Boonen wins 1st stage of Tour of Qatar

AL KHOR, Qatar (AP) — Tom Boonen won Monday’s opening stage of the Tour of Qatar, his first major race since undergoing knee surgery last May.

The Belgian finished the 90.4-mile ride from Dukhan to Al Khor in 2 hours, 59 minutes, 29 seconds. Heinrich Haussler of Australia and countryman Mark Renshaw were next.

It was Boonen’s 18th stage win in Qatar. He won the race in 2006, ’08 and ’09.

Boonen crashed at the Tour of Switzerland and skipped the Tour de France to have an operation in July.

He says “it is nice to win again, especially after the crash last year.”

Boonen leads overall by 4 seconds over Renshaw.

Tuesday’s second stage is an 84.2-mile ride from the Camel Race Track to Doha Golf Club.