Image 1 of 25 The Ladies Tour of Qatar stage 3 start (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 2 of 25 Amy Pieters (Liv-Shimano) back in the young rider's jersey (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 3 of 25 Kirsten Wild (Liv-Shimano) in the leader's jersey in Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 4 of 25 Kirsten Wild (Liv-Shimano) in the points jersey in Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 5 of 25 Kirsten Wild wins stage 3 of the Ladies Tour of Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 6 of 25 The general classification favorites made the front group (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 7 of 25 British champion Lizzy Armitstead (Boels Dolmans) (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 8 of 25 Aude Biannic (France) in the Ladies Tour of Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 9 of 25 Aude Biannic (France) on the attack (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 10 of 25 The echelons form on stage 3 of the Ladies Tour of Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 11 of 25 Shocking, the sprint in the Ladies Tour of Qatar is sponsored by an oil company. (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 12 of 25 The lonely, desolate landscape can demoralize the back echelons (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 13 of 25 Yes, camels cross here. (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 14 of 25 Race leader Amy Pieters on the line (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 15 of 25 Nothing but the road and the sand in the Ladies Tour of Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 16 of 25 Elise Delzenne (Specialized-lululemon) (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 17 of 25 Amy Pieters battles the wind (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 18 of 25 Stage 3 of the Ladies Tour of Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 19 of 25 The women await the drop of the flag (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 20 of 25 The neutral roll out on stage 3 of Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 21 of 25 The jersey holders on stage 3: Kirsten Wild, Amy Pieters and Melissa Hoskins (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 22 of 25 (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 23 of 25 A distinct difference in modes of dress between riders and locals in Qatar (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 24 of 25 The Liv-Shimano riders take in the sights before stage 3 (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade) Image 25 of 25 Kirsten Wild (Giant-Shimano) wins stage 3 at the Ladies Tour of Qatar and takes over the leader's jersey from teammate Amy Pieters (Image credit: ASO/B. Bade)

The Orica-AIS squad made repeated attempts to break the Dutch grip on the Ladies Tour of Qatar, but their efforts ultimately went unrewarded as Kirsten Wild (Giant-Shimano) claimed the spoils on stage 3 to Al Khor Corniche.

Wild's victory was enough to lift her above teammate Amy Pieters on the general classification and back into the golden jersey, but the win – her second this week – was perhaps the hardest-fought of the eight in total that she has captured at the Ladies Tour of Qatar since the event's inception in 2009.

"I'm really happy but I also feel a bit sorry for Amy because she won well yesterday and now I've taken the jersey back. But the good thing is that we keep it in the team," Wild said. "That was the goal – to keep the jersey in the team, with me or with Amy."

The finale was marked by a concerted show of aggression from Orica-AIS, led by world number one Emma Johansson. The Swede had Gracie Elvin, Melissa Hoskins and Loes Gunnewijk for company in the winning move of 14 riders, and the quartet took turns attacking in an attempt to rid themselves of Wild and the other fast finishers.

Such an approach helped Judith Arndt beat the sprinters and the odds to claim overall victory here two years ago, but in spite of the notable Orica offensive, the Giant-Shimano pairing of Wild and Pieters simply could not be dislodged in the closing kilometres of stage 3.

After ebbing and flowing for 18 kilometres, the leading echelon regrouped ahead of the red kite, and there was a certain degree of inevitability about the finishing sprint, although Shelley Olds (Alé-Cipollini) made a brave attempt to anticipate her rivals on the windswept finishing straight. The American would fade in the final 100 metres, however, as Wild roared past to take the stage win, while an impressive Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) held off Chloe Hosking (Hitec-Products) for second place.

Thanks to the sixteen seconds in time bonuses she earned on the stage, Wild now holds a nine-second lead over Pieters, while Orica-AIS' Chloe Hosking and Emma Johansson remain in 3rd and 4th place, albeit now 21 and 35 seconds down, respectively. Ahead of Friday's conclusion on Doha's Corniche, Giant-Shimano are in a commanding position.

"The gold jersey has passed to my teammate and I'm still in the white jersey, so I think we can be really happy," Pieters said. "Tomorrow, I hope we can win the stage again, and if we do, we will hold onto the jersey too."

Orica seize the initiative

For the third day in succession, winds buffeted the peloton, and for the third consecutive stage, only an elite group of riders were left in contention for the win by day's end. There was a steady start to proceedings after the peloton was flagged away from the Katara Cultural Village in northern Doha, but as the pace wound up before the day's first sprint (40.5km), the first splits began to appear in the peloton.

