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 Dauphiné Libéré Photo ©: Sirotti |
13th Classique des Alpes - 1.1/1.8
France, June 7, 2003
2002 Results Results Past winners
Mancebo King of the Alps
By Jeff Jones
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Spanish climber Francisco Mancebo (iBanesto.com) has won the 13th edition of the Classique des Alpes, beating Phonak's Benoît Salmon by 1'17 and Cofidis' David Millar by 1'41. Mancebo attacked on the Col du Granier with 18 km to go to catch and pass Salmon, who had been leading alone. Mancebo extended his lead on the descent into Chambery to take a clear victory.
The 174 km race between Aix-les-Bains and Chambery is used by some riders as a warm up for the Dauphine Libéré, which starts tomorrow. However it's a tough race, containing seven categorised climbs, most of which take the riders up to 1100-1200m, and the winner does not win by chance.
From the outset, the race was aggressive, and a group of seven riders got clear after eight kilometres: Vicente Garcia Acosta (iBanesto), Iker Flores (Euskaltel), Christophe Oriol (Ag2r), Benoît Salmon (Phonak), Ludovic Martin (Jean Delatour), Loic Lamouller (BigMat) and Ivailo Gabrovski (MBK-Oktos). This group gained 2'25 to the bunch at the top of the first climb of the day, the Col des Prés (km 37).
The group split on the descent, leaving Martin, Salmon, Oriol and Gabrovski in the lead, with 3'40 to the bunch on the second climb, the Col du Granier (km 69). Gabrovski was dropped on the climb, leaving Martin to take the points at the top in front of Salmon and Oriol. The peloton began to react as it neared the Col du Grapillon, the third climb of the day. Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) and David Millar (Cofidis) attacked with Peter Farazijn (Cofidis), Francisco Mancebo (iBanesto) and Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) joining them on the climb. They caught and passed Gabrovski, and were just two minutes behind Salmon's group at the top of the climb.
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The chasing five were recaptured by the peloton on the descent, and the next rider to try and bridge up was Sandy Casar (FDJ), who took Iban Mayo and Inigo Chaurreau (Ag2r) with him, with Denis Menchov (iBanesto) joining them after the Cote de Miribel (km 105). At this stage, the three leaders had 2'15 on the chasers and 3'50 to the peloton.
The situation changed on the penultimate climb of the day, the Col du Cucheron (km 138), when Salmon attacked the leading group and crossed the top a minute ahead of Christophe Oriol and 1'10 ahead of Chaurreau. David Millar led the bunch over at 2'05.
Salmon and Chaurreau were still clear at the foot of the Col du Granier, the last climb of the day, but the bunch was steadily moving closer. Salmon survived almost to the top of the climb but was caught when Mancebo placed his decisive attack. The Spaniard had 25" on the enduring Frenchman over the top, and extended that to 1'17 at the finish in Chambery. To his credit, Salmon held onto second place after being in the breakaway all day, with David Millar taking third after attacking the main bunch on the run in to the finish. Ludovic Martin managed to take the Mountain Trophy for his efforts in front all day.
The Junior version of the race was won by Julien Loubet (Haute-Garonne) in front of Lars Boom (Dutch National Team) and Andy Schleck (Luxembourg National Team).
Photography
Images by Jeff Tse/www.jefftse.com/cycling
- Tyler Hamilton (CSC) had a new carbon fibre frame for the race
- The new Zipp Z3 wheels on Tyler Hamilton's bike
- Benoit Salmon (Phonak) and Ludovic Martin (Jean Delatour) lead the early break
- Richard Virenque (Quick.Step-Davitamon) did not have a good day at the Classique, and didn't finish
- Tyler Hamilton (CSC) back in action in the Classique des Alpes
- Benoit Salmon (Phonak) was in front all day, eventually finishing second
- The peloton descends during the 13th Classiqe des Alpes
- A group of riders tackle a descent in the French Alps during the 13th edition of the Classique des Alpes
- Francisco Mancebo (iBanesto) wins the 13th edition of the Classiqe des Alpes in Chambery
- A fit looking David Millar (Cofidis) finished third in the race
Images by Franck Fife / AFP
- The peloton head towards Aix-les-Bains.
- Francisco Mancebo (iBanesto.com) rides within himself on the Col du Granier, the final climb of the day.
- Francisco Mancebo launches his decisive attack and streaks past a fading Benoît Salmon (Phonak), who attacked after just 8 kilometres.
- Francisco Mancebo (iBanesto.com) clenches a fist as he crosses the finish line 1.17 ahead of Benoît Salmon (Phonak) in Aix les Bains to win the 13th edition of the Classique des Alpes.
