Cycling Beat

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

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

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

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

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