Tour of Qatar stage 4: Al Thakira > Mesaieed, 165kms

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A thoughtful Bradley Wiggins awaits the start of stage four in Al Thakira...

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The peloton sets off from Al Thakira and its cosmopolitan town centre...

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Modern Qatar welcomes the peloton to some smooth, fast roads - and the cyclists are going to need them too..!

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Johann Van Zyl is experiencing life as a pro cyclist at 72-kilometres-per-hour..!

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Despite the fast speeds, Jarl Salomein leads Jaco Venter and Dmitri Gruzdev in an escape...

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Shane Archbold has the time to grab some water bottles for his teamates - the New Zealander has got himself on to a big team this year...

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The Etixx team chases right away, even though the gap is less than four minutes after 50-kilometres...

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Niki Terpstra should have no trouble in today's easier stage...

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The new-look MTN-Qhubeka kit is modelled for us today by Theo Bos, Edvald Boasson-Hagen, and Yousef Reguigui...

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Peter Sagan and his Tinkoff train are ready for anything and everything near the front of the race...

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A warning sign for camels might be the peloton's only worry today...

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Lieuwe Westra hits the deck in a small crash - teamate Lars Boom is also involved...

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Venter, Gruzdev and Salomein are sitting on a four-minute lead almost halfway through the stage...

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An agitated Bjarne Riis hands bottles to Nikolai Trusov and orders him to keep the whole up-front and out of trouble...

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Filippo Pozzato is loading up with some drinks too, but these are all for him...

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Adam Blythe is back on a top team again, bringing great happiness to friends like Luke Rowe and Matt Hayman...

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Alessandro DeMarchi looks anonymous in his BMC colours, but he'll prove his worth in the Giro and Tour...

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Half of the IAM team seem to be caught in a big crash with 50-kilometres to go...

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Reto Hollenstein is in this fall, with Geoffrey Soupe, Daniel Schorn, Roger Kluge and Boy Van Poppel...

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Schorn, Soupe and Kluge are tangked up and cannot get off the ground without someone's help - but they are not hurt badly...

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Jens Keukeleire falls by himself a few minutes later...

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All eight Cofidis cyclists are at the back with 45-minutes' racing left - not a good way to help Nacer Bouhanni win today's stage...

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Venter leads the escape into the last 20-kilometres, but their fate is sealed...

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Tom Stamsnijder leads Giant-Alpecin as it sets up the sprint for Marcel Kittel...

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It's a big sprint into Mesaieed between Blythe, Arndt, Kristoff and Sagan...

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Alexander Kristoff wins stage four ahead of Sagan and Arndt...

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