Surprisingly, Tiffany Cromwell (Specialized-Lululemon) was among those to miss the move, and while there was a general regrouping ahead of a breathless finale, it was merely a stay of execution for any lingering podium aspirations.

After lone attacker Aude Biannic (France) was swept up, Orica-AIS set about whittling down the peloton, having found fertile terrain for their particular brand of aggressive riding in the final 25 kilometres. Led by Johansson, the Australian outfit forced a selection of just 14 riders on the windswept run-in to the finish.

Mindful of the lack of a bona fide sprinter in their ranks – or at least, a rider capable of outmatching Wild, Hosking, Olds et al – Orica-AIS took it in turns to attack in the finale, with Johansson, Australian champion Gracie Elvin and Melissa Hoskins trying their luck at various times.

"Orica were attacking constantly in the final 20 kilometres and the group was just all over the place, so it was a really, really hard day," Hosking said afterwards. "Then in the sprint, Wild was just so strong and I was just so tired too."

Their aggression made for a disjointed leading echelon and a thrilling final 10 kilometres, and as the group fragmented and reformed almost without stop. Johansson's most telling attack came with 7 kilometres to go, but the implacable Wild moved swiftly to police the move.

Shortly afterwards, Elvin slipped away only for the gold jersey of Amy Pieters to follow, and while the Lizzie Armistead (Boels-Dolmans) breathed life into the effort when she bridged across, they were ultimately reeled in and the stage was set for the sprint finish. On the seafront at Al Khor, Kirsten Wild's emphatic sprint finish felt very much like a down payment on final overall victory.

Full Results

1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 2:27:34 2 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 3 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 4 Shelley Olds (USA) Ale Cipollini 5 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS 6 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Ale Cipollini 7 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 8 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 9 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 10 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Orica - AIS 0:00:05 11 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 0:00:15 12 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica - AIS 13 Katarzyna Pawlowska (Pol) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:00:50 14 Olga Zabelinskaya (Rus) RusVelo 15 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) France 16 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Specialized - lululemon 17 Jolien D'Hoore (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 18 Chantal Blaak (Ned) Specialized - lululemon 19 Jessie MacLean (Aus) Orica - AIS 20 Elise Delzenne (Fra) Specialized - lululemon 0:01:16 21 Charlotte Becker (Ger) Wiggle Honda 22 Liesbeth De Vocht (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 0:01:18 23 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 24 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 25 Romy Kasper (Ger) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 26 Sarah Roy (Aus) Australia 27 Inga Cilvinaite (Ltu) RusVelo 28 Lauren Kitchen (Aus) Hitec Products 29 Katrin Garfoot (Aus) Australia 30 Chloe McConville (Aus) Australia 31 Marta Tagliaferro (Ita) Ale Cipollini 32 Marijn De Vries (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 33 Sara Mustonen (Swe) Team Giant - Shimano 34 Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 35 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Team Giant - Shimano 36 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:03:45 37 Aizan Zhaparova (Rus) RusVelo 38 Xiaoling Luo (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 39 Roxanne Knetemann (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 40 Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 41 Roxane Fournier (Fra) France 42 Audrey Cordon (Fra) Hitec Products 43 Dong Yan Huang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 44 Rochelle Gilmore (Aus) Wiggle Honda 45 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Hitec Products 46 Louisa Lobigs (Aus) Australia 47 Malgorzata Jasinska (Pol) Ale Cipollini 48 Alexandra Burchenkova (Rus) RusVelo 49 Susanna Zorzi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 50 Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 51 Emily Roper (Aus) Australia 52 Emilia Fahlin (Swe) Wiggle Honda 53 Jessica Mundy (Aus) Australia 54 Elena Kuchinskaia (Rus) RusVelo 55 Valentina Scandolara (Ita) Orica - AIS 56 Peta Mullens (Aus) Wiggle Honda 57 Hong Yu Liang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 58 Simona Frapporti (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 59 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle Honda 60 Béatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle Honda 61 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 62 Aude Biannic (Fra) France 63 Julia Soek (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 64 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Italy 0:06:51 65 Thea Thorsen (Nor) Hitec Products 66 Fanny Riberot (Fra) France 67 Michela Pavin (Ita) Ale Cipollini 68 Zita Stricker (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 69 Elena Berlato (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:11:18 70 Marion Rousse (Fra) Lotto Belisol Ladies 71 Alice Algisi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 72 Marieke Van Wanroij (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 73 Aurore Verhoeven (Fra) France 74 Chiara Vannucci (Ita) Italy 75 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Italy 76 Fiona Dutriaux (Fra) France 77 Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Astana Bepink Womens Team 78 Anastasia Chulkova (Rus) RusVelo 79 Claudia Cretti (Ita) Italy 80 Annalisa Cucinotta (Ita) Italy 81 Maeia Covrig (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 82 Ni Man Song (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:12:59 83 Wan Yiu Jamie Wong (HKg) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 84 Tone Hatteland Lima (Nor) Hitec Products 85 Yuan Yuan Tian (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:17:27

