Rothaus Regio-Tour International – Stage 5
The Rothaus Regio-Tour International takes place across 3 countries – Germany, France and Switzerland.
The final stage of the 2007 Rothaus Regio-Tour International – Stage 5 - is a 169.1km course. The stage winner was Adrian Palomares Villaplana who slipped clear after a break away group of 8 riders had been brought to heel. His move came with 3 kilometres to go in the race, spoiling Alessandro Petacchi’s plans of taking out the final sprint victory.
Winner of the Tour was Spain’s Moises Duenas Nevado (Agritubel) who safely travelled within the peloton and allowed his team to cover every move that was attempted as the race wound down.
Stage 5 Results (Top 10)
1 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 3.56.22
2 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram
3 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
4 Honorio Machado Perez (Ven) Tenax Salmilano
5 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Tenax Salmilano
6 Richard Faltus (Cze) Team Sparkasse
7 Daniel Musiol (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt
8 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
9 Robert Retschke (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt
10 Marcel Fischer (Ger) German National Team U23
Final Overall GC Standings
1 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 17.08.10
2 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System 0.23
3 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 1.23
4 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Team 1.33
5 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 1.46
6 Robert Retschke (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt 2.16
7 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 2.18
8 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 2.43
9 Alexander Gottfried (Ger) Tinkoff Credit System
10 Niklas Axelsson (Swe) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni- Selle Italia 3.05
Sprint Classification
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram 27 pts
2 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner 22
3 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 20
Mountain Classification
1 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Tenax Salmilano 44 pts
2 Dailos Diaz Armas (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 44
3 Vasil Kiriyienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit System 32
Young Rider Classification
1 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 17.08.10
2 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 0.23
3 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 1.23
4 Alexander Gottfried (Ger) Tinkoff Credit Systems 2.43
5 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Tenax Salmilano 4.04
Teams
1 Tinkoff Credit System 39.41.02
2 Fuerteventura-Canarias 3.58
3 T-Mobile Professional Cycling 5.00
Clasica Ciclista los Puertos – Results
A strong team representation and showing by Caisse D’Epargne was thwarted by Héctor Guerra (Liberty Seguros) in the 30th Clasica Ciclista los Puertos at Guadarrama. He broke away on the ascent of the Category 1 Alto de Navacerrado (a regular Vuelta mountain) and rode away to take the 146 km long race by 41″ from Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D’Epargne) with Daniel Moreno (Relax-Gam) in 3rd place in an all Spanish affair.
The race was marred by an early crash that forced around 20 riders to abandon.
The profile of the race and the course plus past winners is detailed here:
Results (Top 10)
1 Hector Guerra (Spa) Liberty Seguros 3.17.55
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne 0.41
3 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-Gam
4 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Karpin-Galicia
5 David Muñoz (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 1.00
6 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse D’Epargne 1.42
7 Javier Moreno (Spa) Extremadura-Spiuk
8 Julian Schez.Pimienta (Spa) Relax-Gam
9 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Karpin-Galicia
10 Sergi Escobar (Spa) Grupo Nicolas Mateos 4.10
Eneco Tour – Stage 3
The 2007 Eneco Tour, which used to be known as the Benelux Tour is held from August 22 – 29 and takes the riders through Belgium and the Netherlands.
Stage 3 is another pancake flat stage covering 170.8km from Knokke-Heist to Putte, again in Belgium. Once again it’s a stage tailor-made for the sprinters to have their say and, once again, after the obligatory break away, that’s exactly what it came down to.
(The weird looking “line” above is actually the profile of the 3rd stage…when I said it was pancake-flat, I wasn’t kidding).
Robbie McEwen has shown that there’s still life in his legs after a well-executed lead out by the Predictor-Lotto team. He was too strong for Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas) and Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole).
In the overall GC, the top 10 was unchanged as everyone finished in the bunch. The only classification in which there was a change was the Sprint Classification with Mark Cavendish taking the lead off Nick Nuyens thanks to his 4th placing today.
