Image 1 of 14 Kirsten Wild (Image credit: Bert Geerts/dcp-bertgeerts@xs4all.nl) Image 2 of 14 Kirsten Wild (Liv-Shimano) in the points jersey (Image credit: ASO) Image 3 of 14 The riders await the start of stage 1 of the Ladies Tour of Qatar (Image credit: ASO) Image 4 of 14 A rider from the Italian national team chases down the lonely road (Image credit: ASO) Image 5 of 14 The Ladies Tour of Qatar fights the desert winds (Image credit: ASO) Image 6 of 14 The bunch stayed together until the first sprint (Image credit: ASO) Image 7 of 14 The peloton shattered after 55km (Image credit: ASO) Image 8 of 14 A small group fights the crosswinds (Image credit: ASO) Image 9 of 14 (Image credit: ASO) Image 10 of 14 Kirsten Wild (Liv-Shimano) wins stage 1 (Image credit: ASO) Image 11 of 14 Kirsten Wild (Liv-Shimano) and Eddy Merckx (Image credit: ASO) Image 12 of 14 Kirsten Wild (Liv-Shimano) in the first Ladies Tour of Qatar leader's jersey (Image credit: ASO) Image 13 of 14 Melissa Hoskins (Orica-AIS) was the best young rider after stage 1 (Image credit: ASO) Image 14 of 14 Kirsten Wild (Team Giant-Shimano) celebrates victory in stage 1 at the Ladies Tour of Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade)

A sixth sense for navigating crosswinds and a rapid sprint are the fundamental qualities required at the Ladies Tour of Qatar, and so there was little surprise, perhaps, that Kirsten Wild (Giant-Shimano) emerged victorious at the end of stage 1 in Mesaaied.

Wild correctly judged the pitch of the race when crosswinds split the peloton shortly after passing the Singing Sand Dunes with 55 kilometres to go. Driven by no fewer than four Orica-AIS riders, the 21-woman leading group worked harmoniously thereafter towards the finish line, where Wild hit the right note in the sprint.

A brisk tailwind was at the group's back in the finishing straight, and Wild duly took this as her cue to open her sprint from distance, and she ran out a decisive win over Shelley Olds (Ale Cipollini) and the rapidly-closing Chloe Hosking (Hitec Products) to claim the first gold jersey of the race.

"Maybe it looked easy but it wasn't – I had a heart rate of 190 in the finale. You just have to pretend to yourself that it's easy and stay calm," said Wild, who paid particular tribute to the efforts of her fellow Dutchwoman Amy Pieters in policing the lead group on the run-in to the line. "I had a wonderful teammate on the front and she did a great job."

Like Tom Boonen in the men's equivalent, Wild has enjoyed unparalleled success in the Ladies Tour of Qatar since its inception in 2009. Tuesday's win was her seventh stage victory at the race, and she is now in the box seat as she chases her fourth overall victory. In the general classification, the Dutchwoman is 8 seconds clear of Olds and 11 ahead of Hosking going into stage 2.

"I look at it day by day," she insisted. "I'm happy with this stage and what happens in the next days, I will see."

Rapid start

The wind was at the peloton's back as it pedalled away from the start outside Doha's striking, I.M. Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art, and those conditions made for a rapid start to proceedings, with some 46.1 kilometres covered in the first hour of racing.

With bonus seconds such a valuable commodity in the Qatari desert, there was precious little scope for an early break. Instead, on the first passage through the finish line after 35 kilometres, Wild claimed the sprint, ahead of British champion Lizzie Armitstead and Melissa Hoskins (Orica-AIS).

Given the flat terrain and utter lack of shelter on the roadsides, the slightest of winds can wreak havoc on the peloton when allied to a change in direction, but it took longer than many expected for the stage-defining split to occur. When it did happen, however, with 55 kilometres remaining, there was little surprise about the make-up of the 21-rider leading group.