Sprint 1 - Tenbek 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 3 pts 2 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Team Giant - Shimano 2 3 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS 1

Sprint 2 - Al Thakhira 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 3 pts 2 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 2 3 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS 1

Points - Al Khor Corniche (Finish) 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 15 pts 2 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 12 3 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 9 4 Shelley Olds (USA) Ale Cipollini 7 5 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS 6 6 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Ale Cipollini 5 7 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 4 8 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 3 9 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 2 10 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Orica - AIS 1

Young riders 1 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 2:27:34 2 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 3 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 0:00:15 4 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:03:45 5 Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 6 Roxane Fournier (Fra) France 7 Dong Yan Huang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 8 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Hitec Products 9 Susanna Zorzi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 10 Emily Roper (Aus) Australia 11 Jessica Mundy (Aus) Australia 12 Béatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle Honda 13 Aude Biannic (Fra) France 14 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Italy 0:06:51 15 Thea Thorsen (Nor) Hitec Products 16 Michela Pavin (Ita) Ale Cipollini 17 Zita Stricker (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 18 Marion Rousse (Fra) Lotto Belisol Ladies 0:11:18 19 Alice Algisi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 20 Chiara Vannucci (Ita) Italy 21 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Italy 22 Claudia Cretti (Ita) Italy 23 Maeia Covrig (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 24 Yuan Yuan Tian (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:17:27

Teams 1 Orica - AIS 7:23:02 2 Ale Cipollini 0:00:58 3 Team Giant - Shimano 4 Specialized - lululemon 0:01:20 5 Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:01:48 6 Australia 0:03:34 7 Hitec Products 0:04:43 8 RusVelo 0:05:33 9 Lotto Belisol Ladies 10 Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:06:01 11 France 0:08:00 12 Wiggle Honda 0:08:26 13 China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:10:55 14 Astana Bepink Womens Team 0:14:01 15 Italy 0:17:49