Results
Elite - 174.5 km 1 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) iBanesto.com 4.54.49 2 Benoit Salmon (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.17 3 David Millar (GBr) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 1.41 4 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Jean Delatour 1.53 5 Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Alessio 6 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) AG2r Prévoyance 1.55 7 Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi) Jean Delatour 1.57 8 Piotr Wadecki (Pol) Quick.Step-Davitamon 2.03 9 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) AG2r Prévoyance 2.08 10 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) FDJeux.com 11 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 2.12 12 Félix Garcia Casas (Spa) Big Mat-Auber 93 13 Juan-Miguel Mercado (Spa) iBanesto.com 14 Cédric Fragniere (Swi) Crédit Agricole 15 Christophe Oriol (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 7.10 16 Nicolas Portal (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 17 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2r Prévoyance 18 Alex Zuelle (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 19 Franck Pencole (Fra) MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin 7.58 20 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour 8.15 21 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC 10.44 22 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour 23 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 24 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 12.46 25 Ivailo Gabrovski (Bul) MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin 13.03 26 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJeux.com 27 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 28 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Team CSC 29 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Jean Delatour 30 Sébastien Talabardon (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 31 Albe Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 32 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 13.07 33 Yohann Charpenteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 15.57 34 Raffaele Ferrara (Ita) Alessio 35 Benoit Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 16.38 36 Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 37 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) FDJeux.com 38 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 39 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Quick.Step-Davitamon 40 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 41 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Jean Delatour 18.13 DNF Ruben Diaz De Cerio (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Aitor Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Josu Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Richard Virenque (Fra) Quick.Step-Davitamon DNF Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon DNF David Canada (Spa) Quick.Step-Davitamon DNF Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon DNF Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon DNF Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC DNF Michaël Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC DNF Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Team CSC DNF Peter Lüttenberger (Aut) Team CSC DNF Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC DNF Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC DNF Sergiy Adyeyev (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Volodimir Bileka (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Salvator Scamardella (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Andrea Brognara (Ita) Alessio DNF Davide Frattini (Ita) Alessio DNF Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio DNF Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio DNF Denis Lunghi (Ita) Alessio DNF Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Alessio DNF Laurent Brochard (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance DNF Julien Laidoun (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance DNF Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance DNF Médéric Clain (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF Angelo Lopeboselli (Ita) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF Vicent Garcia Acosta (Spa) iBanesto.com DNF Vladimir Karpets (Rus) iBanesto.com DNF Pablo Lastras (Spa) iBanesto.com DNF Rafael Mateos (Spa) iBanesto.com DNF Javier Pascual (Spa) iBanesto.com DNF Jacky Durand (Fra) FDJeux.com DNF Philippe Gilbert (Bel) FDJeux.com