Dimension Data retained the yellow jersey of the Tour of Qatar as Edvald Boasson Hagen put up a dominating display on another windy day to win the stage three  individual time trial, at Lousil circuit yesterday.
Mark Cavendish slipped down to second in the standings after his Dimension Data teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen produced a solid ride to win the 11.4km time trial. The Norwegian time trial champion completed the course 25 seconds faster than Jos Van Emden of LottoNL-Jumbo.
Lieuwe Westra of Astana, former Dutch time trial champion, set an early benchmark before being eclipsed by compatriot Jos van Emden, who set a time 13:51 seconds.
That time stood until Hagen, who began the day 18 seconds behind Cavendish, set a time of 13:26, enough to lift him from fifth to first place. The seven-time Norwegian National Time Trial champion now sits 26 seconds ahead of teammate Cavendish.
“I feel stronger than last year and with luck I succeeded in winning today. Now I’ll try to keep hold of the golden jersey,” Boasson Hagen said, after his first time trial win since the 2010 Tour of Oman.
“It didn’t feel like I was going fast on the course. I felt good earlier in the week and it’s good to get the proof that I was going well,” the 28-year-old Norwegian added.
The Manxman held a five-second cushion going into the time trial but could only muster a time of 14:10.44, seventh-quickest on the day. BMC Racing Team’s Manuel Quinziato moved up to third place overall.
Cavendish praised Hagen, who won two stages of Tour de France in 2011.
“One thing I’ve noticed since I rode with him at HTC is how he’s grown as a leader. He’s one of the old guys on the team now and for a quiet lad, he really motivates the other riders,” Cavendish said.
“He knows how to ride as a unit, he knows how to be a leader and road captain. It’s superb to see him grow into a leadership role and he definitely inspires the young African lads.”
Talking about the next stages, Cavendish said: “As long as we win, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to try to win two more stages.”
The same race circuit featured in last year’s time trial, which eventual
winner Niki Terpstra traversed in a time of 14:03, good enough for an eight-second advantage over Fabian Cancellara and nine seconds over Bradley Wiggins.
The riders were again not allowed to use time trial bikes. Kristoff showed at last year’s Three Days of De Panne that he can compete in the short time trials when the race lead is at stake, but the Katusha man ceded 44 seconds to Terpstra last year.
Alexander Kristoff of Katusha, who began the day second overall after his victory on Stage 2, now sits 45 seconds behind his compatriot after losing nearly a minute in the time trial.
“I thought I would do better today, at least, as I did it last year but maybe I just missed some power. I was not bad at all today, but I wanted more. It wasn’t my best day, but it happens. Anyway, I am looking forward to the next stages, as still everything can happen in this race,” said Kristoff.
Today’s fourth stage is a 189km ride from Al Zubarah Fort to Madinat Al Shamal.

RESULTS AND STANDINGS (AFTER STAGE III)
STAGE: 1. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:13:26; 2. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:25; 3. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:29; 4. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:32; 5. Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team0:00:40; 6. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team 0:00:43; 7. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:00:44; 8. Jordan Kerby (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling; 9. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:45; 10. Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:47
CLASSIFICATION (TOP 5): 1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 6:53:35; 2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:00:26; 3 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:32; 4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:34; 5 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 0:00:45
POINTS CLASSIFICATION: 1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 36 pts; 2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 29; 3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 27; 4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 19; 5 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre–Merida 17; 6 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 12; 7 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 12; 8 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team 9; 9 Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 9; 10 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 7
YOUNG RIDER CLASSIFICATION (TOP 5):
1. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin 6:54:23; 2. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team Katusha0:00:14; 3. Nils Politt (Ger) Team Katusha 0:01:49; 4. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:11; 5. Daniel Eaton (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:02:17
TEAM CLASSIFICATION: 1. BMC Racing Team  20:42:42; 2. Team Katusha 0:01:00; 3. Bora-Argon 18 0:01:36; 4. Dimension Data 0:01:59; 5. Astana Pro Team 0:03:52; 6. Fortuneo - Vital Concept 0:05:42; 7. Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:05:50; 8 Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:07:50; 9 UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team 0:07:56; 10 Wanty-Groupe Gobert0:08:00