Two races is hardly enough on which to judge a team’s season, but Brian Holm’s Belgian super team will certainly be relieved to have put a disappointing Dubai Tour behind them with an emphatic performance in Qatar. Niki Terpstra and Tom Boonen’s victories on stages one and two set the tone perfectly, and although they were unable to make it three stage wins in a row, they still had three riders – Terpstra, Guillaume van Keirsbulck and Gert Steegmans in the top ten.
Overall, Omega Pharma-Quickstep account for half of the top ten, with van Keirsbulck having replaced team-mate Andrew Fenn in the Pearl White jersey of leading young rider too. The Dubai Tour proved there is still much work to be done for the team in turquoise and black, but their performances in Qatar so far could well prove to be the much-needed boost to morale they need before the WorldTour returns in March.