DNF Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) FDJeux.com DNF Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com DNF Gonzalo Bayarri (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Roger Beuchat (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Iker Camano (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Miguel Martinez (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Crédit Agricole DNF Cédric Herve (Fra) Crédit Agricole DNF Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole DNF Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole DNF Eric Leblacher (Fra) Crédit Agricole DNF Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Jean Delatour DNF Christophe Laurent (Fra) Jean Delatour DNF Patrick D'hont (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Steven De Neef (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Geoffrey Coupe (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Guillaume Girout (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Sébastien Mattozza (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Christian Poos (Lux) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Ludovic Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 DNF Loïc Lamouller (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 DNF Guillaume Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 DNF Alexei Sivakov (Rus) Big Mat-Auber 93 DNF Plamen Stoyanov (Bul) Big Mat-Auber 93 DNF Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 DNF Laurent Paumier (Fra) MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin DNF Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin DNF Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin DNF Christophe Rinero (Fra) MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin DNF Vincent Templier (Fra) MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin Juniors - 118 km 1 Julien Loubet (Fra) Haute-Garonne 3.30.41 2 Lars Boom (Ned) Dutch National Team 3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Luxembourg National Team 0.07 4 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Belgian National Team 5 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Belgian National Team 0.31 6 Tom Stamsnajder (Ned) Dutch National Team 7 Nicolas Belot (Fra) SCO Dijon 0.40 8 Thomas Brigaud (Fra) HTM 1.08 9 Olivier Lefrancois (Fra) HTM 1.18 10 Robert Geesink (Ned) Zeeland 1.57 11 Blaise Sonnery (Fra) Rhone Alpes 2.55 12 Florian Reynaud (Fra) VS Romanais 3.32 13 Julien Laudy (Fra) Limousin 4.12 14 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Belgian National Team 4.38 15 Dominique Cornu (Bel) Belgian National Team 16 Julien El Fares (Fra) VC La Pomme - Marseille 4.47 17 Adrien Gorand (Fra) Loire 18 Sébastien Pillon (Fra) Haute-Garonne 4.49 19 Ronan Cercle (Fra) Rhone Alpes 4.50 20 Nicolas Brion (Fra) Lorraine 21 Sébastien Hoareau (Fra) Rhone Alpes 5.43 22 Aurélien Ribet (Fra) Sarthe 5.52 23 Julien Pion (Fra) Savoie 6.42 24 Clément Barbisan (Fra) VC Cheylard 6.44 25 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Loir et Cher 6.51 26 Dubernet Martin (Fra) Seine Saint-Denis 6.54 27 Florent Reboul (Fra) Haute-Garonne 7.08 28 Sylvain Noenne-Loccoz (Fra) Haute Savoie 7.11 29 Xavier Bartoli (Fra) Ile de France 7.24 30 Nicolas Perrin (Fra) Auvergne 7.26 31 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) Loir et Cher 32 Julien Guay (Fra) Sarthe 33 David Jean (Fra) VS Romanais 34 Nicolas Maimouitre (Fra) Auvergne 35 Romain Enjalbert (Fra) Haute-Garonne 8.20 36 Fabien Fabre (Fra) OCCV Draguignan 9.23 37 Michaël Ramon (Fra) Languedoc-Rous 10.15 38 Diete Vanthourenhout (Bel) Belgian National Team 10.22 39 Frédéric Vernet (Fra) Auvergne 11.16 40 Cédric Pineau (Fra) HTM 12.11 41 Renaud Vaubourg (Fra) Lorraine 12.14 42 Thom Peyroton Dartet (Fra) Haute-Garonne 12.15 43 Tom Leezer (Ned) Dutch National Team 12.19 44 Albert Timmer (Ned) Dutch National Team 45 Guillaume Valadas (Fra) Limousin 12.43 46 Pierre Lusiak (Fra) Haute Savoie 12.55 47 Sébastien Carreau (Fra) Sarthe 13.03 48 Anthony Lamidon (Fra) OCCV Draguignan 13.50 49 Frédéric Nicaise (Bel) Daikin Team Belgium 14.33 50 Pieter De Beule (Bel) Daikin Team Belgium 15.06 51 Patrick Kos (Ned) Dutch National Team 15.12 52 Bram Deprez (Bel) Belgian National Team 15.16 53 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) VC La Pomme - Marseille 54 Benjamin Giraud (Fra) BRH 16.29 55 Raynold Smith (RSA) Zeeland 56 Nicolas Chadefaux (Fra) Auvergne 17.13 57 Benjamin Penaud (Fra) Limousin 58 Brice Feillu (Fra) Loir et Cher 59 Damien Branaa (Fra) Haute-Garonne 18.40 60 Anthony Fiorillo (Fra) Languedoc-Rous 19.10 61 Maarten De Jonge (Ned) Zeeland 62 Thomas Rabia (Fra) Rhone Alpes 63 Etienne Germain (Fra) Haute