Arnaud Demare sprinted to the win on the final stage of the Tour of Qatar while Niki Terpstra sealed his overall win in an Omega Pharma-Quick Step demonstration of force. We have already posted several reactions and have gathered a few more below.

Jesse Sergent (Trek, part of the early breakaway, 115th +0.24)

“It was headwind until the circuit so we played it pretty easy until then. On the circuit we slowly wound into it and from six laps to go we went full gas. The gap opened up again, and we held onto it for a wee while.  Then at one point it was down to if the sprint teams made one mistake, or one hesitation, we might have just had enough.  But in the end they caught us with 500 meters to go. Everyone in the break was very strong; it was a good break.

“The start of this week was disappointing for everyone. Fabian (Cancellara) went well in the time trial but I was not as good as I hoped so I really wanted to try something in the last two days. Today I ended up getting in the break, whether or not it was the best thing to do I don’t know, but we nearly pulled it off.  In the end it was good way to end the week for the team.”

Jaan Kirsipuu (sports director Astana whose best rider was Andrea Guardini in 7th)

“OPQS, Trek, Lotto – all  guys are 90 percent ready for March – we don’t have to win on the Koppenberg in April, they all do.

“Logistics is the hard part at these races – who stays, where the bikes go – what the organization plans for us – tonight we load everything for a morning personnel flight to Muscat and a late arrival on Saturday for teams at the Shangri La Barr al Jissah.”

Rudiger Selig (Katusha, 18th s.t.)

"It was a very fast final. I was feeling good today and the team worked perfectly for me in the last kilometres. Before the last corner I managed to get into a good position in the peloton for the sprint. But in the end I missed just a little to take a really good result here. I tried to do my best, but I finished out of the top ten. I feel my form is coming so I hope to be ok for the next races."

Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha, 16th s.t.)

"The stage result was not so bad for me for this moment of the season. I think I could do better with another situation in the final sprint. Anyway, I keep improving day by day and I hope that I will be ready for the beginning of March, when I really want to show result in the Belgian classics, especially at Le Samyn. After the Tour of Qatar I come back to Europe for the Volta ao Algarve. I think, this race will give me more preparation for the Belgian classics races."

Torsten Schmidt (sports director Katusha whose best rider was Alexey Tsatevich in 16th)

“The main thing I want to note is that there was a perfect atmosphere inside the team here in Qatar. We had a very good team which worked well together all week. We ran into some bad luck in a few really important moments where we might have been able to get some results – Kristoff’s crashes in the first stage and today, plus some problems yesterday in the final. But overall I see so much progress from the team. We will keep working in the upcoming days and weeks and a result will come."

Heinrich Haussler (IAM, 113th +0.17)

“Boonen and Greipel definitely have an edge.  They came into this race with the momentum that they gained in their races from earlier this year (Down Under and San Luis).  Personally, I am racing the Tours of Qatar and Oman solely in preparation for the Classics.

“I’m just racking up the kilometers.  And here in Qatar, I was able to put in big loads of work under sunny skies and summer-like temperatures.  In addition to that, the wind just adds to the difficulty and intensity. 

To break away from or try to return to the echelons, you have to produce incredible efforts.  So I took this opportunity to continue to build on the training that I started already back in November. 

I spent six weeks in St. Moritz to refine my form by alternating between riding and cross country skiing.  I didn’t include any vacation time in my program following the 2013 season.

“Next week, I will continue with the Tour of Oman.  That race follows three days of recovery after Qatar, so I will be ready for more hilly stages and even a summit finish. 

This is how I can improve my condition while we are still on this side of the Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. 

Before attacking the Classics period, I will still have the chance to make some very important tests of my form at races like the GP Lugano and also Tirreno-Adriatico.”

Laurenzo Lapage (sports director Orica-GreenEDGE whose best rider was Aidis Kruopis in 13th)

"We were not involved in the break or the early work today. On this short, fast stage, there was only a very small chance the break could make it, and I wanted to save the numbers for the finish to help Aidis in the sprint. Hepburn had a crash near the beginning. He had to chase back, but he didn’t do any damage to himself.

"The sprint was hectic, and the boys lost each other in the end. There were no big trains from any team today, so it was important for the sprinters to choose a good  wheel in the finish. Aidis wasn’t in the right place when the sprint began.

"Overall, I can say we had a good week with the win from Heppy and the second place and fourth place from Aidis. We lost all our chances for a good overall because of mechanical problems and crashes on stage two, but the riders reacted well in the following days.

"We have four riders going to Oman: Jens Keukeleire, Jens Mouris, Leigh Howard and Michael Hepburn. They have three days to recover between the two races. We have a good team with four fresh riders coming in, and the team will be ready for another hard race. 

Alex Sans Vega (sports director NetApp-Endura whose best rider was Sam Bennett in 8th)

“Today we were much more successful in setting up the sprint for Sam, even if that wasn’t rewarded with a better placing. Either way, today’s stage was not as difficult, so all the sprinters were able to go into the final sprint fresher and stronger.

“We can be happy with the tour overall”, he continues, “It was the first race for the boys where the competition had already been able to put a few kilometers behind them in the overseas races. The team was focused and worked very well together, and that will most certainly pay off in the next races.”

Alessandro Bazzana (Unitedhealthcare, part of the early breakaway, 114th +0.20)

“Despite some bad luck, with four of my teammates crashing hard in stages, I saw all of us finish this race stronger than when we started. It’s going to be an exciting and long year with plenty of races, and I believe that the most important step is always the next one. Now our focus is on next week’s Tour of Oman."

Roberto Damiani (sports director Unitedhealthcare whose best rider was Robert Förster in 12th)

“The team has shown they can fight with the best here in Qatar. They have excellent condition and great determination. Today, Bazzana has exemplified one of our important team mottos – fight together until the very last moment!”

Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani, 10th s.t.)

”I’m quite satsfied with this result which was achieved in an important race against top-world sprinters. I only regret that I could not get a better position but the last 500 metres were really tricky. On the large final straight it wasn’t easy to find the right position. I found my space to sprint only in the last 100 metres, not enough to do better than 10th. Now I look forward to the Tour of Oman with three stages that are suitable for my skills."

Roberto Reverberi (sports director Bardiani whose best rider was Nicola Ruffoni in 10th)

”It was a discreet Tour of Qatar, where we have to remember that five guys were at the season debut and the other three arrived with only one-day race in their legs. We grew up day by day and we showed good things with Coledan and our sprinters. Anyway, during this week it was really important to build a good shape for the upcoming events, first of all the Tour of Oman where we also have Battaglin and Locatelli for the most demanding stages."