Defending champion Tom Boonen of Quick Step has won the fifth stage at the Tour of Qatar, while Dutch cyclist Wouter Mol of the Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team retained the overall lead.

Boonen won the 142 kilometer stage in a time of 3 hours, 13 minutes on Thursday.

The Belgian, a three-time winner in Qatar, finished ahead of Danilo Napolitano of Italy and Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway.

Mol, the overnight leader, has an overall time of 13:12:28 after five stages. Steurs Geert of Belgium is nine seconds back in second place, while Boonen is a minute and 45 seconds behind the leader.

With the fifth stage coming down to a sprint finish at Madinat Al Shamal, Dutch cyclist Theo Bos of Cervelo TestTeam was the first to sprint for the finish line, but he was quickly chased down by Boonen, who won stage three on Tuesday.

The sixth and final stage of the Tour of Qatar is on Friday and begins at Al Wakra, in the South of the country, and finishes at Doha Corniche after the cyclists cover a distance of 123.5 kilometers.