Moreno Hofland wasn’t able to win the fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar today in the country’s northwest. Team LottoNL-Jumbo took the initiative in the final and forced a leading group of 30 riders, but the effort took its toll and Hofland settled for ninth place behind stage winner Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha).

The 189-kilometre stage from Al Zubarah Fort was open to echelons and in fact, the peloton broke into pieces after 70 kilometres. “We were with six men in the first group,” sports director Jan Boven said. “That was a very strong position for us, especially when you look at the first two stages here.”

Everything came back together, but Team LottoNL-Jumbo forced another split to give Hofland a greater chance. “We wanted to take the initiative in the penultimate loop,” Boven continued. “We took the lead at that point and maintained our positions very well. The peloton split up and we had all of our riders bar one in the first group of 30 riders. You have to finish it off, as well, but we failed. We were blown away when team Katusha put the hammer down. This ninth place was bad result.”

Team LottoNL-Jumbo aimed to save three riders for the sprint lead-out, but something went wrong. “We were busy holding the pace as high as possible after we forced those echelons,” Hofland said. “When the sprint came, though, there was no lead-out left for me. We were a bit overconfident.”

The Tour of Qatar finishes on Friday with a classic final stage from Sealine Beach 60 kilometres to Doha’s seaside, where the cyclists will race for ten laps. “There’s a big chance that the wind plays a role again in the first part of the stage,” Boven added. “The start will be hectic because of that, but I’m expecting that everything comes back together on the circuit and that the stage ends in a bunch sprint.”