Savoie 64 Olivi Coste-Chareyre (Fra) Rhone Alpes 19.11 65 Nicolas Allaire (Fra) VS Romanais 19.13 66 Alexandre Rieger (Fra) Ile de France 19.16 67 Morgan Chedhomme (Fra) Ile de France 21.17 68 Thomas Zaragoza (Fra) Languedoc-Rous 22.44 69 Rémi Cusin (Fra) Haute Savoie 23.09 70 Br Mendes De Olivera (Fra) Seine Saint-Denis 23.28 71 Simon Mathieu (Fra) HTM 72 Yves Peelman (Bel) Daikin Team Belgium 23.29 73 Julien Barbier (Fra) Sarthe 74 David Nasroun (Fra) HTM 23.31 75 Thomas Rostollan (Fra) BRH 23.51 76 Yohan Cauquil (Fra) Languedoc-Rous 23.58 77 Antoine Muffat (Fra) Savoie 28.30 78 Loïc Arnould (Fra) Lorraine 79 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Loir et Cher 28.32 80 Sébastien Hamard (Fra) Sarthe 30.10 81 Cyrille Heymans (Lux) Luxembourg National Team 31.21 82 Sylvain Lauwers (Fra) Savoie 83 Jérome Mainard (Fra) Loire 84 Karel Baten (Bel) Daikin Team Belgium 85 Mathieu Mure (Fra) Rhone Alpes 86 Arjen De Baat (Ned) Zeeland 87 David Smith (GBr) VS Romanais 31.27 88 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Luxembourg National Team 31.30 89 Ludovic Lescuier (Fra) Auvergne 31.32 90 Etienne Bodin (Fra) Ile de France 33.30 91 David Thioliere (Fra) Loire 34.11 92 Nicolas Poirel (Fra) Lorraine 34.14 93 Adrien Gonzalez (Fra) SCO Dijon 35.12 94 Damien Martinent (Fra) VC Cheylard 36.25 95 Thomas Dufaud (Fra) VS Romanais 96 Arnaud Lacroix (Fra) Haute Savoie 97 Dennis Martens (Ned) Zeeland 98 Geert Leenders (Bel) Daikin Team Belgium 38.17 99 David Baup (Fra) Savoie 100 Vincen Pierre-Eugene (Fra) SCO Dijon 101 Giovanni Meneghelli (Fra) SCO Dijon 102 Benoit Molinski (Fra) Loire 103 Gaëtan Tallonneau (Fra) USN 38.27 104 David Chazalet (Fra) VC Cheylard 39.54 105 Mateo Suarez (Fra) Seine Saint-Denis 40.52 106 Alexandre Gaignier (Fra) Sarthe 107 Raphaël Junot (Fra) USN 41.29 108 Christian Duval (Fra) USN 45.31 109 Nicolas Philibert (Fra) BRH 47.19 DNF Florian Vachon (Fra) Auvergne DNF Egor Van Kessel (Ned) Dutch National Team DNF Robert Schmitt (Lux) Luxembourg National Team DNF Fabien Kieffer (Lux) Luxembourg National Team DNF Kim Wirtz (Lux) Luxembourg National Team DNF Jean-Philippe Massot (Fra) Haute Savoie DNF Jérémy Moret (Fra) Ile de France DNF Yohann Picard (Fra) Lorraine DNF Gaël Anger (Fra) Lorraine DNF Arnaud Moreau (Fra) Limousin DNF Pierre-Henri Morange (Fra) Limousin DNF Morgan Ageorges (Fra) Limousin DNF Boris Chauveau (Fra) Loir et Cher DNF Jérôme Verdenal (Fra) Loir et Cher DNF Jérémie Jean (Fra) BRH DNF Michaël Marquet (Fra) BRH DNF David Decker (Fra) BRH DNF Clément Philippon (Fra) HTM DNF Bertand Virat (Fra) Loire DNF Christophe Goutille (Fra) Loire DNF Raphaël Marion (Fra) VC Cheylard DNF Julien Mandon (Fra) VC Cheylard DNF Wilfried Exertier (Fra) Savoie DNF Loïc Gazzoti (Fra) Savoie DNF Laurent Pommier (Fra) Seine Saint-Denis DNF Nicolas Bouyer (Fra) Seine Saint-Denis DNF Joackim Oillic (Fra) Seine Saint-Denis DNF Dany De Paepe (Bel) Daikin Team Belgium DNF André Moreno (Fra) OCCV Draguignan DNF Yoann Beudet (Fra) SCO Dijon DNF Romain Timbert (Fra) USN DNF Alexandre Moreau (Fra) USN DNF Jonathan Lopez (Fra) VC La Pomme - Marseille DNF Thibault Carriere (Fra) VC La Pomme - Marseille DNF Julien Ruccione (Fra) VC La Pomme - Marseille DNF Romain Foix (Fra) VC La Pomme - Marseille DNF Jimmy De Bruyn (Ned) Zeeland DNS Jérome Beugueho (Fra) OCCV Draguignan
Past winners
2002 1 Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2 Oscar Sevilla Ribera (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 3 Jorgen Bo Petersen (Den) EDS-fakta 2001 1 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi 2 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service 3 Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Mercury-Viatel 2000 1 José Maria Jimenez (Spa) 2 Fernando Escartin (Spa) 3 Lance Armstrong (USA) 1999 1 Unai Osa (Spa) 2 Benoit Salmon (Fra) 3 David Etxebarria (Spa) 1998 1 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 2 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) 3 Benoit Salmon (Fra) 1997 1 Laurent Roux (Fra) 2 Laurent Madouas (Fra) 3 José Maria Jimenez (Spa) 1996 1 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 2 Luc Leblanc (Fra) 3 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) 1995 1 Ramón Gonzalez-Arrieta (Spa) 2 Gerard Rué (Fra) 3 Richard Virenque (Fra) 1994 1 Oliverio Rincon (Col) 2 Laurent Roux (Fra) 3 Ronan Pensec (Fra) 1993 1 Eddy Bouwmans (Ned) 2 Thierry Clavyrolat (Fra) 3 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) 1992 1 Gilles Delion (Fra) 2 Luc Leblanc (Fra) 3 Dante Rezze (Fra) 1991 1 Charly Mottet (Fra) 2 Robert Millar (GBr) 3 Luc Leblanc (Fra) Past winners courtesy of Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