Orica-AIS were among the principal drivers of the move, with Emma Johansson, Loes Gunnewijk, Melissa Hoskins and new signing Valentina Scandolara all present and correct, while Tiffany Cromwell (Specialized-Lululemon), Shelley Olds, Chloe Hosking, Lizzie Armitstead and Jolien D'Hoore (Lotto Belisol) were also safely aboard the bus.

Wiggle-Honda, by contrast, were the great absentees of the move, something which will cause particular disappointment in their ranks considering Giorgia Bronzini's early-season form at the Bay Crits series. The British-based squad attempted to orchestrate the pursuit behind, but with the peloton fragmented – and with so many strong riders up front – it was an all but impossible task. Within kilometres, the gap has stretched out to almost a minute, and the list of contenders for final overall victory had been considerably narrowed.

The tailwind in the finale meant that it was always going to be difficult for any late escape attempts to stick. After picking up three more bonus seconds at the second sprint, there was a degree of inevitability about Wild's eventual stage victory, but third-placed Chloe Hosking was among those to take heart from how the day unfolded. Were it not for an untimely puncture last year, the Australian could well have claimed the overall honours, and she was pleased with her opening gambit here.

"Kirsten's really fast but I didn't feel outdone today, I just went too late in the sprint," Hosking said. "I'm not down in the dumps about it. I think I can come out tomorrow with a different result."

Full results

1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 2:09:56 2 Shelley Olds (USA) Ale Cipollini 3 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 4 Jolien D'Hoore (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 5 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 6 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) France 7 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Ale Cipollini 8 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 9 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 10 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 11 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS 12 Valentina Scandolara (Ita) Orica - AIS 13 Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 14 Romy Kasper (Ger) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 15 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Specialized - lululemon 16 Susanna Zorzi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 17 Annalisa Cucinotta (Ita) Italy 18 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Orica - AIS 0:00:04 19 Chantal Blaak (Ned) Specialized - lululemon 20 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 0:00:09 21 Inga Cilvinaite (Ltu) RusVelo 0:00:49 22 Sara Mustonen (Swe) Team Giant - Shimano 0:00:53 23 Elise Delzenne (Fra) Specialized - lululemon 24 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 25 Fiona Dutriaux (Fra) France 26 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 27 Sarah Roy (Aus) Australia 28 Katrin Garfoot (Aus) Australia 29 Lauren Kitchen (Aus) Hitec Products 30 Liesbeth De Vocht (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 31 Julia Soek (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 32 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Team Giant - Shimano 33 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 34 Jessie MacLean (Aus) Orica - AIS 35 Olga Zabelinskaya (Rus) RusVelo 36 Marta Tagliaferro (Ita) Ale Cipollini 37 Rochelle Gilmore (Aus) Wiggle Honda 38 Marijn De Vries (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 39 Aurore Verhoeven (Fra) France 40 Katarzyna Pawlowska (Pol) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 41 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica - AIS 42 Charlotte Becker (Ger) Wiggle Honda 43 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle Honda 44 Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 45 Roxanne Knetemann (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 46 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 47 Elena Kuchinskaia (Rus) RusVelo 0:04:30 48 Wan Yiu Jamie Wong (HKg) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 49 Aizan Zhaparova (Rus) RusVelo 50 Dong Yan Huang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 51 Michela Pavin (Ita) Ale Cipollini 52 Marion Rousse (Fra) Lotto Belisol Ladies 53 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Hitec Products 54 Marieke Van Wanroij (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 55 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Italy 56 Alexandra Burchenkova (Rus) RusVelo 57 Isabelle Soderberg (Swe) Lotto Belisol Ladies 58 Xiaoling Luo (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 59 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 60 Thea Thorsen (Nor) Hitec Products 61 Malgorzata Jasinska (Pol) Ale Cipollini 62 Roxane Fournier (Fra) France 63 Emilia Fahlin (Swe) Wiggle Honda 64 Chloe McConville (Aus) Australia 65 Peta Mullens (Aus) Wiggle Honda 66 Alice Algisi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 67 Fanny Riberot (Fra) France 68 Jessica Mundy (Aus) Australia 69 Louisa Lobigs (Aus) Australia 70 Béatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle Honda 71 Ni Man Song (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 72 Simona Frapporti (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 73 Zita Stricker (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 74 Emily Roper (Aus) Australia 75 Anastasia Chulkova (Rus) RusVelo 76 Aude Biannic (Fra) France 77 Audrey Cordon (Fra) Hitec Products 78 Hong Yu Liang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 79 Maeia Covrig (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 80 Chiara Vannucci (Ita) Italy 81 Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Astana Bepink Womens Team 82 Anisha Vekemans (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 83 Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 84 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Italy 0:05:43 85 Claudia Cretti (Ita) Italy 86 Yuan Yuan Tian (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:06:26 87 Tone Hatteland Lima (Nor) Hitec Products 0:06:34 88 Elena Berlato (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:11:13

