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Tour of Belgium - 2.3
Belgium, May 21-25, 2003
Main Page Results Previous Stage
Stage 5 - May 25: Mechelen-Liege-Ans, 201 km
Fantastic Rogers, fantastic Bruylandts
By Jeff Jones
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The Tour of Belgium came down to a thrilling finish in Ans as Australian Michael Rogers (Quick.Step-Davitamon) retained his leaders jersey with a fine performance on the day to stay in contact with the front group until the end. Rogers came under fire from all sides, notably Dave Bruylandts, who first attacked on La Redoute to become the virtual leader on GC, then after he was caught launched himself again with 2 km to go to win the stage. Rogers raised his arms as he finished 7th, just a couple of seconds behind Bruylandts, after ensuring the overall victory.
“For me it's a great win," said a very satisfied Rogers. "The team work was excellent today. Most of all I want to thank Van Goolen that in the final part of the race who gave me his wheel after a puncture. The stage was very hard but fortunately I was able to rely on a very united team that supported me during any difficult moments. I hope I'll be able to repay them for this work."
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The 201 km "mini-Liege-Bastogne-Liege" stage began in Mechelen with a minute's silence for Belgian legend Rik Van Steenbergen, who died just over a week ago and was laid to rest on Saturday. 99 riders were left in the race, after Leon van Bon didn't start. Almost immediately there were attacks, with 46 kilometres covered in the first hour.
The first time bonus sprint in Tienen saw Yuri Mitlushenko (Landbouwkrediet) take the three seconds, but an attentive Rogers took a valuable two seconds after finishing second in the sprint. Hayden Roulston was third. After that, there was an attack by eight riders: Leif Hoste (Lotto-Domo), Jan van Velzen (BankGiroLoterij), Yuri Krivtsov (Jean Delatour), Matthew Hayman (Rabobank), Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo), Bert Roesems (Palmans), Tom Flammang (Cofidis) and Wouter Van Mechelen (Vlaanderen). Four of these riders: Van Velzen, Hoste, Flammang and Roesems, were within 2 minutes of Rogers' lead, forcing Quick.Step-Davitamon to put all its riders on the front to prevent the gap from growing too big.
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After 100 km, the eight leaders had 1'40 on the peloton, which was tightly controlled by Quick.Step. However in front, Flammang and Hoste were in difficulty on the climbs, and they were eventually dropped over the Côte de Fraiture and the Côte de Chambralles. The peloton was close by this point, and there were a number of attacks, notably by Jo Planckaert and Dave Bruylandts, whose accelerations cut the peloton to pieces.
Fassa Bortolo were up with the breaks all day, and after an attack by Gorazd Stangelj was caught on La Redoute, teammate Tadej Valjavec followed Bruylandts in a very promising move. The pair quickly rode to a 30 second lead, which grew to a minute as the chasers got organised behind. Rogers had lost many of his teammates on the climb, save for an excellent Jurgen Van Goolen, but riders like Johan Museeuw and Servais Knaven came back on the descent.
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Unfortunately for Rogers, he punctured at a crucial moment with 34 km to go on the descent of La Redoute. He was able to signal to Van Goolen to give him his back wheel, but he finished up in the second chasing group, as Bruylandts and Valjavec continued with their breakaway. Rogers was now out of the leader's jersey on "virtual GC", but he did not panic, as Johan Museeuw and Jurgen Van Goolen dropped back out of the first chasing group to help him make contact. They did so on the Sprimont, to form a bunch of about 30 riders chasing the two leaders who still had 50".
On the Côte de Sart Tillman, Bruylandts and Valjavec extended their lead to 1'00, but Rogers was not finished yet. After all his Quick.Step teammates save for Van Goolen dropped off the chase, Rabobank and BankGiroLoterij took over, aiming to protect Robert Bartko and Bart Voskamp's high positions on the classification. These teams were strong and relatively fresh, and on the descent they tore into the gap of Bruylandts and Valjavec, bringing the pair back by the foot of the Cote de St Nicolas.
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Just before the climb, BankGiroLoterij's Matthé Pronk attacked, hoping for a stage win or to pave the way for Voskamp to counter. Pronk was chased down by a solo Van Goolen, but the pair were caught by Marlux's Gert Verheyen, who attacked at the foot of the climb. However a counter by Axel Merckx put an end to Verheyen's move, and over the top of the climb he was left with seven others: Rogers, Bruylandts, Valjavec, Kessler, Farazijn, Voskamp, and Den Bakker.
The attacks continued all the way to the finish, with Rogers marking many of them, but unable to prevent Bruylandts from going clear on the final climb to Ans with 2 km to go. A super Bruylandts won the stage by a few metres, with Den Bakker and Valjavec taking second and third respectively. Rogers finished at the back of the group, but was able to celebrate his biggest win since the Tour Down Under and the GP de Beauce in 2002.
Images by Elmar Krings
- Michael Rogers (Quick.Step-Davitamon) showing how good track riders can be on the road
- Tom Steels (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) wins the overall points classification
- Frank Vandenbroucke (Quick.Step-Davitamon) keeps the pace up
- Mario Aerts (Team Telekom)
- Axel Merckx (Lotto-Domo) looking larger than life
- Dave Bruylandts (Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf) on his way to the podium
- Dave Bruylandts breaks away
- White and Hincapie fly the USPS colours
- Those wavy Pinarello forks look scary from this angle
- The strain is starting to show
- These guys will be happy when the race is over
- Matthias Kessler (Team Telekom
- Johan Museeuw (Quick.Step-Davitamon)
- Museeuw's helmet; the style of things to come?