Stage 3 Results (Top 10)
1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Predictor – Lotto 3.42.28
2 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas
3 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
4 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile Team
5 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil – Shimano
6 Luciano André Pagliarini Mendonca (Bra) Saunier Duval – Prodir
7 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quickstep – Innergetic
8 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner
9 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Unibet.com
10 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quickstep – Innergetic
Overall GC Standings (Top 10)
1 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 13.02.16
2 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.10
3 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.17
4 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval – Prodir 0.18
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 0.25
6 Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 0.37
7 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 0.38
8 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Rabobank 0.41
9 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep – Innergetic 0.49
10 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil – Shimano s.t.
Points Classification
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile Team 49 pts
2 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil – Shimano 39
3 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 38
Mountains Classification
1 Martin Pedersen (Den) Team CSC 15 pts
2 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram 15
3 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Skil – Shimano 6
Teams
1 Predictor-Lotto 39.08.23
2 Rabobank 0.19
3 Caisse d’Epargne 1.01
Rothaus Regio-Tour International – Stage 4
The Rothaus Regio-Tour International takes place across 3 countries – Germany, France and Switzerland.
Stage 4 brings us to the Individual Time Trial in Sexau, with the course covering 26km on a challenging course with a few uphills and tricky descents.
The surprise winner of the Trime Trial was Mikhail Ignatiev (Tinkoff Credit Systems) who took the stage by a very handy 34″ over Tour leader Moises Duenas Nevado (Agritubel) with Andrei Kunitski (Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo) taking 3rd place at 56″.
Race favourite Michael Rogers (T-Mobile) lost himself large chunks of time when he ran himself off the road. He ended up coming in in 4th place at 1′ 06″.
Stage 4 Results (Top 10)
1 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System 35.46
2 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 0.34
3 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 0.56
4 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Professional Cycling 1.06
5 Vasil Kiriyenka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit System 1.13
6 Tim Klinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.22
7 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System 1.23
8 Bert Grabsch (Ger) T-Mobile Professional Cycling 1.36
9 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 1.38
10 Adrian Palomares Villa (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 1.48
Overall GC Standings
1 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 13.11.48
2 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System 0.23
3 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 1.23
4 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Professional Cycling 1.33
5 Adrian Palomares Villa (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 1.56
6 Robert Retschke (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt 2.16
7 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 2.18
8 Alexander Gottfried (Ger) Tinkoff Credit System 2.43
9 Mikel Artetxe Gezurag (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 2.45
10 Niklas Axelsson (Swe) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni- Selle Italia 3.05
Sprint Classification
1 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner 21 pts
2 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura – Canarias 18
3 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 15
Mountain Classification
1 Dailos Diaz Armas (Spa) Fuerteventura – Canarias 44 pts
2 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 26
3 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner 18
Young Rider Classification
1 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 13.11.48
2 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 0.23
3 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 1.23
4 Alexander Gottfried (Ger) Tinkoff Credit Systems 2.43
5 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Tenax Salmilano 4.04
Teams
1 Tinkoff Credit System 39.41.02
2 Fuerteventura-Canarias 3.58
3 T-Mobile Professional Cycling 5.00
Trofeo Melinda – Results
Santo Anzà (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Selle Italia) took out the 194km Trofeo Melinda for 2007. In a tough day, the field was whittled down to only 58 finishers with Anzà’s vicoty coming from a sprint with Luca Mazzanti (Ceramica Panaria – Navigare) coming in 2nd. A further 3 seconds back was Volodymyr Zagorodny (OTC Doors – Lauretana)
Results (Top 10)
1 Santo Anza (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni- Selle Italia 5.04.40
2 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Ceramica Panaria – Navigare
3 Volodymyr Zagorodny (Ukr) OTC Doors – Lauretana 0.03
4 Pasquale Muto (Ita) Miche 0.05
5 Paolo Bailetti (Ita) Team L.P.R.
6 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval – Prodir
7 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Ceramica Panaria – Navigare
8 Félix Rafael Cardenas Ravalo (Col) Barloworld
9 Ruslan Pidgornyy (Ukr) Tenax Salmilano
10 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System
Eneco Tour – Stage 2
The 2007 Eneco Tour, which used to be known as the Benelux Tour is held from August 22 – 29 and takes the riders through Belgium and the Netherlands.
