Tom Boonen is targeting the overall classifications at the Tour of Qatar 2012
Tom Boonen started the third stage of the Tour of Qatar with only one goal in his mind, the overall classifications. He was leading the stage 2 classifications with a marginal lead over Tyler Farrar.
The Belgian was impressive during the third stage and finished second behind the UCI World Road Champion, Mark Cavendish.
Meanwhile, Aidis Kruopis of GreenEdge Cycling Team claimed the third podium position during the event.
Tyler Farrar finished the race at the 6th position and lost crucial time for the overall classifications.
Boonen was leading the race in the final kilometres but he was soon chased down by Cavendish, who secured his first victory of the season.
Team Sky’s cyclist had enough in his legs to claim the stage victory and the silver jersey during the third stage of the race.
Boonen was looking good to bag another stage victory but the UCI world champion stole the show in the final moments of the race.
Boonen cited, "I think the guy that wins the Tour of Qatar this year will be the guy who has the most top three finishes, so I am at a good average now after the first half of the race but there are a lot of guys close behind who are looking to pull the
golden jersey off my shoulders”.
"As a team we can be very happy with the result we got today. We went a little bit too early on the lead but that's sprinting and every sprint is a lesson," Boonen continued.
The 31-year-old is now leading the stage 3 classifications with a total time of 6 hours, 47 minutes and 49 seconds.
He has now extended the lead to 6 seconds over Tyler Farrar of Team Garmin-Barracuda.
Stage 3 winner, Cavendish is further two seconds behind at the third position after the stage 3 classifications.
Johan Vansummeren and Thomas Dekker are currently holding the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Omega Pharma-Quick Step cyclist is also leading the points classifications with 27 points in his bag. Mark Cavendish and Tyler Farrar are at the second and third positions, with 15 points each.
Boonen is now targeting the 144 kilometre stage four of the race, scheduled between Al Thakhira and Madinat Al Shamal, on Wednesday, 8th February 2012.
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