- 300 meters to go, and the race is on
- Three smiling riders, two not-so-smiling podium girls
- Points, overall and sprint jersey winners
- Bruylandts on the podium
- New Zealand rider Hayden Roulston on the podium
- A happy Mick Rogers on the podium
Images by AFP
Results
1 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 5.01.00 2 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 0.01 3 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 4 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 5 Bart Voskamp (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 6 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 7 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick.Step-Davitamon 8 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 0.09 9 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 0.22 10 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 11 Bram Schmitz (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 0.26 12 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 13 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 14 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 15 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 16 Robert Bartko (Ger) Rabobank 17 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 0.44 18 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 19 Mario Aerts (Bel) Team Telekom 20 Thierry De Groote (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 21 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 22 Stephan Schreck (Ger) Team Telekom 23 Juan José De Los Angeles (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 24 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 25 Jan Van Velzen (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 26 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 27 Matthé Pronk (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 28 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Fassa Bortolo 29 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.58 30 Gerben Löwik (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 1.31 31 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 2.01 32 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank 33 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 2.07 34 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 2.23 35 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 3.03 36 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour 3.27 37 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Quick.Step-Davitamon 3.29 38 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 39 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 40 Marc Streel (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 3.41 41 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 4.18 42 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 43 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 44 Scott Guyton (NZl) Flanders-IteamNova.com 45 Roger Hammond (GBr) Palmans-Collstrop 46 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 47 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 48 Bert Roesems (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 49 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 4.30 50 Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 4.43 51 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 6.49 52 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 13.04 53 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 54 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon 55 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 56 Jürgen Landrie (Bel) Flanders-IteamNova.com 57 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 58 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Jean Delatour 59 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Jean Delatour 60 Fabien De Waele (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 61 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 62 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 63 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 64 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 65 Glenn D’Hollander (Bel) Lotto-Domo 66 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 67 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 68 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 17.07 69 Claudio Lucchini (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 70 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 71 Robert Hayles (GBr) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 72 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 73 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 74 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 75 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 76 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 77 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 17.13 Final general classification 1 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick.Step-Davitamon 20.00.42 2 Bart Voskamp (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 0.25 3 Robert Bartko (Ger) Rabobank 0.30 4 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 0.31 5 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 0.32 6 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 0.43 7 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 0.52 8 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.04 9 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 1.08 10 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 1.19 11 Bram Schmitz (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 12 Jan Van Velzen (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 1.29 13 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 1.32 14 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 1.36 15 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Fassa Bortolo 1.56 16 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 2.00 17 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 18 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 2.04 19 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 2.12 20 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 2.35 21 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Quick.Step-Davitamon 3.37 22 Marc Streel (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 4.21 23 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 5.10 24 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 5.14 25 Bert Roesems (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 5.21 26 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 5.35 27 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 6.02 28 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 7.18 29 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 7.42 30 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 10.30 31 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 12.43 32 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon 13.21 33 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 14.05 34 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal presented by Berry Flo 14.29 35 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 14.32 36 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 14.39 37 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 14.42 38 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 15.33 39 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 18.14 40 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 18.37 41 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 26.57 42 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 26.59 43 Stephan Schreck (Ger) Team Telekom 27.00 44 Matthé Pronk (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 27.16 45 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 27.48 46 Thierry De Groote (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 28.00 47 Mario Aerts (Bel) Team Telekom 28.07 48 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank 28.11 49 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 28.51 50 Gerben Löwik (Ned) BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team 28.57 51 Juan José De Los Angeles (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 29.04 52 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 29.14 53 Roger Hammond (GBr) Palmans-Collstrop 32.57 54 Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 33.12 55 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 35.41 56 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 37.01 57 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 38.20 58 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 38.26 59 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 38.58 60 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 39.21 61 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 39.40 62 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 40.42 63 Fabien De Waele (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 40.48 64 Scott Guyton (NZl) Flanders-IteamNova.com 41.08 65 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 41.36 66 Robert Hayles (GBr) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 42.53 67 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 44.00 68 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 45.15 69 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour 45.53 70 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Jean Delatour 48.24 71 Glenn D’Hollander (Bel) Lotto-Domo 49.36 72 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 50.13 73 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 50.30 74 Jürgen Landrie (Bel) Flanders-IteamNova.com 50.39 75 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 52.42 76 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Jean Delatour 54.01 77 Claudio Lucchini (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1.01.59 Points classification 1 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 54 pts 2 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 50 3 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 46 4 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 46 5 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 38 6 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick.Step-Davitamon 30 7 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 30 8 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 30 9 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 28 10 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 28 Sprints classification 1 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 27 pts 2 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal presented by Berry Floo 16 3 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 13 4 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 8 5 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 8 Climbs classification 1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 50 pts 2 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 32 3 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 32 4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 24 5 Bert Roesems (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 22 Teams classification 1 Quick Step-Davitamon 60.00.15 2 Rabobank 2.28 3 Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 4.45 4 Bankgiroloterij Ct 4.53 5 Cofidis 4.59
