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Al Kharaitiyat - Australian Mark Renshaw took control of the Tour of Qatar from Heinrich Haussler after winning Thursday's fourth stage.
The HTC rider, who climbed to the top of the overall standings courtesy of bonus points, prevailed in a sprint finish ahead of Italy's Daniele Bennati and Tom Boonen of Belgium.
Haussler, who took over the lead from Boonen on Wednesday after his second successive stage win, came in fourth to be placed six seconds behind Renshaw ahead of Friday's fifth and final stage, a 126.5km run from the Sealine Beach Resort to Doha's Corniche.
"Mark executed the perfect sprint, but there's still one day to go and I'll do my best to reclaim the (leader's) golden jersey," said Haussler.
Renshaw, reflecting on his stage win, said: "I had the good fortune to be well placed in the sprint behind Bennati and I kicked on at the right time."
The 28-year-old normally plays 'domestique' to Mark Cavendish but took over as his team's leader after the Briton's fall in the prologue.
Fourth stage results:
1. Mark Renshaw, Australia, HTC-Highroad, 3 hours 12 minutes 36 seconds
2. Daniele Bennati, Italy, Leopard Trek, same time
3. Tom Boonen, Belgium, Quick Step, same time
4. Heinrich Haussler, Australia, Garmin-Cervelo, same time
5. Denis Galimzyanov, Russia, Katusha, same time
6. Roger Kluge, Germany, Skil-Shimano, same time
7. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni, Spain, Sky, same time
8. Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuania, Astana, same time
9. Roger Hammond, Great Britain, Team Garmin-Cervelo
10. Greg Van Avermaet, Belgium, BMC Racing, same time
11. Danilo Hondo, Germany, Lampre-ISD, same time
12. Stijn Vandenbergh, Belgium, Katusha, 3 seconds behind
13. Maarten Wynants, Belgium, Rabobank, same time
14. Johan Van Summeren, Belgium, Garmin-Cervelo, same time
15. Bernhard Eisel, Austria, HTC-Highroad, same time
16. Nikolas Maes, Belgium, Quick Step, same time
17. Jeremy Hunt, Great Britain, Sky, same time
18. Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Norway, Sky, same time
19. Ian Stannard, Great Britain, Sky, same time
20. Jelle Wallays, Belgium, Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator, same time
General Classification (After 4 of 5 stages):
1. Mark Renshaw, Australia, HTC-Highroad, 12 hours, 47 minutes, 0 seconds
2. Heinrich Haussler, Germany, Garmin-Cervelo, 6 seconds behind
3. Daniele Bennati, Italy, Leopard Trek, 15 seconds
4. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni, Spain, Sky, 24 seconds
5. Roger Hammond, Britain, Garmin-Cervelo, 36 seconds
6. Jeremy Hunt, Britain, Sky, 37 seconds
7. Gabriel Rasch, Norway, Garmin-Cervelo, 40 seconds
8. Bernhard Eisel, Austria, HTC-Highroad, 1 minute 3 seconds
9. Marcus Burghardt, Germany, BMC Racing, 1:31
10. Gert Steegmans, Belgium, Quick Step, 1:33
11. Johan Van Summeren, Belgium, Garmin-Cervelo, 1:38
12. Nikolas Maes, Belgium, Quick Step, 1:39
13. Tom Boonen, Belgium, Quick Step, 3:13
14. Stuart O'Grady, Australia, Leopard Trek, 3:56
15. Dominique Rollin, Canada, FDJ, 5:18
16. Maarten Wynants, Belgium, Rabobank, 5:31
17. Roger Kluge, Germany, Skil-Shimano, 5:34
18. Danilo Hondo, Germany, Lampre-ISD, same time
19. Denis Galimzyanov, Russia, Katusha, 5:58
20. Davide Vigano, Italy, Leopard Trek, 6:09
