17th Tour de Maroc - 2.5Morocco, April 2-15, 2001The Stages
PreviewTour de Maroc is back after eight years, a race that, together with the Tour of Algeria, once was an important preparation for the European amateur season with many top amateurs riding it each year. Nevertheless local star Mohamed El Gourch managed to win it three times in the early sixties. The field is quite impressing compared to other North African events with several second division teams. The teamsSelle Italia-Pacific Glud & Marstrand Horsens St-Quentin-Oktos Amore & Vita Atlas-Lukullus Ficonseils-RCC Conseils Assurances Marco Polo CC Algeria Bulgaria Czech Republic Egypt Germany New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo mix Russia South Africa Tunisia Turkey Morocco A Morocco B Stage 1 - April 2: Rabat - Meknès, 138 kmThe first major attempt came at the top of the Aïn El Jouhra when five riders left the peloton behind. He group disintegrated however and with 14 kilometres left to the finish in Meknès Balliani (Ita) and Bollmanne (Ger) were left at the front and they almost made it. With only a couple of hundred metres to the line they were caught. The Italian even managed to roll in as third on the stage now won by Estonian Andrus Aug ahead of New Zealander Glen Mitchell. 1 Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita 2 Glen Mitchell (NZl) 3 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific Stage 2 - April 3: Souk El Arbaa - Tanger, 160 kmMore or less at the gun two locals, Mouhcine Rhaïli and Brahim Lachab, attacked and Brendon Vesty of New Zealand tagged along. The trio worked well together but at the Jemaât Khémiss Sahel climb, with 73 kilometres to go, the group fell apart and with 32 kms to go Mouhcine Rhaïli was the last man to be caught. The sprint went to Colombia and Selle Italia's John Fredy Garcia. 1 John Fredy Garcia (Col) Selle Italia-Pacific 4.17.04 2 Stéphane Grémaud (Swi) Ficonseils-RCC Conseils 3 René Obst (Ger) General classification after stage 2 1 Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita 2 John Fredy Garcia (Col) Selle Italia-Pacific 3 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific Stage 3 - April 4: Tanger-Tétouan, 140 km1 Dimitri Galkin (Rus) 3.15.47 2 Slavomir Kohout (Pol) Amore & Vita 0.01 3 Nicolas White (RSA) South Africa General classification after stage 3 1 Slovomir Kohout (Pol) Amore & Vita Teams classification 1 Atlas Lukulus 32.04.40 2 Selle Italia Pacific 0.02 3 Amore & Vita 0.17 Stage 4 - April 5: Ouazzane-Fès 138 kmSapa and Eddayif managed to get a gap and since none of them are seriously involved in the overall classification the peloton let them duel for the stage win. 1 Marcin Sapa (Pol) Atlas Lukullus 2 Tayeb Eddaiyf (Mar) Morocco A General classification after stage 4 1 Slovomir Kohout (Pol) Amore & Vita Points classification 1 John Fredy Garcia (Col) Selle Italia-Pacific Climbers classification 1 Nicolas White (RSA) South Africa Stage 5 - April 6: Fès-Khénifra, 162 km1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo 4.13.10 2 Frederic Lecroisnier (Fra) Saint Quentin - Oktos 1.04 3 Jacques Leroux (RSA) South Africa General classification after stage 5 1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo Points classification 1 John Fredy Garcia (Col) Selle Italia-Pacific Climbers classification 1 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific Stage 6 - April 7: Khénifra-Beni Mellal, 130 kmMoroccoan Regragui and German Harry Trumheller was the day's echapistes as they took off early to build a lead of 3.07 with 25 kilometres left to ride. The peloton however caught them with only two kilomtres to go. Atlas-Lukullus' Marek Maciejewski won the sprint with Nathan Dahlberg still in the leader's jersey. 1 Marek Maciejewski (Pol)Atlas-Lukullus 2.58.29
General classification after stage 6
1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo
Stage 7 - April 8: Beni Mellal-Marrakech, 198 kmAt the summit of Jemaït Imdaline, with 76 kilometres to go, the peloton was split in three but regrouped on the following flats and this the longest stavge ended in a bunch sprint with Estonian Andrus Aug taking his second stage win in mythic Marrakech. 1. Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita 4.15.25 2. Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus 3. Nicolas White (RSA) South Africa General classification after stage 7 1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo Points classification 1 Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita Climbers classification 1 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific Stage 8 - April 10: Marrakech-Agadir, 151 kmAfter the rest day in Marrakech the cyclists headed towards the coast facing cold winds and the rest continued on wheels. Despite a couple of climbs no serious efforts were made along the way. An attack at the highest climb of the day at Abdelmoumen won the Russian Galkin the mountain prime but soon after the peloton once again rolled on towars the tourist resort Agadir at the atlantic coast. Amore & Vita's Estonian Andrus Aug strengthened his grip on the green points jersey by winning the stage narrowly ahead of Piotr Zaradny, Atlas-Lukullus. 1. Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita 2. Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus 2. Chalnier Stetoslov (Bul) Bulgaria General classification after stage 8: 1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo Points classification 1 Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita Climbers classification 1 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific Stage 9 - April 11: Agadir-Essaouira, 173 kmThree climbs, but most of all tough and cold winds were the difficulties of the day. Some minor attacks, from Swiss Maillard and Moroccan Bilal came to nothing although the latter had 3.30 as most but it was still early on. Nex to try his luck was Lecroisnier of St Quentin and he was caught only some kilometers from the finish in the town of Essaouira. So once again a bunch sprint. And once again victory for Andrus Aug. 1. Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita 4.43.13 2. Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus 3. John Fredy Garcia (Col) Selle Italia-Pacific General classification after stage 9: 1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo Points classification 1 Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita Climbers classification 1 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific Stage 10 - April 12: ITT Essaouira-Ounara-Essaouira, 40 km1. Marcin Sapa (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus 1.08.34 2. Nicolas White (RSA) South Africa 0.02 3. Dimitri Galkin (Rus) 0.35 4. Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus 1.12 5. Slawomir Kohut (Pol) Amore & Vita 2.05 8. Abdelaâti Saadoune (Mar) 3.54 General classification after stage 10: 1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo Points classification 1 Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita Climbers classification 1 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific Stage 11 - April 13: Essaouira-Safi, 147 kmThe eleventh stage, 147 kms, from Essaouira-Safi Hot was hot with heavy and shifting winds. The peloton was intact most of the way and Pole Zaradny won the sprint and also won the green points jersey. 1. Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus 4.13.22 2. John Fredy Garcia (Col) Selle Italia-Pacific 3. Marcin Lewandowski (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus General classification after stage 11: 1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo Points classification 1 Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus Climbers classification 1 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific Stage 12 - April 14: Safi-El Jadida-CasablancaTwo riders, Moroccoan Bilal and Seele Italia's Italian Degli'Innocenti made a break-away and had more than five minutes to the peloton with 28 kilometres to the finish in El Jadida but the duo was caught with only four kilometres remaining to the disappointment of the home crows still waiting for a local stage win. Now Zaradny took his second stage in a row ahead of countryman Lemandowsky. The race was visited by Tour de France managing director Jean-Luc Leblanc who was impressed by the organization. He suggested however that the race should chose date allowing an even stronger field since April is an important period of the European season. 1. Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus 4.56.05 2. Marcin Lewandowski (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus 3. Chanlier Stetsolov (Bul) Bulgaria General classification after stage 12: 1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) New Zealand MTB/Marco Polo Points classification 1 Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus Climbers classification 1 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific Stage 13 - April 15: El Jadida-Casablanca, 150 kmEstonian Andrus Aug won the final stage in Casablanca of the tour of Morocco ahead of Pole Zaradny who thus defended the green points jersey that he took from the Estonian two days before. 1. Andrus Aug (Est) Amore & Vita 4.24.46 2. Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus 3. John Fredy Garcia (Col) Selle Italia-Pacific Final general classification: 1 Nathan Dahlberg (NZl) Marco Polo 48.52.52 2 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia 1.45 3 Marcin Lewandowski (Pol) Atlas Lukullus 2.28 4 Jan Sipeky (Svk) De Nardi 3.16 5 Andrei Ptchelkine (Rus) 3.44 6 Jacques Le Roux (RSA) 5.10 7 Nicholas White (RSA) HSBC 5.14 8 Stig Dam (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens 5.44 9 Przemyszlaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) Atlas Lukullus 6.34 10 Frédéric Lecrosnier (Fra) Saint-Quentin - Oktos 7.19 11 Marcin Sapa (Pol) Atlas Lukullus 10.40 12 Ivan Terenine (Rus) 11.33 13 Vadim Kravchenko (Kaz) 11.55 14 Serguey Lavrinenko (Kaz) 11.56 15 Tayeb Ed Daif (Mar) 12.03 16 Slawomir Kohut (Pol) Amore e Vita 13.01 17 Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas Lukullus 13.05 18 René Obst (Ger) 17.04 19 Jhon Freddy Garcia (Col) Selle Italia 17.49 20 Morten Pedersen (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens 18.41 21 Ruber Alveiro Marin (Col) Selle Italia 18.49 22 Ahmed M.Raihi (Tun) 19.36 23 Dimitri Pavi Degl.Innocenti (Ita) Selle Italia 19.56 24 Brian Larsen (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens 20.49 25 Andrus Aug (Est Amore e Vita 22.21 26 Fares Allik (Alg) 22.55 27 Mert Mutlu (Tur) 23.52 28 Dmitri Galkin (Rus) 25.29 29 Morne Bester (RSA) IBM Lotus 25.31 30 Csaba Szekeres (Hun) Selle Italia 27.25 31 Jérôme Desjardins (Fra) Saint-Quentin - Oktos 28.41 32 Nevzatt Kiral (Tur) 29.29 33 Abdelatif Saadoune (Mar) 29.51 34 Omar Slimane Zitoune (Alg) 29.54 35 Vincent Templier Saint-Quentin - Oktos 30.25 36 Brendon Vesty (NZl) Navigators 31.03 37 Laurent Paumier (Fra) Saint-Quentin - Oktos 31.27 38 Glen Anthony Mitchell (NZl) 32.33 39 Jacob Gram Nielsen (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens 33.25 40 Hassan Malekimizan (Tur) 41 Mikhail Mikheev (Rus) 34.18 42 Arv Hvam (Dan Glud & Marstrand Horsens 34.34 43 Sébastien Laroche (Fra) Ville de Charleroi 35.00 44 Riadh Baatout (Tun) 36.03 45 David Chassot (Swi) Ficonseils 36.39 46 Harry Trumheller (Ger) 36.49 47 Markus Kammermann (Swi) Ficonseils 36.51 48 Merouane El Farouki (Mar) 36.55 49 Marek Maciejewski (Pol) Atlas Lukullus 38.11 50 Stetoslav Chanliev (Bul) 38.23 Courtesy of Stephane David Points classification 1 Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Atlas-Lukullus Climbers classification 1 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Selle Italia-Pacific |