What Are We, Chopped Liver? Chicchi, Napolitano, Haussler, Pozzato Look to Upstage Tommeke and Cav at Qatar

The Boonen vs. Cavendish battle has been played up for the Tour of Qatar, but there are other top sprinters coming to the Persian Gulf in search of wins

Tom Boonen and Mark Cavendish have dominated the headlines recently as the Tour of Qatar approaches. Both are the undisputed leaders of their teams, and both Boonen and Cavendish have ambitious plans for 2009. However, there are several other quality sprinters lining up for Qatar, and each of them could upset the Boonen-Cavendish duo in the flat seven day stage race.

Liquigas sprinter Franceso Chicchi is coming off a very successful Tour Down Under, where he took a stage win and featured prominently throughout the first Pro Tour race of 2009, and he'll have full support from his Liquigas team of the Tour of Qatar. Chicchi, a U-23 world road champion, also has taken a stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico, all while working most of the time for teammate Daniele Bennati. On his own in Qatar, Chicchi will look to add another early season win to his 2009 palmares, and another feather in the cap of the Liquigas team.

There are two other Italians that will also be hungry for stage wins in Qatar, as the Katusha duo of Filippo Pozzato and Danilo Napolitano lead the Russian super team in the Saudia Arabian stage race. Katusha management has made no secret of the fact that they want big wins now from their stars, and so the pressure will be on Pozzato particularly to deliver results. For Napolitano there is certainly less pressure, which may play to the favor of the tall Italian. Although he'll primarily support Pozzato, Napolitano will probably be given the green light on at least one stage. 

Finally, there is the young German Heinrich Haussler of the Cervelo TestTeam. At only 24, Haussler is an enormous rising talent, and he'll be the leader in Qatar with Thor Hushovd's absence. Haussler is an underestimated talent, and wins at the Dauphine Libere and the Vuelta a Espana foreshadow the promise of the German's future. In fact, he showed well in last year's Amgen Tour of California, before getting sick and abandoning the bitter cold and rainy queen stage from the stomach virus that swept the peloton. He'll be in the mix on every stage, and with a touch of luck a stage win should be within reach.

Tom Boonen and Mark Cavendish are dominating the Tour of Qatar headlines, but don't be surprised if one of the riders mentioned above get a piece of the Qatar action as well. Each belongs to a strong team, and all four have the talent and experience to beat the best in the world. Plus, coming in under the radar always helps, and with Boonen and Cav taking up the spotlight, these other riders can concentrate exclusively on the most important thing: racing their bikes.