Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen narrowly failed to land the fifth stage of the Tour of Qatar after a power-packed finish into Madinat Al Shamal.

The Norwegian star was finishing fastest of all and only failed by inches to overhaul Belgium's Tom Boonen (Quick Step), who was winning his second stage in the space of three days.

Boasson Hagen, who wore the leader's golden jersey after the opening team time trial, had played a leading role as Team Sky and Quick Step drove the main peloton to chase down a 14-man breakaway group, eventually reeling it in inside the final kilometre.

With the race again coming down to a sprint finish, Theo Bos (Cervélo TestTeam) was the first to commit but he was quickly swallowed up by Boonen and the Belgian then just held off the late thrusts of second-placed Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) and Boasson Hagen.

Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil) produced another strong ride to finish in the leading group and he still heads the overall standings by nine seconds from Geert Steurs (Topsport Vlaanderen), with Boonen one minute and 45 seconds back in third.

Winning belief

Afterwards Team Sky's Senior Sports Director Scott Sunderland said he was delighted with his squad's performance.

He told us: The boys did a really good job and their form is coming along all the time. They did exactly what they had to do and then Edvald almost had the legs to pull it off today so it was a fantastic effort.

"Edvald said to me straight away that he was a little bit short of room and wasn't quite able to open up but that's the way it is sometimes. The good thing is he's got confirmation for himself and the team that when they do the work and it goes well he can win the race."