Tour du Limousin, Cat 2.3

The Stages:

Preview:

The former world champion will face stiff resistance from the Estonien rider Lauri aus, winner of this race last year and leader of the Casino team which has won 32 races since the season began this year.

In the absence of the big teams like TVM, Rabobank, ONCE and Banesto, the peloton is mostly made up of French teams although there are some in form riders entered like Christophe Rinero and American Bobby Julich (Cofidis), respectively 4th and 3rd in the recently completed Tour de France, Francisque Teyssier (Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne), the French ITT champion, Pascal Lino, former yellow jersey holder in the Tour de France, Jacky Durand and the sprinter Frédéric Moncassin (Crédit Agricole).

The teams who have entered are: Casino, Polti, Crédit Agricole, Agro Adler Brandenburg, Cofidis, Amore et Vita, Big Mat Auber, Tonisstener, Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne, Equipe de France (amateurs), and La Française des Jeux.

Stage 1, Limoges - Aubusson, 170 kms:

 1. Christophe Rinero (Fra) Cofidis		     4.40.40
 2. Franck Bouyer (Fra) La Française des Jeux		0.01
 3. Frédéric Delalande (Fra) Equipe de France
 4. Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole
 5. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis
 6. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino
 7. Gilles Maignan (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne
 8. Thierry Loder (Fra) Equipe de France
 9. Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Casino
10. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) Cofidis 			s.t.

GC after Stage 1

 1. Christophe Rinero (Fra) Cofidis		     	     4.40.40
 2. Franck Bouyer (Fra) La Française des Jeux			0.01
 3. Frédéric Delalande (Fra) Equipe de France
 4. Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole
 5. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis
 6. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino
 7. Gilles Maignan (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne
 8. Thierry Loder (Fra) Equipe de France
 9. Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Casino
10. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) Cofidis 				s.t.

Stage 2, Aubusson - Vassivière, 181 kms:

 1. Cyril Maignan (Fra)  Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne 	     4.26.21
 2. Viacheslav Djavanian (Russia) Big Mat-Auber 93
 3. Frederic Bessy (Fra) Casino
 4. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino
 5. Sebastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole
 6. Mauro Zinetti (Ita) Polti
 7. Pascal Lino (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
 8. Manuel Scopsi (Ita) Amore e Vita 
 9. Claude Lamour (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne
10. Rossano Brasi (Ita) Polti
..
21. Christophe Rinero (Fra) Cofidis
22. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis
35. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti					s.t.

GC after Stage 2

 1. Christophe Rinero (Fra) Cofidis 			     9.07.01 
 2. Cyril Maignan (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne 		0.01
 3. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino
 4. Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole
 5. Frederic Delalande (Fra) Equipe de France 
 6. Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Casino
 7. Pascal Lino  (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
 8. Cedric Celarier (Fra) Equipe de France 
 9. Gilles Talmant (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne
10. Franck Bouyer (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux
..
12. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis
15. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti					s.t.

Brief:

Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne rider Cyril Maignan, who won the French ITT championship at the weekend, won the second stage of the Tour du Limousin on Wednesday from Aubusson to Vassiviere.

The stage was marked by an early attack at the 20 kms mark from Lauri Aus (1997 winner) who was joined by three others. They built a lead of 3.40 before they were caught just 20 kms from the end. The major work came from the Cofidis team who wanted to keep Christophe Rinero in the leader's jersey.

Maignan told the press afterwards: "It was only in the last two kilometres that I knew I had the strength to attack and I attacked on the long straight 150 metres from the finish."

Stage 3, Bourganeuf - Rochechouart, 186 kms:

 1. Vincent Cali (Fra) Casino              		     4.42.13
 2. Bobby Julich (Usa) Cofidis               			0.38
 3. Michele Ferti (Ita) Amore e Vita         			0.46
 4. Pascal Lino (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93                		0.47
 5. Frédéric Delalande (Fra) Equipe de France
 6. Lylian Lebreton (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
 7. Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux
 8. Franck Bouyer (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux
 9. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino
10. Gilles Maignan (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne           	0.50
..
15. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti                 			0.58

GC after Stage 3

 1. Vincent Cali (Fra) Casino            		    13.49.15
 2. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis              			0.38
 3. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino               			0.47
 4. Frédéric Delalande (Fra) Equipe de France
 5. Pascal Lino (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
 6. Franck Bouyer (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux
 7. Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux
 8. Lylian Lebreton (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
 9. Gilles Maignan (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne           	0.50
10. Cédric Célarier (Fra) Equipe de France			0.52
..
13. Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti                 			0.58

Brief:

An early surprise came when overnight leader Christophe Rinero (Cofidis) abandoned the Tour at about the half-way mark into the stage. There was no reason forthcoming to explain his sudden and strange action, given his hold on the leader's jersey.

