Cycling Beat

The 2007 Tour du Limousin takes place over 4 stages from 21 - 24 August, beginning and ending in the city of Limoges.

Taking a hard fought victory in the 3rd stage of the Tour du Limousin was Lilian Jégou (Française des Jeux). He was part of a 13 man break away that was allowed to go free by a tired peloton. The Bouygues Telecom team allowed them to go detecting no-one in the break who could challenge their leader, Pierrick Fedrigo and he still maintains his 6 second GC lead over Oscar Pereiro.

The other members of the break away for the day were Maryan Hary and Geoffroy Lequatre (Cofidis), Jean-Luc Delpech and Sébastien Duret (Bretagne-Armor Lux), Christophe Moreau and Renaud Dion (Ag2r), Niels Brouzes (Auber 93), Nicolas Jalabert and Samuel Plouhinec (Agritubel), Mathieu Perget and Sébastien Portal (Caisse d'Epargne) and Patrice Halgand (Credit Agricole).

With around 25km to go an attack involving Brouzes, Halgand, Jegou, Jalabert, Delpech and Lequatre took them away from the others and they would go on to contest the finish. But not before one final factor would play itself out when Patrice Halgand crashed with a kilometre of the stage to go. Halgand was the likely winner out of the remaining riders having superior sprinting ability.

Stage 3 Placings (Top 10)

1 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux                                          4.30.14
2 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne - Armor Lux                                s.t.      
3 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel                                                        0.04
4 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole                                              0.11
5 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone         0.41
6 Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                                           2.11
7 Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne - Armor Lux                                 2.15
8 Niels Brouzes (Fra) Auber                                                                 2.24
9 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel                                                    2.29
10 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone               2.45

Overall Standings

GC After Stage 3

1 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                   13.33.17
2 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                                          0.06
3 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole                                           0.27
4 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil - Shimano                                         0.34
5 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                          1.01
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 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                             8
3 Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne - Armor Lux                     6

Mountain Classification

1 Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne - Armor Lux          24 pts
2 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil - Shimano                 21
3 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Auber                                10

Young Rider

1 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil - Shimano                                  13.33.51
2 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                   0.53
3 Romain Villa (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone                    6.12

Team

1 Credit Agricole                                      40.33.02
2 Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone               5.30
3 Bouygues Telecom                                       9.31

The Rothaus Regio-Tour International takes place across 3 countries - Germany, France and Switzerland.

Stage 2 covers 169km in Germany starting at Müllheim and finishing in Neuenburg am Rhein with 3 challenging Category 1 climbs to get over.

The winner of the stage was Moisés Dueñas (Agritubel) who moved clear of a 13 man break away group managed to build a handy lead on the line of 51 seconds. Second in the stage was Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Fuerteventura - Canarias) and in-form Mikhail Ignatiev (Tinkoff Credit Systems) in 3rd. Race favourite Mick Rogers was among the leading 13 riders and sits around 1 minute behind the leader in the overall GC.

By virtue of his stage win as well as some time bonuses, Moisés Dueñas is now leader of the Regio-Tour by 55 seconds from Mikel Artetxe at 55" and Ignatiev is 3rd at 57".ö

Stage 2 Results (Top 10)

1 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel                                            4.16.17
2 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias                  0.51
3 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                      s.t.
4 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Team Milram                                                  s.t.
5 Robert Retschke (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt                                         s.t.
6 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                                                         s.t.
7 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Team                                                    s.t.
8 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                      s.t.
9 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Tenax Salmilano                                               s.t.
10 Maint Berkenbosch (Ned) Team Regiostrom - Senges                       s.t.

