46th Four Days of Dunkirk - 2.1France, May 2-7, 2000Main Page Results Previous stageStage 7 - May 7: Grand-Synthe - Dunkerque, 104.4 kmRittsel makes it two in a row for MCJ&J
By Tomas Nilsson, cyclingnews.com correspondent Swede Martin Rittsel won the Four days of Dunkerque due to a strong ITT in the morning of the last day. This was Memorycard Jack&Jones second straight win in this important French event, and Sweden's highest ranked win since the days of Tommy Prim some fifteen years ago. Afterwards Rittsel expressed hopes that his team after this victory would be amongst the three invited teams to the Tour de France. Martin Rittsel is a late bloomer, at the age of 29 he is doing his third season as a pro. He has been racing since childhood and was ranked top rider in all youth classes in Sweden with only one exception. This was to be his problem because when he was about to tackle the elite riders he was not used to hard training. But instead of giving up, which he pondered for a while, he was contracted by Patrick Serra's semi pro team Wirsbo and then the tide turned. Martin Rittsel learned to train hard and one again he was a winner. He made his pro debut in 1998 in Italian Cantina Tollo with an eighth place in the Tour of Netherlands. The coming year he went to the second division Danish Team Chicky World as a substitute for Michael Sandstød, last year's winner of the Four Days. The year with Chicky World was successful, Martin won among other races the Tour of Argentina. The team's three top riders, Steffen Kjaergaard, Martin Rittsel and Torsten Schmidt, were "kings of lower categories", the only problem being that none of them were Danish, and so the team folded. Last fall Martin signed a contract with an Italian team that later got financial problems so they let him go to Memorycard-Jack&Jones, a fitting team since Martin's mother is Danish. Martin Rittsel is a good all rounder: he climbs well if the mountains aren't too high and the climbs too long. He is a good time triallist and he won the TT stage of Tour of Bavaria last year ahead of Rolf Aldag, and he has the ability to hang in there even when the going gets tough, which he showed by taking the seventh spot in Paris-Nice. He is currently ranked around 100th place on the UCI list and this victory will lift him further. Wiith Magnus Bäckstedt as fifth overall, Sweden might come even closer to the 15th place on the world ranking, qualifying them for an eight man squad at the World's. the 15th spot is held today by Australia. The last stage after the morning's time trial when Rittsel secured the victory became as undramatic as the Danes wanted it to be. Their high tempo did not allow any attacks, the road was paved for Rittsel and for the sprinters. Jaan Kirsipuu was once again the fastest in the field, this time followed by Jeremy Hunt, Stuart O'Grady, Robbie McEwen and Jimmy Casper. Results1 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 2.15.48 (46.12 km/h) 2 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Bigmat-Auber 93 3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Farm Frites 5 Jimmy Casper (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 6 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) US Postal Service 7 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Mapei-Quick Step 8 Kirk O'Bee (USA) US Postal Service 9 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Bigmat-Auber 93 10 Giancarlo Raimondi (Ita) Liquigas Pata 11 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Rabobank 12 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Bigmat-Auber 93 13 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 14 Damien Nazon (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 15 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis 16 Arvis Piziks (Lat) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 17 Robert Hunter (RSA) Lampre-Daikin 18 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto Adecco 19 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Ville De Charleroi 20 Denis Zanette (Ita) Liquigas Pata 21 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina-Lotus 22 Christophe Capelle (Fra) Bigmat-Auber 93 23 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Cantina Tollo 24 Laurent Pillon (Fra) Ville De Charleroi 25 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Credit Agricole 26 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre-Daikin 27 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Alexia Allumino 28 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Saint-Quentin Oktos 29 Daniele Righi (Ita) Alexia Allumino 30 Martin Rittsel (Swe) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 31 Olivier Perraudeau (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 32 Gian Paolo Mondini (Ita) Cantina Tollo 33 François Simon (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 34 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Credit Agricole 35 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 36 Michael Standstod (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 37 Giacomo Battistel (Ita) Alexia Allumino 38 Lauri Aus (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 39 Jorgen Bo Petersen (Den) Ville De Charleroi 40 Didier Rous (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 41 Linas Balciunas (Ltu) Saint-Quentin Oktos 42 Christophe Bassons (Fra) Jean Delatour 43 Allan Johansen (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 44 