General classification after stage 3 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 7:30:53 2 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 0:00:09 3 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 0:00:21 4 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS 0:00:35 5 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 0:00:47 6 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 0:00:55 7 Jolien D'Hoore (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 0:01:29 8 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 0:01:40 9 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Specialized - lululemon 0:01:48 10 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:02:05 11 Charlotte Becker (Ger) Wiggle Honda 0:02:18 12 Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 13 Olga Zabelinskaya (Rus) RusVelo 0:02:20 14 Inga Cilvinaite (Ltu) RusVelo 0:02:23 15 Lauren Kitchen (Aus) Hitec Products 0:02:58 16 Liesbeth De Vocht (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 0:03:20 17 Sara Mustonen (Swe) Team Giant - Shimano 0:03:49 18 Christine Majerus (Lux) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:04:32 19 Valentina Scandolara (Ita) Orica - AIS 20 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle Honda 0:05:25 21 Julia Soek (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 0:05:47 22 Shelley Olds (USA) Ale Cipollini 0:11:59 23 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 24 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:12:07 25 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Orica - AIS 0:12:16 26 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) France 0:12:57 27 Chantal Blaak (Ned) Specialized - lululemon 0:13:01 28 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica - AIS 0:13:15 29 Romy Kasper (Ger) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:13:25 30 Katarzyna Pawlowska (Pol) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:13:50 31 Jessie MacLean (Aus) Orica - AIS 32 Elise Delzenne (Fra) Specialized - lululemon 0:14:16 33 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Team Giant - Shimano 34 Sarah Roy (Aus) Australia 0:14:18 35 Katrin Garfoot (Aus) Australia 36 Marta Tagliaferro (Ita) Ale Cipollini 37 Marijn De Vries (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 38 Susanna Zorzi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 0:15:52 39 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:16:45 40 Rochelle Gilmore (Aus) Wiggle Honda 41 Roxanne Knetemann (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 42 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 43 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 0:17:55 44 Chloe McConville (Aus) Australia 45 Aizan Zhaparova (Rus) RusVelo 0:19:17 46 Hong Yu Liang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 47 Dong Yan Huang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:20:22 48 Elena Kuchinskaia (Rus) RusVelo 49 Alexandra Burchenkova (Rus) RusVelo 50 Roxane Fournier (Fra) France 51 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Hitec Products 52 Xiaoling Luo (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 53 Audrey Cordon (Fra) Hitec Products 54 Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 55 Peta Mullens (Aus) Wiggle Honda 56 Béatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle Honda 57 Emilia Fahlin (Swe) Wiggle Honda 58 Simona Frapporti (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 59 Aude Biannic (Fra) France 60 Malgorzata Jasinska (Pol) Ale Cipollini 61 Louisa Lobigs (Aus) Australia 62 Jessica Mundy (Aus) Australia 63 Emily Roper (Aus) Australia 64 Annalisa Cucinotta (Ita) Italy 0:23:25 65 Michela Pavin (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:23:28 66 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Italy 67 Thea Thorsen (Nor) Hitec Products 68 Fanny Riberot (Fra) France 69 Zita Stricker (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 70 Fiona Dutriaux (Fra) France 0:24:18 71 Aurore Verhoeven (Fra) France 72 Anastasia Chulkova (Rus) RusVelo 0:26:48 73 Alice Algisi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 0:27:55 74 Marieke Van Wanroij (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 75 Marion Rousse (Fra) Lotto Belisol Ladies 76 Chiara Vannucci (Ita) Italy 77 Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Astana Bepink Womens Team 78 Maeia Covrig (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 79 Claudia Cretti (Ita) Italy 0:29:08 80 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Italy 0:29:17 81 Wan Yiu Jamie Wong (HKg) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:29:36 82 Ni Man Song (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 83 Tone Hatteland Lima (Nor) Hitec Products 0:31:40 84 Elena Berlato (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:34:38 85 Yuan Yuan Tian (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:36:00

Points classification 1 Kirsten Wild (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 53 pts 2 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Hitec Products 31 3 Shelley Olds (USA) Ale Cipollini 21 4 Elizabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 20 5 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 17 6 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS 12 7 Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 12 8 Jolien D'Hoore (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 11 9 Charlotte Becker (Ger) Wiggle Honda 9 10 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Ale Cipollini 9 11 Inga Cilvinaite (Ltu) RusVelo 7 12 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Specialized - lululemon 5 13 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 5 14 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) France 5 15 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 3 16 Olga Zabelinskaya (Rus) RusVelo 3 17 Iris Slappendel (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 2 18 Maaike Polspoel (Bel) Team Giant - Shimano 2 19 Loes Gunnewijk (Ned) Orica - AIS 1

Young riders classification 1 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Giant - Shimano 7:31:02 2 Melissa Hoskins (Aus) Orica - AIS 0:00:46 3 Elena Cecchini (Ita) Italy 0:01:31 4 Susanna Zorzi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 0:15:43 5 Thalita De Jong (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:16:36 6 Dong Yan Huang (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:20:13 7 Roxane Fournier (Fra) France 8 Emilie Moberg (Nor) Hitec Products 9 Celine Van Severen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Ladies 10 Béatrice Bartelloni (Ita) Wiggle Honda 11 Aude Biannic (Fra) France 12 Jessica Mundy (Aus) Australia 13 Emily Roper (Aus) Australia 14 Michela Pavin (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:23:19 15 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Italy 16 Thea Thorsen (Nor) Hitec Products 17 Zita Stricker (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 18 Alice Algisi (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 0:27:46 19 Marion Rousse (Fra) Lotto Belisol Ladies 20 Chiara Vannucci (Ita) Italy 21 Maeia Covrig (Ita) Astana Bepink Womens Team 22 Claudia Cretti (Ita) Italy 0:28:59 23 Arianna Fidanza (Ita) Italy 0:29:08 24 Yuan Yuan Tian (Chn) China Chongming-Giant Pro Cycling 0:35:51