Etoile de Besseges - Cat. 2.4France, February 2 - 6, 2000Stage 1 - February 2: La Ciotat - Aubagne, 145 kmKirsipuu starts with a bangEstonian Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2R - Prevoyance) has won the first stage of the Etoile de Besseges, from La Ciotat to Aubagne (145.3 km). He was part of a three man breakaway that included Belgian riders Jo Planckaert (Cofidis) and Paul van Hyfte (Lotto-Adecco), who were second and third respectively. The three had a 4 second break over Belgian Chris Peers (Cofidis), while Unai Extebarria (Ven, Euskaltel) led the bunch home a further 14 seconds behind. The race was conducted in rather miserable conditions, with constant rainstorms and cold weather. However this didn't stop the riders from averaging over 42 km/h for the 145 km, as they ignored the advice to "take it easy in February". After 90 km, Peers, Van Hyfte and Extebarria attacked, with Planckaert, and Kirsipuu bridging up, the latter being assisted by his AG2R teammate Arturas Kasputis (Lit). The six-strong group gained a maximum lead of 2.02, before the peloton started to chase. Kasputis was dropped in the run in, but had done his job and Kirsipuu was able to take a straightforward victory. Tomorrows 130 km stage is a circuit race - the Grand Prix des Miramas - held in the city of the same name. 1 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 3.23.52 (42.76 km/h) 2 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 3 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto Adecco 4 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis 0.04 5 Unai Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 0.18 6 Wim Feys (Bel) Palmans 0.19 7 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 0.25 8 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Jean Delatour 9 Olivier Perraudeau (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 10 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina 11 Fabien De Waele (Bel) Lotto Adecco 12 Roger Hammond (GBr) Collstrop 13 Andy Flickinger (Swi) Festina 14 Innar Mandoja (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 15 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole 16 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis 17 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto Adecco 18 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 19 Jacky Durand (Fra) Lotto Adecco 20 Oleg Kozlitine (Lat) Saint Quentin Oktos 21 Koen Beeckman (Bel) Lotto Adecco 22 Franck Renier (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 23 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Festina 24 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre Daikin 25 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 26 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 27 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 28 Franck Pencolé (Fra) Credit Agricole 29 Dimitri Fofonov (Kaz) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 30 Oscar Cavagnis (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 31 Laurent Madouas (Fra) Festina 32 Didier Rous (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 33 Sébastien Laroche (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 34 Pascal Lino (Fra) Festina 35 Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto Adecco 36 Christophe Gauthier (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 37 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour 38 Ole Simensen (Fra) Saint Quentin Oktos 39 Kurt Van Lanker (Bel) Lotto Adecco 40 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre Daikin 41 Sébastien Talabardon (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 42 Christophe Trouve (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 43 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Jean Delatour 44 Noan Lelarge (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 45 Angel Castresana (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 46 Gorka Gerrikagoitia (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 47 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 48 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 49 Vincent Cali (Fra) Home Market Ville De Charleroi 50 Laurent Estadieu (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 51 Aitor Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 52 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Adecco 53 Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole 54 MArcel Gono (Aus) Credit Agricole 55 Frederic Mainglenaud (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 56 Jean Cyril Robin (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 57 Giacomo Battistel (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 58 Steve De Wolf (Bel) Cofidis 59 Chris Boardman (GBr) Credit Agricole 60 Florent Brard (Fra) Festina 61 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Jean Delatour 62 Dominique Rault (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 63 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Cofidis 64 Arturas Kasputis (Lit) Ag2R Prevoyance 65 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 66 Bo Petersen (Den) Home Market Ville De Charleroi 67 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 68 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 69 Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 1.04 70 Karl Pauwels (Bel) Palmans 71 Jonathan Vaughters (USA) Credit Agricole 1.13 72 Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Jean Delatour 1.15 73 Grégory Lapalud (Fra) Jean Delatour 74 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 1.28 75 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Palmans 2.05 76 Alessandro Romio (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 2.25 77 Eddy Serri (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 4.09 78 Massimo Sorice (Ita) Team Mat Ceresit CCC 4.09 79 Médéric Clain (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 7.56 80 Raivis Belohvoscicks (Lat) Lampre Daikin 81 Alexandre Chouffe (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 82 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 83 Peter Mernout (Bel) Palmans 84 Olivier Trastour (Fra) Jean Delatour 85 Geert Omloop (Bel) Collstrop 86 Jean Patrick Nazon (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 87 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 88 Jose Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 89 Christophe Morel (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 90 Arnaud Pretot (Fra) Cofidis General Classification 1 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 3.23.42 2 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 0.01 3 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Lotto Adecco 0.04 4 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis 0.13 5 Unai Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 0.28 6 Wim Feys (Bel) Palmans 0.29 7 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 0.32 8 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Jean Delatour 0.33 9 Olivier Perraudeau (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 0.34 10 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina 0.35 11 Fabien De Waele (Bel) Lotto Adecco 12 Roger Hammond (GBr) Collstrop 13 Andy Flickinger (Swi) Festina 14 Innar Mandoja (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 15 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole 16 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis 17 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto Adecco 18 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 19 Jacky Durand (Fra) Lotto Adecco 20 Oleg Kozlitine (Lat) Saint Quentin Oktos 21 Koen Beeckman (Bel) Lotto Adecco 22 Franck Renier (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 23 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Festina 24 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre Daikin 25 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 26 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 27 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 28 Franck Pencolé (Fra) Credit Agricole 29 Dimitri Fofonov (Kaz) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 30 Oscar Cavagnis (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 31 Laurent Madouas (Fra) Festina 32 Didier Rous (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 33 Sébastien Laroche (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 34 Pascal Lino (Fra) Festina 35 Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto Adecco 36 Christophe Gauthier (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 37 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour 38 Ole Simensen (Fra) Saint Quentin Oktos 39 Kurt Van Lanker (Bel) Lotto Adecco 40 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre Daikin 41 Sébastien Talabardon (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 42 Christophe Trouve (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 43 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Jean Delatour 44 Noan Lelarge (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 45 Angel Castresana (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 46 Gorka Gerrikagoitia (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 47 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 48 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 49 Vincent Cali (Fra) Home Market Ville De Charleroi 50 Laurent Estadieu (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 51 Aitor Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 52 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Adecco 53 Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole 54 MArcel Gono (Aus) Credit Agricole 55 Frederic Mainglenaud (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 56 Jean Cyril Robin (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 57 Giacomo Battistel (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 58 Steve De Wolf (Bel) Cofidis 59 Chris Boardman (GBr) Credit Agricole 60 Florent Brard (Fra) Festina 61 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Jean Delatour 62 Dominique Rault (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 63 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Cofidis 64 Arturas Kasputis (Lit) Ag2R Prevoyance 65 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bonjour - Tourpargel 66 Bo Petersen (Den) Home Market Ville De Charleroi 67 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 68 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 69 Thierry Bourguignon (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 1.14 70 Karl Pauwels (Bel) Palmans 71 Jonathan Vaughters (USA) Credit Agricole 1.23 72 Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Jean Delatour 1.25 73 Grégory Lapalud (Fra) Jean Delatour 74 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 1.38 75 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Palmans 2.15 76 Alessandro Romio (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 2.35 77 Eddy Serri (Ita) Alexia Alluminio 4.19 78 Massimo Sorice (Ita) Team Mat Ceresit CCC 79 Médéric Clain (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 8.06 80 Raivis Belohvoscicks (Lat) Lampre Daikin 81 Alexandre Chouffe (Fra) Big Mat Aubervilliers 82 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002 83 Peter Mernout (Bel) Palmans 84 Olivier Trastour (Fra) Jean Delatour 85 Geert Omloop (Bel) Collstrop 86 Jean Patrick Nazon (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 87 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 88 Jose Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel Euskadi 89 Christophe Morel (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sunn 90 Arnaud Pretot (Fra) Cofidis Results courtesy of UC Bessegeoise |