Stage 2 is a flat 199.1km parcours from Antwerp to Knokke-Heist in Belgium. In a sprint finish it was Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) who had the legs coming around the final corner at 500m to go in 3rd place and then proved way too strong in the race to the line.
Four riders rode clear at the top of the final classified climb of the day. Frederik Willems (Liquigas), Rubén Pérez (Euskaltel), Marcel Sieberg (Team Milram) and Andriy Grivko (Team Milram) built their lead out to just over 4 minutes before they were drawn back to the bunch. It then came down to a fast 16km circuit to finish the day and an adament win by Cavendish.
Stage 2 Results (Top 10)
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile Team 4.31.09
2 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Predictor – Lotto
3 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil – Shimano
4 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner
5 Alexei Markov (Rus) Caisse d’Epargne
6 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre – Fondital
7 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Unibet.com
8 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Team Milram
9 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Team Milram
10 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quickstep – Innergetic
Overall GC Standings (Top 10)
1 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 9.19.48
2 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.10
3 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.17
4 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval – Prodir 0.18
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 0.25
6 Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 0.37
7 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 0.38
8 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Rabobank 0.41
9 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep – Innergetic 0.49
10 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil – Shimano s.t.
Points Classification
1 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 38 pts
2 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 35
3 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile Team 30
Mountains Classification
1 Martin Pedersen (Den) Team CSC 15 pts
2 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Milram 15
3 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Skil – Shimano 6
Teams
1 Predictor-Lotto 28.00.59
2 Rabobank 0.19
3 Caisse d’Epargne 1.01
Rothaus Regio-Tour International – Stage 3
The Rothaus Regio-Tour International takes place across 3 countries – Germany, France and Switzerland.
Stage 3 is the 2nd German stage covering a total of 159.4km from Wehr to Schopfheim. There are 3 categorised climbs to the course, each them a category 2 plus a few intermediate sprints to contest.
In an audacious solo break away, Andy Cappelle (Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner) won the stage by over 5 minutes. Cappelle was behind the race leader Moises Duenas Nevado (Agritubel) by over 13 minutes so there was no urgency for him to be tracked down. Nevado was able to retain his lead, although it was cut to 42″ by Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Fuerteventura – Canarias) who finished 6th in the stage.
Thanks to his long, long break, Capelle picked up 2 of the 3 sprinters top points and all of the top mountains points on a very profitable day for he and his team. The sprint points zips him to the lead in that classification while the mountains points puts him into 3rd place.
Stage 3 Results (Top 10)
1 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner 3.56.24
2 Paul Voss (Ger) Team 3C – Gruppe Lamonta 4.45
3 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo
4 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner
5 Steffen Weigold (Ger) Tinkoff Credit Systems
6 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura – Canarias
7 Richard Faltus (Cze) Team Sparkasse
8 Thomas Wagner (Ger) Gerolsteiner
9 Bert Grabsch (Ger) T-Mobile Team
10 Björn Thurau (Ger) Atlas – Romer’s Hausbäckerei
Overall GC Standings
1 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 12.35.28
2 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura – Canarias 0.42
3 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura – Canarias 0.55
4 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 0.57
5 Robert Retschke (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt 1.01
6 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
7 Niklas Axelsson (Swe) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni- Selle Italia
8 Maint Berkenbosch (Ned) Team Regiostrom – Senges
9 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo
10 Alexander Gottfried (Ger) Tinkoff Credit Systems
Sprint Classification
1 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner 21 pts
2 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura – Canarias 18
3 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 15
Mountain Classification
1 Dailos Diaz Armas (Spa) Fuerteventura – Canarias 44 pts
2 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 26
3 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner 18
Young Rider Classification
1 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 12.35.28
2 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 0.57
3 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone – Caffe Mokambo 1.01
4 Alexander Gottfried (Ger) Tinkoff Credit Systems
5 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Tenax Salmilano
Teams
1 Tinkoff Credit System 37.51.03
2 Fuerteventura-Canarias
3 Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 2.57
Tour du Limousin – Stage 4 Final
The 2007 Tour du Limousin takes place over 4 stages from 21 – 24 August, beginning and ending in the city of Limoges.
