Australian rider Chloe Hosking retains leads in Tour of Qatar

CHLOE Hosking missed the podium but retained the overall leader in the Tour of Qatar after surviving a day of aggression by rival Australian riders.

Qatar-tour

CHLOE Hosking missed the podium by a place but retained the overall leader in the Tour of Qatar after surviving a day of aggression by rival Australian riders in the desert race.

Hosking finished fourth in the 96km second stage won by Dutch rider Kirsten Wild of the Argos-Shimano team. Wild is now a four-time stage winner of the race.

While the Australian Orica GreenEDGE team controlled the action in the windy second stage they were unable to claim the days honours despite having five riders bidding for the sprint win.

The best placed GreenEDGE riders were Emma Johansson in fifth and national champion Gracie Elvin sixth.

Hosking, 22, from Bendigo, finished fourth to retain the overall lead, the young rider's jersey and the sprint classification in the four-stage tour.

Elvin is in second place overall, six seconds behind Hosking, ahead of tomorrow's third stage.