for the big one-day races, starting with Milan-San Remo on March 22.

Eddy Merckx rates tough Qatar World Champs course.

Wind, echelons and splits could define the 2016 World Championships in Doha, the first in the Middle East, explained Eddy Merckx.

“I don’t make the weather, but you have much more wind here in Qatar than you’d find in Europe,” Merckx said.

“The 2002 Zolder Worlds had nothing, no wind, no climb, nothing. But if you have wind in Qatar… ha! You saw what happened with the women’s race on stage two with splits and echelons, and last year, the Tour of Qatar had stages with averages of more than 50km an hour.”

Five things we learned from the Dubai Tour.

t’s not the oldest race on the calendar, but the Dubai Tour already attracts some of the top names.

The pan-flat landscape makes it a sprinter’s paradise, while a stifflingly steep hill made for great watching on stage three.

Here’s a few things we learned as the Middle East racing season kicked off in style.

Horner dons new Airgas-Safeway kit.

American Chris Horner joined his new Airgas-Safeway team in Northern California this week for the squad's training camp and team presentation, which takes place in San Francisco on February 12.

Horner, 43, joined the young Continental team this season in order to remain closer to home with his family, and together with former Mexican National Champion Luis Lemus will act as a mentor to the team's young riders, like D1 Collegiate National Champion Griffin Easter.

Garmin Vivosmart: An Activity Tracker and Smart Watch All In One.

The $170 Garmin Vivosmart grabs attention, and rightfully so. It’s an activity tracker with smart-watch features that tracks steps, calories burned, distance traveled, and sleep, and also shows notifications—texts, Facebook and Twitter alerts, and incoming calls—from your Bluetooth-enabled device.

This simple band syncs with Garmin Connect, which I already use with my Garmin cycling computer to track my rides. Lucky for me, this means one less app to download and learn how to navigate.

The Vivosmart tracks calories burned by measuring heart rate, although it won’t measure mileage, elevation gain, or any other ride data.

Videos ...

Rohan Dennis sets new Hour Record.

Daily Distractions.

Ted King: Mid-Camp check-in.

20 signs that you're an old school cyclist.

Does all this talk about electronic drivetrains, power meters and GPS uploads make you feel a tad, well, old?

Cycling is growing and new riders are popping up every day, which is all fine and good.

It’s a beautiful sport, and there’s room for everyone (just not in our paceline, thanks).

But within the continuum of newbies to, ahem, veterans, how do you know when you have crossed the line to become, in fact, an old school cyclist?

Tinkov on Russia’s struggling economy: ‘Don’t believe the propaganda’.

Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov brushed off concerns that the economic troubles at home could force him to abandon his Tinkoff-Saxo team with stars Alberto Contador and Peter Sagan.

“Why would I suffer? What you see in the news is propaganda, don’t forget,” Tinkov said.

“Russia suffers but not the way that the West would like to see it suffer. I know you’d like us to suffer more, the British and Americans like to push the Russians, it’s geo-political, it’s normal.

You have been doing that for ages, but don’t worry, we won’t suffer like you want us to suffer. We are still OK.”

News shorts: Cobbles 'not another world,' says Quintana.

Frustration for Kristoff and Pinot.

Wiggins looks forward to life after the road.

Former Tour de France winner and world time trial champion Bradley Wiggins is enjoying his final days as a road racer, as the ongoing Tour of Qatar serves as a warmup for a final crack at the Paris-Roubaix.

The cycling icon, who became the first British rider to win the Tour de France in 2012, the same year he won time trial gold at the London Olympics, showed no signs of nostalgia as he winds down his road career with the Sky team.

“I’m happy, it feels a good time to go on to other things. I’ve done everything. I’ve had a lot of my success with this team. And to go out quite high on the top, and world champion.”

Stars: they're just like us!

Pro cycling SUPERSTAR! and world renowned author Phil Gaimon was spotted strolling along New York’s East River in the midst of a casual tryst with cyclist girlfriend Jen Whalen.

The high VO2 max couple swooned as they sauntered down the esplanade, keeping it easy at a Zone 1 cadence.

Phil—always the gentleman—took a moment to console a distraught little girl who then quickly fell under his spell into a trance-like state that fans are calling “The Gaimon Gaze.”

Eat your dinner: Tips and tricks with Mara Abbott.

"An eager advisor lies waiting around every switchback in Bike World.

The first time you bought a tube or joined a group ride, I suspect that a line of Bike Bros may have been trampling one another to gain your audience. I do hope you at least let them talk – for the Bike Bro is a fragile creature.

Beneath his passion and encyclopedic knowledge, he remains very aware of his colored tights and skinny arms. It is polite to help him feel important – but take what he says with a grain of salt.

After your first cycling victory, the advisors may have emerged anew as prophets, eager to shepherd your sure path to greatness.

Remember that despite their great intentions, neither the Bike Bros nor the prophets truly know you personally.

While their wisdom is admirable, alas there is no cookie-cutter pathway to the podium that can be studied or prescribed."

Power2Max Type S Power Meter Review.

With more and more power monitors appearing on the market each year, the options for cyclists continue to expand.

One of the newer players in the market is Power2Max from Germany.

We test it and find a system that is superb in its accuracy coupled with ease of maintenance and use.

UCI signs Wattbike testing and training deal.

The UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) has gained considerable attention in recent years for the role it played in helping Chris Froome on the road into the professional ranks of the sport. Now the WCC has signed a deal with Wattbike to help it identify the best new talent from the less well-established cycling nations.

The deal will see Wattbike’s stationery trainers located across the globe at the WCC’s satellite centres to provide scientific testing to identify talented riders from countries without a history in cycling. Bikes will also be located at the UCI headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland where they will be used to provide structured training and improve the pedalling technique of riders based at the facility.

Why black is the new black; the rise of dark team kits in the peloton.

You can have any color as long as it’s black. Henry Ford was talking about cars and not cycling jerseys but, over one hundred years on from that famous quote, it appears that some cycling teams are taking things literally.

Consider the multitude of black and dark team kits in evidence this season. Sky and Pro Continental squad Colombia have retained their colors from last season, remaining predominantly noir.

The latter has added a touch more yellow but the kit is very similar to that of 2014.