Sprint 1 - Mesaieed (1st crossing) 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 3 pts 2 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 2 3 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 1

Sprint 2 - Al Wukair 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 3 pts 2 Shelley Olds (USA) Ale Cipollini 2 3 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 1

Points 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 15 pts 2 Shelley Olds (USA) Ale Cipollini 12 3 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 9 4 Jolien D'Hoore (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 7 5 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 6 6 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) France 5 7 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Ale Cipollini 4 8 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 3 9 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 2 10 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 1

Young riders 1 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 2:09:56 2 Susanna Zorzi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 3 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 0:00:09 4 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:00:53 5 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 6 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 7 Dong Yan Huang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:04:30 8 Michela Pavin (Ita) Ale Cipollini 9 Marion Rousse (Fra) Lotto Belisol Ladies 10 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Hitec Products 11 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Italy 12 Thea Thorsen (Nor) Hitec Products 13 Roxane Fournier (Fra) France 14 Alice Algisi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 15 Jessica Mundy (Aus) Australia 16 Béatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle Honda 17 Zita Stricker (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 18 Emily Roper (Aus) Australia 19 Aude Biannic (Fra) France 20 Maeia Covrig (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 21 Chiara Vannucci (Ita) Italy 22 Anisha Vekemans (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 23 Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 24 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Italy 0:05:43 25 Claudia Cretti (Ita) Italy 26 Yuan Yuan Tian (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:06:26

Teams 1 Orica - AIS 6:29:48 2 Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 3 Specialized - lululemon 0:00:04 4 Ale Cipollini 0:00:53 5 Team Giant - Shimano 0:01:02 6 Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:01:46 7 France 8 Wiggle Honda 0:02:39 9 Hitec Products 0:05:23 10 Lotto Belisol Ladies 11 Italy 12 RusVelo 0:06:12 13 Australia 0:06:16 14 Astana Bepink Womens Team 0:09:00 15 China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:13:30

