Tour de Vendée - 1.3

France, April 23, 2000

1999 Results    Past winners

Kirsipuu makes it three

The seventh round of the Coupe de France was the Cat. 1.3 Tour de Vendée, held in Roche-sur-Yon. At a little over 200 km, it was conducted over a narrow hilly parcours, with four laps of a 7.6 kilometre finishing circuit to provide the crowds with some action.

An early break went containing, amongst others, Linda McCartney's new signing, Matt de Canio (USA) in his first race for the team. Although the break contained several strong riders (Backstedt and Hunt were there) and gained up to 2.00", it was recaptured before the finishing circuit as various teams started to attack.

On the first lap of four, there was an attack by Christophe Agnolutto (AG2R), Guillaume Auger (Big Mat), Nicolas Reynaud (Festina) and Ruben Diaz De Cerio (Euskaltel), however they were caught by the end of the lap. Next, Bjornar Vestol (Linda McCartney) tried a solo move with three to go, but was again caught after a lap on his own.

The sprinters teams kept things tight after that and it was the powerful sprint of Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu that won the day, as his Ag2R team led him out for the victory. He was closely followed by Australia's Jay Sweet (Big Mat Auber) who couldn't manage to nail the flying Estonian. In third was Belgian Ludovic Capelle (Ville de Charleroi). It was Kirsipuu's third win in the event in four years (1997, 1999, 2000).

With the win, Kirsipuu regained his first position at the top of the Coupe de France table on 110 points, ahead of Laurent Brochard on 101. Credit Agricole continues to lead the teams standings, with the next round, Paris-Camembert Lepetit to be contested on Tuesday, April 25

