Tour of Mediterranean, Cat 2.3

France, February 10-14, 1999

1998 results     Other Stages    

Stage 2, La Seyne-sur-mer - Lançon de Provance, 108 kms:

Estonian rider Jaan Kirsipuu (Casino) showed a very fast turn of pace to win the sprint in Stage 2 of the Tour of the Mediterranean Tour and Italian Davide Rebelling remained the overall yellow jersey holder.

30-year old Kirsipuu who already won two stages last week in the Etoile de Bessèges won the mass sprint from Australian Jay Sweet and Frenchman Christophe Capelle.

He told the press at the end: "At the moment I am all smiles. With 300 metres to the end I could see that nobody was coming through. I then took my chance and went for it. I was rewarded in the end." Kirsipuu is also a former winner of the Peace Race (Tour of the Future).

The second stage over 108 kms between Seyne-on-Sea and Lançon-of-Provence was punctuated with some early attacks none of which made any impression on the overall outcome. The major move came at the 80 kms mark when four riders from the Crédit Agricole team attacked. The quarter of Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Chris Jenner (NZ), Henk Vogels (Aus) and Magnus Backstedt (Swe) quickly created a 40 second gap. Chasing initially was Kazak Alex Vinikourov who tried in vain to bridge the gap. But the leading four riders were powering but were caught with 4 kms to go. Lauri Aus then tried to attack but the teammates of Davide Rebellin, keen to defend the yellow jersey, closed down the race. On the final straight, which was swept by an icy wind, the sprinters lined up for the last dash. 

 1. Jann Kirsipuu (Est) Casino			     	     3.08.55 (35.095 km/h)
 2. Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat-Auber
 3. Christophe Capelle (Fra) Big Mat-Auber
 4. Fabio Baldato (Ita) Ballan-Alessio
 5. Andrej Hauptmann (Slo) Vini Caldirola
 6. Arvis Piziks (Lit) Team Home Jack & Jones
 7. Flavio Zandarin (Ita) Riso Scotti-Vinavil
 8. Andrei Kivilev (Kaz) Festina
 9. Ronny Assez (Bel) Home Market-Ville Charleroi
10. Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre-Daikin
11. Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Vini Caldirola)
12. Nicola Loda (Ita) Ballan-Alessio
13. Alain Turicchia (Ita) (Riso Scotti-Vinavil
14. Wilfired Cretskens (Fra) Crédit Agricole
16. Koen Beeckman (Bel) Lotto-Mobstar
17. Frédéric Moncassin (Fra) Crédit Agricole
18. Frederico Colonna (Ita) Team Home Jack & Jones
19. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Crédit Agricole)
20. Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Mapei-Quick Step			s.t.

GC after Stage 2 

 1. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Polti 			     7.00.48
 2. Wladimir Belli (Ita) Festina 				0.05
 3. David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis				0.07
 4. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 				0.16
 5. Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Cantina Tollo				0.25
 6. Patrick Jonker (Ned) Rabobank				0.26
 7. Beat Zberg (Sch) Rabobank					0.26
 8. Axel Merckx (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step				0.32
 9. Mirko Celestino (Ita) Polti 				0.37
10. Yvon Ledanois (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux			0.46