General classification after stage 1 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 2:09:40 2 Shelley Olds (USA) Ale Cipollini 0:00:08 3 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 0:00:11 4 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:00:14 5 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 0:00:15 6 Jolien D'Hoore (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 0:00:16 7 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) France 8 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Ale Cipollini 9 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 10 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 11 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS 12 Valentina Scandolara (Ita) Orica - AIS 13 Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 14 Romy Kasper (Ger) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 15 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Specialized - lululemon 16 Susanna Zorzi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 17 Annalisa Cucinotta (Ita) Italy 18 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Orica - AIS 0:00:20 19 Chantal Blaak (Ned) Specialized - lululemon 20 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 0:00:25 21 Inga Cilvinaite (Ltu) RusVelo 0:01:05 22 Sara Mustonen (Swe) Team Giant - Shimano 0:01:09 23 Elise Delzenne (Fra) Specialized - lululemon 24 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 25 Fiona Dutriaux (Fra) France 26 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 27 Sarah Roy (Aus) Australia 28 Katrin Garfoot (Aus) Australia 29 Lauren Kitchen (Aus) Hitec Products 30 Liesbeth De Vocht (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 31 Julia Soek (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 32 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Team Giant - Shimano 33 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 34 Jessie MacLean (Aus) Orica - AIS 35 Olga Zabelinskaya (Rus) RusVelo 36 Marta Tagliaferro (Ita) Ale Cipollini 37 Rochelle Gilmore (Aus) Wiggle Honda 38 Marijn De Vries (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 39 Aurore Verhoeven (Fra) France 40 Katarzyna Pawlowska (Pol) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 41 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica - AIS 42 Charlotte Becker (Ger) Wiggle Honda 43 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle Honda 44 Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 45 Roxanne Knetemann (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 46 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 47 Elena Kuchinskaia (Rus) RusVelo 0:04:46 48 Wan Yiu Jamie Wong (HKg) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 49 Aizan Zhaparova (Rus) RusVelo 50 Dong Yan Huang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 51 Michela Pavin (Ita) Ale Cipollini 52 Marion Rousse (Fra) Lotto Belisol Ladies 53 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Hitec Products 54 Marieke Van Wanroij (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 55 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Italy 56 Alexandra Burchenkova (Rus) RusVelo 57 Isabelle Soderberg (Swe) Lotto Belisol Ladies 58 Xiaoling Luo (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 59 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 60 Thea Thorsen (Nor) Hitec Products 61 Malgorzata Jasinska (Pol) Ale Cipollini 62 Roxane Fournier (Fra) France 63 Emilia Fahlin (Swe) Wiggle Honda 64 Chloe McConville (Aus) Australia 65 Peta Mullens (Aus) Wiggle Honda 66 Alice Algisi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 67 Fanny Riberot (Fra) France 68 Jessica Mundy (Aus) Australia 69 Louisa Lobigs (Aus) Australia 70 Béatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle Honda 71 Ni Man Song (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 72 Simona Frapporti (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 73 Zita Stricker (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 74 Emily Roper (Aus) Australia 75 Anastasia Chulkova (Rus) RusVelo 76 Aude Biannic (Fra) France 77 Audrey Cordon (Fra) Hitec Products 78 Hong Yu Liang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 79 Maeia Covrig (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 80 Chiara Vannucci (Ita) Italy 81 Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Astana Bepink Womens Team 82 Anisha Vekemans (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 83 Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 84 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Italy 0:05:59 85 Claudia Cretti (Ita) Italy 86 Yuan Yuan Tian (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:06:42 87 Tone Hatteland Lima (Nor) Hitec Products 0:06:50 88 Elena Berlato (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:11:29

Points classification 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 21 pts 2 Shelley Olds (USA) Ale Cipollini 14 3 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 10 4 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 8 5 Jolien D'Hoore (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 7 6 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) France 5 7 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 4 8 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Ale Cipollini 4 9 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 2 10 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 1

Young rider classification 1 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 2:09:55 2 Susanna Zorzi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 0:00:01 3 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 0:00:10 4 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:00:54 5 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 6 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 7 Dong Yan Huang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:04:31 8 Michela Pavin (Ita) Ale Cipollini 9 Marion Rousse (Fra) Lotto Belisol Ladies 10 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Hitec Products 11 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Italy 12 Thea Thorsen (Nor) Hitec Products 13 Roxane Fournier (Fra) France 14 Alice Algisi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 15 Jessica Mundy (Aus) Australia 16 Béatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle Honda 17 Zita Stricker (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 18 Emily Roper (Aus) Australia 19 Aude Biannic (Fra) France 20 Maeia Covrig (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 21 Chiara Vannucci (Ita) Italy 22 Anisha Vekemans (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 23 Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 24 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Italy 0:05:44 25 Claudia Cretti (Ita) Italy 26 Yuan Yuan Tian (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:06:27