Other information
Race ReportJacky Durand closed a 42 year gap when he won the Paris-Tours on Sunday. In 1956 that Albert Bouvet was the last French rider to win the race, a classic for the "routier-sprinters". Durand told the press after his victory: "I have a habit of being in the history books for this type of thing." He was referring to his 1992 Ronde van Vlaanderen victory which closed a 36 year gap since last Frenchman won it. He won here as he did then with a very long escape, using the same style that made him the most aggressive rider in the 1998 Tour de France. He was obviously very happy.During the Tour de France, he went away for 254.5 kms at nearly 45 km/h. He explained his penchant for the solo escape: "It is rare that an escape will work from 60 kms out. But I prefer to take my chances. It is better to take your chances to win that to be their in the sprint and come 10th." For a long-time in the race, Durand was in a group behind the Italian rider Fabio Roscioli (Asics) and Frenchman Pascal Deramé (US Postal). But then he counter-attacked with Gualdi in the last 30 kms. With 30 kms to go Durand escaped with Italian Mirko Gualdi from a group of 10 riders. Gualdi was the only one who could go with him. He worked well with Durand and they quickly built up a minute gap. The Frenchman launched the sprint and held off Gualdi. Estonian rider Jaan Kirsipuu won the peloton sprint for 3rd place some 30 seconds back. He told the press: "I had good legs today. I took the initiative in each of the major moves today. I am never in this type of form at the end of the season." That is a good omen for the captain of the French World's team. It was the 68th victory for Casino this season. For manager Vincent Lavenu it has come just after the sponsor has announced their intention to reduce its investments in cycling after the sport came into disrepute during this year's Tour de France with the Festina doping scandal. At 31-years old Durand has built up a strong set of victories, most notably being 3 Tour de France stages. When asked about the aftermath of the Tour de France scandal he said: "Since the Tour I have felt strange racing. I have tried to completely abstract from it. I have concentrated on my own form completely." Durand's next major aim will be the World Championships at Valkenburg next Sunday. He will be in the captain of the team with in-form rider Emmanuel Magnien. But they will up against Michele Bartoli and an in-form Lance Armstrong. ONCE, Banesto and Kelme-Costa Blanca all scratched from Paris-Tours, presumably because of the way the French police acted during the Tour de France. Jacky Durand - Profile:Jacky Durand was born at Laval on February 10, 1967. He is 1.86 cm and 76 kgs. He lives at Saint-Laurent-sur-Gore (Haute-Vienne). He has ridden for 3 professional teams: Laurent Fignon's Castorama (1990 to 1995), Agrigel (1996), and Casino (1997 and 1998).His principal one-day race victories are: Championship of France 1993 and 1994, Ronde van Vlaanderen 1992, Paris-Tours 1998, and the GP d'Isbergues 1991. He has also won some significant stages in races including: a stage in the 1995 GP Midi Libre, 2 stages in the 1994 Tour du Limousin, and 3 stages in the Tour de France (Prologue in Saint-Brieuc in 1995, Cahors stage in 1994 and the stage to Montauban in 1998). Saint-Arnoult-les-Yvelines-Tours, 254.5 kms:1. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino 5.45.14 (44.231) 2. Mirko Gualdi (Ita) Polti 0.02 3. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Casino 0.31 4. Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 0.31 5. Nicola Minali (Ita) Riso Scotti 0.31 6. Max van Heeswijk (Ned) Rabobank 0.31 7. Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Cofidis 0.31 8. Jo Planckaert (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 0.31 9. Andre Korff (Ger) Festina 0.31 10. Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 0.32 11. Oscar Freire (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 0.32 12. François Simon (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.32 13. Andrei Kivilev (Kaz) Festina 0.32 14. Fabio Baldato (Ita) Riso Scotti 0.32 15. Stefano Checchin (Ita) Mercatone Uno 0.32 16. Adriano Baffi (Ita) Ballan 0.32 17. Leon van Bon (Ned) Rabobank 0.32 18. Fabian De Waele (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 0.32 19. Wilfried Peeters (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 0.32 20. Arvis Piziks (Let) Team Home Jack and Jones 0.32 21. Giancarlo Raimondi (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 0.32 22. Tom Steels (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 0.32 23. Moreno Di Biase (Ita) Riso Scotti 0.32 24. Andrei Tchmil (Bel) (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 0.32 25. Rolf Järmann (Swi) Casino 0.32 26. Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 0.33 27. Pascal Lino (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 0.33 28. Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 0.33 29. Marco Serpellini (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 0.33 30. Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Telekom 0.33 31. Silvio Martinello (Ita) Polti 0.33 32. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo 0.33 33. Mikael Holst Kyneb (Den) Team Home Jack and Jones 0.33 34. Biagio Conte (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 0.33 35. Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 0.33 36. Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 0.33 37. Udo Bölts (Ger) Telekom 0.33 38. Guido Trenti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 0.33 39. Nico Mattan (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 0.33 40. Mirko Rossato (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 0.33 41. Stefano Cattai (Ita) Ballan 0.33 42. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Casino 0.33 43. Elio Aggiano (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros 0.34 44. Pascal Richard (Sch) Casino 0.34 45. Vladimir Douma (Ukr) Scrigno-Gaerne 0.34 46. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 0.34 47. Paolo Bettini (Ita) Asics 0.34 48. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina 0.34 49. Henk Vogels (Aus) Crédit Agricole 0.34 50. Rolf Aldag (Ger) Telekom 0.34 51. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino 0.34 52. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 0.34 53. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) US Postal 0.35 54. Roberto Petito (Ita) Saeco 0.35 55. Chris Peers (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 0.35 56. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 0.35 57. Rolf Sörensen (Den) Rabobank 0.35 58. Lance Armstrong (Usa) US Postal 0.35 59. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Polti 0.35 60. Lauri Aus (Est) Casino 0.36 61. Pascal Hervé (Fra) Festina 0.36 62. Maarten den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 0.36 63. Piotr Ugrumov (Let) Ballan 0.36 64. Bruno Cenghialta (Ita) Riso Scotti 0.36 65. Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 0.43 66. Xavier Jan (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 0.43 67. Rossano Brasi (Ita) Polti 0.44 68. Luca Scinto (Ita) Asics 0.45 69. Michele Bartoli (Ita) Asics 0.45 70. Grzegorz Gwiazdowski (Pol) Cofidis 1.24 71. Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 1.28 72. Peter Wuyts (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 1.28 73. Tom Stremersch (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 1.28 74. Christophe Bassons (Fra) Festina 1.28 75. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Crédit Agricole 1.29 76. Bert Dietz (Ger) Telekom 1.29 77. Anthony Langella (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.29 78. Fabian Jeker (Sch) Festina 1.29 79. Riccardo Faverio (Ita) Saeco 1.30 80. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Mapei-Bricobi 1.30 81. Alberto Elli (Ita) Casino 1.30 82. Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 1.31 83. Viatsjeslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal 1.31 84. Alexei Sivakov (Rus) Big Mat-Auber 93 1.31 85. Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco 1.33 86. Paolo Valoti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 1.33 87. Jérôme Delbove (Fra) Cofidis 2.00 88. Massimiliano Napolitano (Ita) Mercatone Uno 2.07 89. Kurt Van Lancker (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 2.07 90. Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne 2.07 91. Magnus Bäckstedt (Swe) Crédit Agricole 2.07 92. Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat-Auber 93 2.07 93. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 2.07 94. Stive Vermaut (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 2.07 95. Francisco Garcia (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 2.07 96. Alessandro Baronti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 2.07 97. Charles Guilbert (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne 2.07 98. Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 2.07 99. Davide Tani (Ita) Asics 2.07 100. Marco Artunghi (Ita) Mercatone Uno 2.07 101. Davide Casarotto (Ita) Scrigno-Gaerne 2.07 102. Ricardo Ferrari (Ita) Riso Scotti 2.07 103. Roland Meier (Sch) Cofidis 2.07 104. Bobby Julich (Usa) Cofidis 2.07 105. Michael Rich (Ger) Saeco 2.07 106. Cristian Salvato (Ita) Polti 2.07 107. Marco Bellini (Ita) Cantina Tollo 2.07 108. Wim Feys (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 2.07 109. Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 2.07 110. Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Crédit Agricole 2.07 111. Marc Jacobsen (Den) Team Home Jack and Jones 2.07 112. Niklas Axelsson (Swe) Scrigno-Gaerne 2.09 113. Fabio Roscioli (Ita) Asics 2.09 114. Samuele Schiavina (Ita) Asics 2.09 115. Giacomo Battistel (Ita) Cantina Tollo 2.09 116. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Telekom 2.09 117. Jens Voigt (Ger) Crédit Agricole 2.09 118. Daniele Contrini (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 2.09 119. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 2.09 120. Vitali Kokorin (Ukr) Saeco 2.10 121. Jesper Skibby (Den) Team Home Jack and Jones 2.10 122. Wladimir Belli (Ita) Festina 2.10 123. Oscar Pellicioli (Ita) Mercatone Uno 2.10 124. Mario Fincato (Ita) Mercatone Uno 2.10 125. Christian Vandevelde (Usa) US Postal 4.31 126. Bradley McGee (Aus) La Francaise des Jeux 4.31 127. Amilcare Tronca (Ita) Ballan 4.32 128. Enrico Cassani (Ita) Polti 4.32 129. Gabriele Missaglia (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 4.32 130. Francisco Benitez (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 4.32 131. Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros 4.32 132. Sergio Barbero (Ita) Mercatone Uno 4.33 133. Andrea Peron (Ita) La Francaise des Jeux 4.33 134. Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 4.33 135. Enrico Bonetti (Ita) Asics 4.33 136. Rodolfo Ongarato (Ita) Ballan 4.33 137. Nicola Loda (Ita) Ballan 4.34 138. Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Telekom 4.34 139. Laurent Pillon (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne 5.40 140. Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank 5.40 141. Vjatjeslav Djavanian (Rus) Big Mat-Auber 93 5.40 142. Stephane Cueff (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne 5.41 143. Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne 5.41 144. Guillaume Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 5.42 145. Juris Silovs (Lat) Team Home Jack and Jones 5.42 Started: 179 |