Pierrick Fedrigo retained the lead he held going into the final stage of the Tour du Limousin over Oscar Pereiro to take the overall victory. The final stage was won by Alexandre Usov (AG2R Prevoyance) in a bunch sprint from Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Caisse d’Epargne) and Romain Feillu (Agritubel).
Stage 4 Placings (Top 10)
1 Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2r Prévoyance 4.26.40
2 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
3 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel
4 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole
5 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne – Armor Lux
6 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
7 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
8 Yann Pivois (Fra) Bretagne – Armor Lux
9 Niels Brouzes (Fra) Auber
10 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone
Overall Standings
Final GC Standings
1 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 17.59.57
2 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.06
3 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.27
4 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil – Shimano 0.41
5 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.55
6 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 1.03
7 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.05
8 David Lelay (Fra) Bretagne – Armor Lux 1.12
9 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1.15
10 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.27
Sprint Classification
1 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 8 pts
2 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 8
3 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 8
Mountain Classification
1 Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne – Armor Lux 24 pts
2 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil – Shimano 21
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 14
Young Rider
1 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil – Shimano 18.00.38
2 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.46
3 Romain Villa (Fra) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 6.38
Team
1 Credit Agricole 53.53.02
2 Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 5.37
3 Bouygues Telecom 9.31
Cycling Stars of the Future – Robert Gesink
Name : Robert Gesink
Country : Netherlands
Date of Birth : 31 May 1986
Weight : 68kg
Height : 1.87m
Turned Pro : 2007
Performances
2007 Amgen Tour of California – 20th (1st Young Rider Class.)
2007 Clasica de Ameria – 9th
2007 Vuelta a Murcia – 20th
2007 Vuelta a Castilla y Leon – 10th
2007 Hel Van Het Mergelland – 10th
2007 Rund um Koln – 55th
2007 Tour de Belgique – 44th
2007 Tour du Nord des Pays-Bas – 5th
2007 Tour de Romandie – 13th
2007 Flèche Wallonne – 9th
2007 Classic d’Alméria – 9th
2007 Clasica San Sebastian – 13th
2007 Deutschland Tour – 5th (1st Young Rider Class.)
2007 Druivenkoers – Overijse – 12th
I don’t think anyone will be surprised that I have chosen to spotlight Robert Gesink as a likely star of the future. He was signed up to the Rabobank team at the end of the 2006 season from the Rabobank (Continental) team. At the time, team manager Theo de Rooij explained his promotion by saying, “Robert is an extraordinary talent. We have to be very careful with him. A Dutch climber, who can be as fast as the best: we have to cherish him. His development is going so fast, time has come for him to steadily learn the trade.”
At the time of writing this he is eight months into his Pro Tour career and he has already had 5 Top 10 finishes under his belt. His build is very similar to Michael Rasmussen, long and lean and a natural climber he is suited to the big mountain stages.
In the Amgen Tour of California he made his presence felt in the 3rd stage over the high Sierra Mountains when he finished 4th behind the likes of Jens Voigt, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner. But he had already announced his audacity in the 1st stage of the race when he attempted a break away with 4 other riders. Although it was a short lived escape it announced that he is a rider who won’t just sit back and let things happen. His 20th placing and Young Rider Classification win would have been an enormous boost to the young man.
He followed that up with his first Top 10 finish, a 9th place in the Clasica de Ameria where he picked up points in a couple of the Mountain passes.
Fast forward a couple of months to June and he was riding the Tour of Belgium. The 4th stage of the Tour was the 199.7km queen stage from Herzele to Aywaille and Robert, fresh from celebrating his 21st birthday, attacked on the final climb of the day. Guys like Vladimir Gusev, Leif Hoste and Jelle Vanendert tried to react but couldn’t match him and he won the day by 13 seconds over the chasers.