Results - 200.2 km

1 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R-Prevoyance        4.45.16 (41.11 km/h) 50 pts
2 Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat - Auber 93                              36
3 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Ville de Charleroi 
4 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Phonak 
5 Leonardo Guidi (Ita) Alessio 
6 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole                         18 
7 Serguey Yakovlev (Kaz) Besson Chaussures                        14
8 Saulius Ruskis (Lit) St-Quentin-Oktos                           12
9 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) La Française des Jeux                      10
10 Emanuele Negrini (Ita) Cantina Tollo
11 Davide Casarotto (Ita) Alessio
12 Germano Pierdomenico (Ita) Cantina Tollo
13 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cédit Agricole                               3
14 Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002
15 Maurizio De Pasquale (Ita) Linda Mc Cartney
16 Damien Nazon (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel
17 Didier Rous (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel
18 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel
19 Igor Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
20 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
21 Sébastien Laroche (Fra) Besson Chaussures
22 Vincent Templier (Fra) Saint-Quentin-Oktos
23 Christian Charriere (Swi) Phonak
24 Laurent Desbiens (Fra) Cofidis
25 Dimitri Fofonov (Kaz) Besson Chaussures
26 Guillaume Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
27 Christophe Bassons (Fra) Jean Delatour
28 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
29 Jérôme Delbove (Fra) Phonak
30 Lylian Lebreton (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
31 Roger Hammond (Gbr) Collstrop
32 Martin Johansson (Swe) Collstrop
33 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Crédit Agricole
34 Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Ag2R-Prevoyance           0.21     
35 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
36 Jens Voigt (Ger) Crédit Agricole                0.28     
37 David Mc Kenzie (Aus) Linda Mc Cartney          0.36     
38 Médéric Clain (Fra) Besson Chaussures           0.49     
39 Lars Michaelsen (Den) La Française des Jeux
40 Alexandre Chouffe (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
41 Christophe Capelle (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93
42 Gianpaolo Mondini (Ita) Cantina Tollo
43 Florent Brard (Fra) Festina-Lotus
44 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Festina-Lotus
45 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Jean Delatour
46 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Jean Delatour
47 Alberto Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
48 Ole-Sigurd Simensen (Nor) St-Quentin-Oktos
49 Yoann Leboulanger (Fra) Cofidis
50 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Collstrop
51 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Crédit Agricole
52 Aitor Kintana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
53 Laurent Pillon (Fra) Ville de Charleroi
54 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Française des Jeux
55 Matthew Stephens (Gbr) Linda Mc Cartney
56 Olivier Perraudeau (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel
57 Mindaugas Goncaras (Lit) St-Quentin-Oktos
58 David Lefevre (Fra) Cofidis
59 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
60 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
61 Nicolas Dumont (Fra) Besson Chaussures
62 Kurt Van Lancker (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
63 Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi) Phonak
64 Mathias Buxhofer (Aut) Phonak
65 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Collstrop
66 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Festina-Lotus
67 Gilles Maignan (Fra) Ag2R-Prevoyance
68 Francis Moreau (Fra) Cofidis
69 Cédric Fragniere (Swi) Phonak
70 Dany Bayens (Bel) Collstrop
71 Manu Lhoir (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
72 Fabien De Waele (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
73 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
74 Massimo Vinale (Ita) Alessio
75 Stéphane Barthe (Fra) Ag2R-Prevoyance
76 Claude Lamour (Fra) Cofidis
77 Christophe Oriol (Fra) Jean Delatour
78 Anthony Morin (Fra) Crédit Agricole
79 Alessandro Baronti (Ita) Cantina Tollo
80 Marco Di Renzo (Ita) Cantina Tollo
81 Bjonar Vestol (Nor) Linda Mc Cartney
82 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis
83 Laurent Madouas (Fra) Festina-Lotus
84 Nicola Minali (Ita) Alexia Aluminio
85 David Millar (Gbr) Cofidis
86 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Ag2R-Prevoyance
87 Stéfan Ravaleu (Fra) St-Quentin-Oktos
88 Allan Iacuone (Aus) ZVVZ-Wüstenrot
89 Arturas Kasputis (Lit) Ag2R-Prevoyance
90 Tomas Konecny (Cze) ZVVZ-Wüstenrot
91 Stefano Casagranda (Ita) Alessio
92 Christophe Gauthier (Fra) Besson Chaussures
93 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) La Française des Jeux
94 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi
95 Anthony Langella (Fra) Crédit Agricole
96 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Crédit Agricole
97 Pascal Derame (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel
98 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel
99 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour
100 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Cantina Tollo
101 Bruno Thibout (Fra) Jean Delatour              3.08     
102 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Jean Delatour
103 Grégory Barbier (Fra) Ville de Charleroi
104 Marc Streel (Bel) Ville de Charleroi
105 Renaud Boxus (Bel) Ville de Charleroi
106 Daniel Loprais (Cze) ZVVZ-Wüstenrot
107 Ruben Diaz De Cerio (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
108 Cristian Piepoli (Ita) Cantina Tollo
109 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Jean Delatour             4.01     
110 Nicolas Reynaud (Fra) Jean Delatour            4.14     
111 Xavier Jan (Fra) La Française des Jeux         4.20     

Results courtesy of Velomania/Race organisers

Coupe de France standings after round 7:

1. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R-Prevoyance		110 pts
2. Laurent Brochard (Fra) JEan Delatour		101
3. Jens Voigt (Ger) Crédit Agricole		87
4. Marcel Wust (Ger) Festina-Lotus		51
5. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole		38

Team standings:

1. Crédit Agricole				71 pts
2. Bonjour-Tourpargel				47
3. La Française des Jeux			42
4. Big-Mat Aubervilliers 93 			36
5. AG2R Prévoyance				35

Past Winners

1980    Jean-René Bernaudeau (Fra)
1981    Bernard Bourreau (Fra)
1982    Serge Beucherie (Fra)
1983    Pierre Bazzo (Fra)
1984    Claude Moreau (Fra)
1985    Michel Bibillet (Fra)
1986    Francis Castaing (Fra)
1987    Jean-Claude Colotti (Fra)
1988    Alberto Leanizbarrutia (Spa)
1989    Laurent Bezault (Fra)
1990    Francois Lemarchand (Fra)
1991    Fabrice Naessens (Bel)
1992    Bruno Cornillet (Fra)
1993    Dimitry Zhdanov (Rus)
1994    Patrick Van Roosbroeck (Bel)
1995    Mario De Clercq (Bel)
1996    Laurent Desbiens (Fra)
1997    Jaan Kirsipuu (Est)
1998    Marco di Renzo (Ita) Cantina-Tollo 204 kms in 4.56.54
1999	Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Casino 204 kms in 4.52.05