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto Adecco 45 Christophe Oriol (Fra) Jean Delatour 46 Benoît Joachim (Lux) US Postal Service 47 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Rabobank 48 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Jean Delatour 49 Levy Leipheimer (USA) US Postal Service 50 Ole-Sigurd Simensen (Nor) Saint-Quentin Oktos 51 Grégory Barbier (Fra) Ville De Charleroi 52 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 53 Marty Jemison (USA) US Postal Service 54 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Farm Frites 55 Alexeï Sivakov (Rus) Bigmat-Auber 93 56 Bart Leysen (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 57 Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) Bigmat-Auber 93 58 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto Adecco 59 Michel Lafis (Swe) Farm Frites 60 Jacky Durand (Fra) Lotto Adecco 61 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre-Daikin 62 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 63 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 64 Stéphane Barthe (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 65 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 66 Oleg Kozlitine (Kaz) Saint-Quentin Oktos 67 Kasputis Arturas (Ltu) Ag2R Prevoyance 68 Marcel Duijn (Ned) Rabobank 69 Chris Boardman (GBr) Credit Agricole 70 Marcel Gono (Aus) Credit Agricole 71 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Farm Frites 72 Christophe Faudot (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 73 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Liquigas Pata 74 Laurent Madouas (Fra) Festina-Lotus 75 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 76 Franck Perque (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 77 Dylan Casey (USA) US Postal Service 78 Michaël Blaudzun (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 79 Davide Casarotto (Ita) Alessio 80 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 81 Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Adecco 82 Kurt Van Lancker (Bel) Lotto Adecco 83 Cristian Salvato (Ita) Liquigas Pata 84 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Lotto Adecco 85 Wilfried Peeters (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 86 Franck Corvers (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 87 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Liquigas Pata 88 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 89 Vincent Templier (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 90 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 91 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Jean Delatour 92 David Lefevre (Fra) Cofidis 93 Folrent Brard (Fra) Festina-Lotus 94 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 95 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 96 René Jorgensen (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 97 Martin Van Steen (Ned) Farm Frites 98 Jesper Skibby (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 99 Laurent Desbiens (Fra) Cofidis 100 Fabio Marchesin (Ita) Liquigas Pata 101 Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Lampre-Daikin 102 Vincent Cali (Fra) Ville De Charleroi 103 Miquel Van Kessel (Ned) Farm Frites 104 Pieter Vries (Ned) Farm Frites 105 Coen Boerman (Ned) Rabobank 106 Andrea Brognara (Ita) Alexia Allumino 107 Flavio Zandarin (Ita) Alessio 108 Emmanuelle Negrini (Ita) Cantina Tollo 109 Renaud Boxus (Bel) Ville De Charleroi 110 Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Jean Delatour 111 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Cofidis 112 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) US Postal Service 113 Eddy Serri (Ita) Alexia Allumino 1.47 114 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Liquigas Pata 115 Francis Moreau (Fra) Cofidis 116 Martin Hvastija (Slo) Alessio 3.36 Final general classification: 1 Martin Rittsel (Swe) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 22.52.07 2 Kasputis Arturas (Ltu) Ag2R Prevoyance 0.24 3 Robert Hunter (RSA) Lampre-Daikin 1.06 4 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Festina-Lotus 1.10 5 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Credit Agricole 1.13 6 Michael Standstod (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 1.23 7 Stéphane Barthe (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 1.25 8 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto Adecco 1.26 9 Dylan Casey (USA) US Postal Service 1.27 10 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Mapei-Quick Step 1.27 11 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Liquigas Pata 1.32 12 Marty Jemison (USA) US Postal Service 1.32 13 Didier Rous (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 1.39 14 Arvis Piziks (Lat) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 1.39 15 Levy Leipheimer (USA) US Postal Service 1.46 16 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 1.59 17 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 2.03 18 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 2.04 19 Jorgen Bo Petersen (Den) Ville De Charleroi 2.09 20 Christophe Bassons (Fra) Jean Delatour 2.11 21 Michel Lafis (Swe) Farm Frites 2.12 22 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Saint-Quentin Oktos 2.15 23 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 2.16 24 Ole-Sigurd Simensen (Nor) Saint-Quentin Oktos 2.16 25 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 2.21 26 Michaël Blaudzun (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 2.23 27 Benoît Joachim (Lux) US Postal Service 2.26 28 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre-Daikin 2.26 29 Alexeï Sivakov (Rus) Bigmat-Auber 93 2.27 30 Allan Johansen (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 2.27 31 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Cantina Tollo 2.27 32 Marcel Duijn (Ned) Rabobank 2.28 33 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Jean Delatour 2.29 34 François Simon (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 2.31 35 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Farm Frites 2.31 36 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Rabobank 2.36 37 Christophe Oriol (Fra) Jean Delatour 2.36 38 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 2.37 39 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Ville De Charleroi 2.38 40 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre-Daikin 2.49 41 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto Adecco 2.49 42 Wilfried Peeters (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 2.57 43 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto Adecco 2.58 44 Giacomo Battistel (Ita) Alexia Allumino 3.05 45 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Rabobank 3.06 46 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 3.07 47 Giancarlo Raimondi (Ita) Liquigas Pata 3.10 48 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Bigmat-Auber 93 3.28 49 Davide Casarotto (Ita) Alessio 3.36 50 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Bigmat-Auber 93 3.55 51 Christophe Capelle (Fra) Bigmat-Auber 93 4.00 52 Flavio Zandarin (Ita) Alessio 4.45 53 Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Lampre-Daikin 6.58 54 Oleg Kozlitine (Kaz) Saint-Quentin Oktos 7.15 55 Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Adecco 10.14 56 Pieter Vries (Ned) Farm Frites 10.31 57 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Lotto Adecco 10.37 58 Christophe Faudot (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 10.45 59 Laurent Pillon (Fra) Ville De Charleroi 11.18 60 Daniele Righi (Ita) Alexia Allumino 11.33 61 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Farm Frites 11.37 62 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Liquigas Pata 11.58 63 Francis Moreau (Fra) Cofidis 12.18 64 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) US Postal Service 12.30 65 Vincent Cali (Fra) Ville De Charleroi 12.34 66 René Jorgensen (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 12.47 67 Jesper Skibby (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 13.09 68 Linas Balciunas (Ltu) Saint-Quentin Oktos 13.11 69 Martin Van Steen (Ned) Farm Frites 13.24 70 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) US Postal Service 13.24 71 Vincent Templier (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 13.28 72 Chris Boardman (GBr) Credit Agricole 13.35 73 Miquel Van Kessel (Ned) Farm Frites 13.38 74 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Liquigas Pata 14.14 75 Folrent Brard (Fra) Festina-Lotus 14.19 76 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Jean Delatour 14.26 77 Coen Boerman (Ned) Rabobank 14.27 78 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 14.34 79 Denis Zanette (Ita) Liquigas Pata 14.35 80 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 14.38 81 Lauri Aus (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 14.45 82 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 14.56 83 Olivier Perraudeau (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 14.58 84 Gian Paolo Mondini (Ita) Cantina Tollo 15.00 85 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 15.00 86 David Lefevre (Fra) Cofidis 15.01 87 Cristian Salvato (Ita) Liquigas Pata 15.10 88 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 15.17 89 Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Jean Delatour 15.19 90 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Farm Frites 16.06 91 Jacky Durand (Fra) Lotto Adecco 17.17 92 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 19.43 93 Emmanuelle Negrini (Ita) Cantina Tollo 19.48 94 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Cofidis 20.24 95 Kurt Van Lancker (Bel) Lotto Adecco 20.59 96 Kirk O'Bee (USA) US Postal Service 21.19 97 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Alexia Allumino 21.24 98 Laurent Desbiens (Fra) Cofidis 21.26 99 Jimmy Casper (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 22.03 100 Bart Leysen (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 23.10 101 Marcel Gono (Aus) Credit Agricole 24.10 102 Franck Corvers (Den) Memorycard-Jack&Jones 25.06 103 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Bigmat-Auber 93 25.47 104 Franck Perque (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 25.51 105 Fabio Marchesin (Ita) Liquigas Pata 25.54 106 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Credit Agricole 26.08 107 Martin Hvastija (Slo) Alessio 26.27 108 Andrea Brognara (Ita) Alexia Allumino 26.57 109 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis 29.55 110 Laurent Madouas (Fra) Festina-Lotus 31.03 111 Grégory Barbier (Fra) Ville De Charleroi 31.16 112 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 32.45 113 Eddy Serri (Ita) Alexia Allumino 33.33 114 Renaud Boxus (Bel) Ville De Charleroi 36.38 115 Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) Bigmat-Auber 93 37.10 116 Damien Nazon (Fra) Bonjour-Tourpargel 38.59 |
