Belgium's Tom Boonen, swept along by high winds, has claimed the Tour of Qatar's fourth and penultimate stage by a matter of centimetres from Germany's Andre Greipel.
The Omega Pharma rider, who also took Monday's second stage, moved up from fourth to second, 17 seconds adrift, behind his teammate Niki Terpstra in the overall standings with only Thursday's fifth and final stage remaining.
Boonen annexed the blustery 135km ride on Wednesday from Dukhan to Mesaeeid in a tight bunched sprint finish, denying Greipel by just five centimetres, with Barry Markus of the Netherlands in third.
The riders were pushed by the strong winds on their backs to produce a super fast average pace of 56.8km/h.
The stage finished 35 minutes quicker than forecast, catching among others catering staff in the riders' village unaware.
This was the 33-year-old Boonen's 22nd stage win in Qatar, where he's seeking to add to his previous wins in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012.
After a tiring day's riding the evergreen Belgian commented: "With this wind on your back we were really made to suffer.
"To control the peloton which is going so fast is no easy thing to do.
"Once again we'll sleep well tonight."
French sprinter Arnaud Demare, who came in seventh, added: "Our legs were sometimes doing 110 turns per minute"
Boonen's performance here this week has proved he is back in form after missing the second half of last season, including the world championships in Florence, with a saddle injury.
The race concludes Friday with a 159km ride from Al Zubara Fort to Madinat Al Shamal.