Overall GC Standings

1 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel                                               8.34.00
2 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias                      0.55
3 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                       0.57
4 Robert Retschke (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt                                          1.01
5 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias                 s.t
6 Niklas Axelsson (Swe) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni- Selle Italia        s.t
7 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                                                                      s.t
8 Andrei Kunitski (Blr) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                         s.t
9 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Team                                                        s.t
10 Maint Berkenbosch (Ned) Team Regiostrom - Senges                          s.t

Sprint Classification

1 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias       18 pts
2 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel                                     15
3 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram                                    15

Mountain Classification

1 Dailos Diaz Armas (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias               40 pts
2 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems                        22
3 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Tenax Salmilano                                  16

Young Rider Classification

1 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel                                   8.34.00
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                                              25.47.03
2 Fuerteventura-Canarias                                                    
3 Tenax-Menikini                                                               2.02

For the 3rd year in a row Danilo Napolitano (Lampre - Fondital) has taken out the Coppa Bernocchi. This year he won the mass sprint over Paride Grillo (Ceramica Panaria - Navigare) and Robert Hunter (Barloworld).

Results (Top 10)

1 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                         4.41.45 (42.570 km/h)
2 Paride Grillo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare
3 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld
4 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas
5 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Barloworld
6 Enrico Rossi (Ita) OTC Doors - Lauretana
7 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Barloworld
8 Marco Corsini (Ita) Tenax Salmilano
9 Domenico Loria (Ita) Team Universal Caffé - Ecopterol
10 Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Kio Ene - Tonazzi - DMT

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.

The winner of the day was Michiel Elijzen (Cofidis) who set the time of 6'09" early on before the heavens opened up and ensured that the later riders would be more intent on remaining upright than of going for the victory. He was able to better the time of Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) whose time stood for quite some time and, as the clouds gathered was looking as if it was going to be the prevailing time for the day.

In fact, the Cofidis team put in an outstanding performance for the day capturing 4 of the top 7 placings with Elizjen winning and then Tyler Farrar in 4th, Nick Nuyens in 5th and Rik Verbrugge in 7th. 

Some of the notable performances of the guys who were out during the downpour are David Millar (Saunier Duval) with a 6' 20" and Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel) at 6' 22". Ride of the day would have to have been Swedish time trial champion Gustav Larsson (Unibet) who had to avoid his accompanying media motorbike which crashed on one of the corners right in front of him. To avoid a disaster he was able to slip around the bike, mount the curb and continue on down the footpath before making his way back onto the road. That he finished with a time of 6' 24" was testament to a solid ride.

Overall Results (Top 10)

1 Michiel Elijzen (Ned) Cofidis                                                          6.09 (49.706km/h)
2 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank                          0.01
3 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Predictor - Lotto                            0.02
4 Tyler Farrar (USA) Cofidis                                                            0.03
5 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis                                                              0.05
6 Servais Knaven (Ned) T-Mobile Team                                       0.07
7 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis                   
8 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Rabobank                                            
9 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas                                                 0.08
10 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                          

The Rothaus Regio-Tour International takes place across 3 countries - Germany, France and Switzerland.

Stage 1 covers 183km in France starting at Lutterbach and finishing in Soultz over a fairly flat course which suits the sprinters as a way to get started in the tour. Along the way is one Category 1 climb with the sumit falling at the 55km mark which should allow any break away to be caught. There are also 3 intermediate sprint points for the speedsters to stretch their legs.

Winner of the opening stage was Alessandro Petacchi (Team Milram) winning in a mass srpint over Nicolai Trusov (Tinkoff Credit Systems) and Claudio Cucinotta (Tenax Salmilano). Earlier a 10 man breakaway had moved away in an attempt to steal the opening day but with some strong riding from the sprinter's teams they were reeled in with 25km to go. Petacchi looked to have won with a little left over.