Right through his short career so far, it has been the mountain stages that has allowed him to display his wares. The latest highlight has been in the recent Deutschland Tour on the queen stage which took the riders over the highest climb on the 2007 calendar, the Rettenbachferner. Robert went over in third place behind stage winner David Lopez Garcia and eventual Tour winner Jens Voigt. Big names who dropped away from his back wheel included Levi Leipheimer, Damiano Cunego and Davide Rebellin.
So far, the tally for Robert Gesink is impressive.
1 stage win (Tour of Belgium)
2 Young Rider Classifications (Tour of California & Deutschland Tour)
5 Top 10 GC finishes
…I suspect there will be more to come.
For a full bio, his planned programme, news and other “must know” stuff about him, visit Robert Gesink’s website. (In Dutch)
Eneco Tour – Stage 1
The 2007 Eneco Tour, which used to be known as the Benelux Tour is held from August 22 – 29 and takes the riders through Belgium and the Netherlands. It began with a 5.1km Prologue Time Trial through Hasselt in Belgium.
Stage 1 is over 189.5km from Waremme to Eupen in Belgium over an undulating course that incorporates 3 categorised climbs, although the 3rd climb comes at the 132km mark, plenty of time for any attacks to be chased down. That being said, taking a look at the profile suggests that there are a few tough climbs following the official King of the Mountain climbs.
The Cofidis team have continued their strong showing in the Eneco with Nick Nuyens taking the stage victory and, along with it, the leader’s jersey.
Almost immediately after the riders got underway an attack was launched and 4 riders got themselves into it. They were Tom Stubbe (Chocolat Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen), Maarten Den Bakker (Skil-Shimano), Benat Albizuri (Euskaltel) and Martin Pedersen (Team CSC). Their lead was allowed to grow out to around 6′ 30″ before the Rabobank team and the Cofidis team began to get busy with around 90km to go and began to reel the 4 escapees back in.
Once the race entered the rolling hills of the Ardennes the peloton swamped the early leaders and ascending the final classified climb of the day another lead group formed, this time much larger (around 19 riders). With a lack of organisation they allowed the second group track them down as they made their way to the next big climb swelling the lead group to around 50.
Virtually the moment the chasers made contact another attack went off the front and the pace was solid all the way in from there. The course ended in a 16km circuit that gave the riders a good look at the finish line before they headed out for a final lap.
With 10km to go a group of 7 riders moved clear, the group consisted of David Millar (Saunier Duval), Nick Nuyens (Cofidis), Leif Hoste (Predictor – Lotto), Thomas Dekker (Rabobank), Jurgen Vandenbroeck (Predictor – Lotto), Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse D’Epargne), Christophe Riblon (AG2R Prevoyance). They would end up fighting out the final desperate sprint and it was Nick Nuyens who was able to muster the strength to throw himself over the finish line first ahead of Dekker and Gutierrez.
You’ve got to feel sorry for Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel). His bad luck started with a punctured rear tyre and he hadn’t long reintegrated with the peloton when he found himself with a front wheel puncture. A quick wheel change courtesy of a team-mate and he was back in the chasing group. Then, when the pace was really on with about 7km to go he was involved in a nasty little crash that ended up losing him around 4 minutes and a good chunk of skin from his right butt cheek.
Stage 1 Results (Top 10)
1 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 4.42.38 (40.22 km/h)
2 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank s.t.
3 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne s.t.
4 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval – Prodir s.t.
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 0.06
6 Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 0.09
7 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 0.13
8 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre – Fondital 0.24
9 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil – Shimano s.t.
10 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval – Prodir s.t.
Overall GC Standings (Top 10)
1 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 4.48.39
2 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.10
3 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.17
4 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval – Prodir 0.19
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 0.25
6 Leif Hoste (Bel) Predictor – Lotto 0.37
7 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 0.38
8 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Rabobank 0.44
9 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep – Innergetic 0.49
10 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil – Shimano s.t.
Points Classification
1 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone 38 pts
2 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 35
3 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 25
Mountains Classification
1 Martin Pedersen (Den) Team CSC 15 pts
2 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Skil – Shimano 6
3 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques – Topsport Vlaanderen 4
Teams
1 Predictor-Lotto 14.27.32
2 Rabobank 0.19
3 Caisse d’Epargne 1.01
