Cavendish didn't contest the sprint at the end of the 142.5 kilometres route from Barzan Towers to the College of the North Atlantic as he continued to recover from his recent bout of illness.

He had fallen ill on his flight from London Heathrow to Doha on Friday night but was able to start the race and came home safely in the main bunch, with Team Sky instead trying to lead out Davide Appollonio for the sprint.

But it was Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider Boonen who prevailed in impressive style, with Adam Blythe (BMC Racing) second and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) in third.

Appollonio crossed the line in eighth but is sixth on the general classification having earlier collected a couple of bonus seconds when he chased home Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda) in the second intermediate sprint.

Hansen's early move

A tailwind made the task for all the riders easier than it might have been and a relatively straightforward day saw Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) break clear of the pack after just 3km before opening up a maximum lead of six minutes and 40 seconds.

The conditions meant he was never going to maintain that lead and after taking the first intermediate sprint he was reeled in by the peloton.

Heading into the final 20km the field was all together and Michael Barry helped Team Sky drive it on the front, with Lotto-Belisol also prominent.

Team Sky looked to take control approaching the final kilometre but when Boonen burst clear the field was already strung out and he powered ahead in the final 50 yards, crossing the line around three bike lengths in front to move into the leader's gold jersey.

Afterwards Team Sky Sports Director Steven de Jongh was happy to report that Cavendish had got through the stage without any problems, telling www.teamsky.com: "Everything went okay today and when the winds first whipped up it was good to see that we had five guys towards the front, and again at the finish there.

"Cav was not too far back either and he actually had a pretty good day. He was helping out his team-mates during the race, which was a pleasant surprise because we’d told him he didn’t have to do anything if he didn’t feel he was up to it after his illness.

"Our only goal for him was that he finished the stage today, and he did that comfortably."

Monday's second stage is an 11.3km team time trial on the Losail motor racing circuit.