Stage 1 Results (Top 10)

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram                              4.17.53 (42.65 km/h)
2 Nicolai Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                              
3 Claudio Cucinotta (Ita) Tenax Salmilano                                  
4 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Tenax Salmilano                                
5 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias                    
6 Tilo Schüler (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                        
7 Konstantin Schubert (Ger) Team Regiostrom - Senges                       
8 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                       
9 Robert Retschke (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Felt                                
10 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                            

Overall GC Standings

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram                                  4.17.43
2 Nicolai Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                              0.04
3 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                    0.05
4 Claudio Cucinotta (Ita) Tenax Salmilano                                     0.06
5 Jonathan Thire (Fra) Agritubel                                           
6 Wolfram Wiese (Ger) Team Regiostrom - Senges                     0.07
7 Lars Wackernagel (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                    
8 Steffen Weigold (Ger) Tinkoff Credit Systems                          0.08
9 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Tenax Salmilano                                   0.10
10 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias                   

Sprint Classification

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram                               15 pts
2 Nicolai Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                      12
3 Claudio Cucinotta (Ita) Tenax Salmilano                              10

Mountain Classification

1 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Tenax Salmilano                                 12 pts
2 Dailos Diaz Armas (Spa) Fuerteventura - Canarias                8
3 Steffen Weigold (Ger) Tinkoff Credit Systems                        6

Young Rider Classification

1 Nicolai Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                         4.17.47
2 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                   0.01
3 Claudio Cucinotta (Ita) Tenax Salmilano                                     0.02
4 Jonathan Thire (Fra) Agritubel                                           
5 Konstantin Schubert (Ger) Team Regiostrom - Senges            0.06

Teams

1 Tenax-Menikini                                                    12.53.39
2 Fuerteventura-Canarias                                                   
3 Tinkoff Credit System                                                    

The Druivenkoers in Overijse, south of Brussels took place on 22 August in Belgium. The course covered nearly 200km and was divided into three 36 km and eight local circuits, each included the ascent of Schavei hill. It was won by Roy Sentjens (Predictor-Lotto) who made a late attack to clear away from a breakaway group.

The race was held under heavy rain causing numerous crashes and flats. A breakaway of 20 riders rode clear chasing Dutch rider Joost Van Leijen. He was caught with 15km to go and it then came down to a reduced group of 15. Sentjens made the decisive move on the run to the line and held off a fast finishing Hoogerland and Nikolas Maes.

Results (Top 10)

1 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Predictor-Lotto                                                 4.39.00
2 Johny Hoogerland (Ned) Van Vliet-EBH Advocaten                          0.10
3 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
4 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Predictor-Lotto
5 Janek Tombak (Est) Jartazi Promo Fashion
6 Simas Kondrotas (Ltu) Klaipeda-Splendid Cycling Team
7 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner
8 Holger Sievers (Ger) Team 3C - Gruppe Lamonta
9 Matti Helminen (Fin) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed
10 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Predictor-Lotto

The 2007 Tour du Limousin takes place over 4 stages from 21 - 24 August, beginning and ending in the city of Limoges.

The second stage of the Tour du Limousin took place under heavy skies and torrential rain which played havoc with the field with 12 riders failing to finish and another 20 or so losing over 13 minutes on the winner. The stage was a 187.4km slog from Droux to Uzerche.

That winner was Frenchman Pierre Rolland (Crédit Agricole) who went away in an early break of 22 riders that was chased down by the peloton. But once things were back together, Rolland along with Guillaume Levarlet (Auber) and Sébastien Duret (Bretagne-Armor Lux)  attacked again and this time the effort bore fruit.

It was on the Côte de Vigeois with 19km to go that Rolland made the final decisive move and rode away from his companions to take the stage win by 36". Levarlet battled on for second place while a dog-fight took place between Pierrick Fedrigo  (Bouygues Telecom), Oscar Pereiro (Caisse D'Epargne) and Clément Lhotellerie (Skil - Shimano) for 3rd place. Fedrigo managed to prevail, picking up a 4 second time bonus and propelling himself into the GC lead by 6 seconds from Pereiro.