It was later revealed that Rinero was ill with a stomach problem when he abandoned at the 68 kms mark. It was revealed that Rinero started the tour sick but considered that the stomach bug would pass. But he lost sleep on Wednesday night and was weak for the start today.

Vincent Cali thus became the leader of the Tour due to his victory in Stage 3. Julich who is sitting 38 seconds behind Cali now is able to ride for himself. He was previously forced to support Rinero. The Cofidis team however is very depleted and Julich will not have the necessary support.

In the stage, an early attack of 13 went away and had a lead of over 16 minutes on the peloton after only 85 kms. The chasing bunch lost further time at km75 when a railway crossing closed as they were approaching. Cali came out of this top group and attacked at 20 kms to go. He had a 43 second gap as the last climb began but by the time they reached Rochechouart Julich had taken back 5 seconds.

Stage 4, Rochechouart - Limoges, 179 kms:

 1. Philippe Bordenave (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93		     4.15.11
 2. Mauro Zinetti (Ita) Polti					0.10
 3. Dominique Rault (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne		0.10
 4. Andrea Patuelli (Ita) Amore e Vita 				0.31
 5. Christopher Horner (USA) La Francaise des Jeux 		0.52
 6. Rossano Brasi (Ita) Polti 					1.02
 7. Laurent Desbiens (Fra) Cofidis 				1.03
 8. Vlachesiav Djavanian (Rus) Big Mat-Auber 93			1.03
 9. Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux		1.03 
10. Stéphane Corlay (Fra) Equipe de France			1.03

Final GC

 1. Vincent Cali (Fra) Casino				    18.05.29
 2. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis              			0.47
 3. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino               			0.47
 4. Frédéric Delalande (Fra) Equipe de France			0.47
 5. Pascal Lino (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93				0.47
 6. Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux		0.47
 7. Franck Bouyer (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux			0.47
 8. Lylian Lebreton (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 93			0.47
 9. Gilles Maignan (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne 		0.50
10. Cédric Célarier (Fra) Equipe de France			0.52

Climber: Luc Leblanc (Fra) Polti
Sprinter: Mauro Zinetti (Ita) Polti 

Brief:

Before today, 28-year old Vincent Cali (Casino) had only one victory as a professional on his C.V - a stage in the Mi-août Bretonne. But that changed today with an important victory in the Tour du Limousin. He kept the white leader's jersey in a day marked by strong early attack. The attack of the day went at the 33 kms mark when the riders approached Mortemart. Chris Horner (USA) was joined by Eddy Seigneur, Dominique Rault, and Mauro Zinetti at first. They were quickly caught by Philippe Bordenave, Philippe Gaumont and Italian Andrea Patualli.

This was the winning move. As they presented no danger to the GC, the group established a lead of 6.50 by the time they reached Blond at 97 kms. The peloton, controlled by Casino, rode easily but kept the lead within manageable proportions. By 120 kms it was around 5 minutes. It was clear however that the stage would be won by one of the top group.

As the finish approached, Gaumont and Seigneur were the first to crack. Then Horner lost contact as Bordenave and Rault multiplied the attacks. After breaking up the group, there was some peace as the remaining riders thought about the sprint. Bordenave attacked just before the finish and won by 100 metres from Zinetti and Rault.

Arriving safely in the main peloton was Cali and Julich about a minute behind the winner. Cali had safely retained the GC.

Past Winners

1968 Pierre Martelozzo (Fra)
1969 Paul Gutty (Fra)
1970 Francis Duteil (Fra)
1971 Francis Duteil (Fra)
1972 Dimitriev (Rus)
1973 Dubreuil (Fra)
1974 Ryszard Szurkowski (Rus)
1975 Francis Campaner (Fra)
1976 Bernard Hinault (Fra)
1977 Bernard Hinault (Fra)
1978 Gilbert Chaumaz (Fra)
1979 Bernard Vallet (Fra)
1980 René Bittinger (Fra)
1981 Patrick Bonnet (Fra)
1982 Eric Salomon (Fra)
1983 Domenique Arnaud (Fra)
1984 Kim Andersen (Den)
1985 Thierry Marie (Fra)
1986 Domenique Gaigne (Fra)
1987 Charly Mottet (Fra)
1988 Jean-Marc Manfrin (Fra)
1989 Thierry Claveyrolat (Fra)
1990 Martial Gayant (Fra)
1991 Michel Vermote (Bel)
1992 Eric Boyer (Fra)
1993 Charly Mottet (Fra)
1994 Jens Heppner (Ger)
1995 Andrej Tchmil (Mol)
1996 Laurent Brochard (Fra)
1997 Lauri Aus (Est)