Stage 2 Placings (Top 10)

1 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Crédit Agricole                                       5.04.14 (36.96 km/h)
2 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Auber                                                0.36
3 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                2.53
4 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                                         
5 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil - Shimano                                 2.55
6 Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2r Prévoyance                                   3.10
7 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel                                                    
8 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                             
9 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne - Armor Lux                                      
10 Niels Brouzes (Fra) Auber                                                       

Overall Standings

GC After Stage 2

1 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                 8.56.38
2 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                                      0.06
3 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux                                      0.12
4 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil - Shimano                                      0.17
5 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole                                        0.27
6 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                                      0.57
7 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole                                           1.03
8 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                       1.05
9 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                         s.t.        
10 Yann Pivois (Fra) Bretagne - Armor Lux                                      s.t.    

Sprint Classification

Mickaël Delage (Fra) Francaise des Jeux

Mountain Classification

Clement Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil-Shimano

Young Rider

Clement Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil-Shimano

Team

1 Crédit Agricole                              26.49.00
2 Française des Jeux                               2.41
3 Bouygues Telecom                               3.05

The 2007 Tour du Limousin takes place over 4 stages from 21 - 24 August, beginning and ending in the city of Limoges. A field of 16 teams will contest the race including Pro Tour teams AG2R Prevoyance, Cofidis, Caisse D'Epargne, Credit Agricole, Francaise des Jeux and Bouygues Telecom. Among them the chief contenders for overall GC honours look likely to come from the likes of Christophe Moreau (AG2R Prevoyance) and Oscar Pereiro Sio (Caisse D'Epargne).

Stage 1 is a 160.8km stage from Limoges to La Souterrainie. The course was dotted with 3 intermediate sprints to contest as well as 3 categorised climbs with the Chatelus Marchaix the most challenging as a 2nd Category climb. The other 2 climbs were category 3 climbs with the final climb only 4 kilometres from the end. 

The significant breakaway of the day included 19 riders and by the 18km to go point that lead group had been whittled down further to 6 with those riders being Benoît Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux), Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom), Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne), Clément L'Hôtellerie (Skil-Shimano) and Anthony Charteau (Crédit Agricole) who were all beaten by Philippe Gilbert (Française des Jeux) in the final sprint to the line.

Stage Placings (Top 10)

1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux          3.49.41
2 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                s.t. 
3 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                 s.t. 
4 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole                   s.t. 
5 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux           s.t. 
6 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil-Shimano                0.05
7 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit Agricole                          0.36
8 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom               0.38
9 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                 s.t. 
10 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole                   s.t.

Overall Standings

GC After Stage 1

1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux          3.49.41
2 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom              0.09 
3 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne               0.11 
4 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole                 0.15 
5 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux           s.t. 
6 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil-Shimano                0.20
7 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit Agricole                          0.36
8 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux               0.45
9  Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom               0.51
10 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole                   s.t.

Sprint Classification

Mickaël Delage (Fra) Francaise des Jeux

Mountain Classification

Clement Lhotellerie (Fra) Skil-Shimano

Young Rider

Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bouygues Telecom

Team

Cofidis

The 72nd GP Stad Zottegem was held in Belgium on 21 August 2007 over a 182.1km long course of fairly flat terrain. There were 5 climbs along the route but none were particularly difficult and certainly played little part in providing chances for breakaways.

It wasn't until the 6 local circuits that a breakaway of 7 riders was formed but this was tracked down by the Rabobank team and a final sprint decided the race. Jonas Aaen Jørgensen (Team GLS) proved to have the greatest speed taking the race ahead of Matthias Friedemann (Team 3C - Gruppe Lamonta) and Nick Ingels (Predictor - Lotto).

Overall Results (Top 10)

1 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen (Den) Team GLS
2 Matthias Friedemann (Ger) Team 3C - Gruppe Lamonta
3 Nick Ingels (Bel) Predictor - Lotto
4 Roy Curvers (Ned) Time - Van Hemert
5 Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) Klaipeda - Splendid Cycling Team
6 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner
7 Jens Erik Madsen (Den) Team Designa Køkken
8 Jacob Moe Rasmussen (Den) Team GLS
9 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner
10 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner