49th Four Days of Dunkirk - 2.1

France, May 7-11, 2003

2002 Results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners

The Stages

Stage 1 - May 7: Dunkerque - Roost-Warendin, 189.5 km
Stage 2 - May 8: Sin-le-Noble - Bapaume, 200.9 km
Stage 3 - May 9: Arras - Arques, 191.4 km
Stage 4 - May 10: Wimereux - Boulogne sur Mer, 179.5 km
Stage 5 - May 11: Gravelines - Sivom de l'Aa ITT, 19 km
Stage 6 - May 11: Gravelines - Dunkerque, 96.1 km

Tour teams battle in Dunkirk

By Jeff Jones

Held over the five days between Wednesday, May 7 and Sunday, May 11, is the 49th edition of the Four Days of Dunkirk. It's one of the biggest stage races in France, and its past winners list includes top riders such as Jacques Anquetil, Roger De Vlaeminck, Freddy Maertens, Walter Godefroot, Bernard Hinault, Charly Mottet, Stephen Roche, Johan Museeuw and Alexander Vinokourov. Of these, Freddy Maertens has won it the most often, with four victories between 1973 and 1978.

Although overlapping with both the Giro and the Peace Race, this year's Four Days of Dunkirk will still have a strong field, with thirteen division I teams and seven from division II. There will be a strong representation from the French and Belgian teams, which comprise 65 percent of the field.

The parcours, which is for the most part flat, suits good time trialists who can also ride at the head of the peloton which inevitably breaks up in the crosswinds. Jaan Kirsipuu and Laurent Brochard (Ag2r) are two such candidates, as are Bart Voskamp (BankGiroLoterij), Didier Rous (Brioches la Boulangère), David Millar (Cofidis), Christophe Moreau and Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole), Baden Cooke and Brad McGee (FDJeux.com), Bo Hamburger (Formaggi), Raivis Belohvosciks (Marlux), and Servais Knaven (Quick.Step-Davitamon).

The first stage, from Dunkirk to Roost-Warendin, takes the riders over parts of the Paris-Roubaix course, with some pavé sections near Orchies featuring towards the end of the stage. Stage 2 from Sin-le-Noble to Bapaume is the longest at 201 kilometres, and contains two hill sprints. The third stage from Arras to Arques is similar, although slightly shorter at 191 kilometres.

Stage four is the 'mountain stage' in the Four Days of Dunkirk, taking place over 180 kilometres between Wimereux and Boulogne sur Mer. The stage is primarily run over a circuit around Boulogne sur Mer, which the riders have to do six times. Each lap includes the climb of Mont Lambert. On the final day there will be two stages, starting with a 19 kilometre time trial on the banks of the Aa river in Gravelines and finishing with a 96 kilometre stage from Gravelines to Dunkerque.

Start list

Brioches La Boulangère                Jean Delatour
 
1 Didier Rous (Fra)                   11 Patrice Halgand (Fra)
2 Franck Bouyer (Fra)                 12 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra)
3 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra)              13 Frédéric Finot (Fra)
4 Anthony Geslin (Fra)                14 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra)
5 Christophe Kern (Fra)               15 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr)
6 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra)              16 Laurent Lefevre (Fra)
7 Damien Nazon (Fra)                  17 Christophe Edaleine (Fra)
8 Franck Renier (Fra)                 18 Jérôme Bernard (Fra)
 
BankGiroLoterij Cycling Team          Credit Agricole
 
21 Bart Voskamp (Ned)                 31 Christophe Moreau (Fra)
22 Bram Schmitz (Ned)                 32 Lilian Jegou (Fra)
23 Remco Ven Der Ven (Ned)            33 Sébastien Hinault (Fra)
24 Matthé Pronk (Ned)                 34 Thor Hushovd (Nor)
25 Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned)            35 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra)
26 Bert Hiemstra (Ned)                36 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe)
27 Pieter Vries (Ned)                 37 Stuart O'Grady (Aus)
28 Rudi Kemna (Ned)                   38 Benoît Poilvet (Fra)
 
Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone       FDJeux.com
 
41 David Millar (GBr)                 51 Baden Cooke (Aus)
42 Médéric Clain (Fra)                52 Jacky Durand (Fra)
43 Peter Farazijn (Bel)               53 Philippe Gilbert (Bel)
44 Robert Hayles (GBr)                54 Bradley McGee (Aus)
45 Philippe Gaumont (Fra)             55 Christophe Mengin (Fra)
46 Chris Peers (Bel)                  56 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra)
47 Robert Sassone (Fra)               57 Matthew Wilson (Aus)
48 Cédric Vasseur (Fra)               58 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra)
 
Landbouwkrediet-Colnago               Quick.Step-Davitamon
 
61 Ludovic Capelle (Bel)              71 Richard Virenque (Fra)
62 Tom Steels (Bel)                   72 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun)
63 Marc Streel (Bel)                  73 Aurélien Clerc (Swi)
64 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr)             74 Michael Rogers (Aus)
65 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)                75 Servais Knaven (Ned)
66 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel)        76 Johan Museeuw (Bel)
67 Kurt Van Landeghem (Bel)           77 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel)
68 Bert De Waele (Bel)                78 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel)
 
MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin               05 Orbitel
 
81 Linas Balciunas (Ltu)              91 Hernan Buenahora Gutierrez (Col)
82 Stéphane Barthe (Fra)              92 Carlos Contreras (Col)
83 Sergeï Krushevkiy (Ukr)            93 Felix Rafael Cardenas (Col)
84 Jeremy Hunt (GBr)                  94 Marlon Perez (Col)
85 Lénaïc Olivier (Fra)               95 Jairo Hernandez Montoya (Col)
86 Andrei Mizourov (Kaz)              96 Javier Zapata (Col)
87 Franck Pencole (Fra)               97 Javier Gonzalez (Col)
88 Vincent Templier (Fra)             98 Hernan Dario Bonilla Sanchez (Col)
 
Ag2r-Prevoyance                       Team CSC
 
101 Laurent Brochard (Fra)            111 Geert Van Bondt (Bel)
102 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra)        112 Julian Dean (NZl)
103 Lauri Aus (Est)                   113 Tristan Hoffman (Ned)
104 Stéphane Berges (Fra)             114 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra)
105 Andy Flickinger (Fra)             115 Lars Michaelsen (Den)
106 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est)               116 Arvis Piziks (Lat)
107 Erki Pütsep (Est)                 118 Andrea Tafi (Ita)
108 Mark Scanlon (Irl)
 
Palmans-Collstrop                     Team fakta
 
121 Eddy Lembo (Fra)                  131 Allan Johansen (Den)
122 Danny Daelman (Bel)               132 Martin Rittsel (Swe)
123 Fabien De Waele (Bel)             133 Fredrik Modin (Swe)
124 Roger Hammond (GBr)               134 Michael Skelde (Den)
125 Erwin Thijs (Bel)                 135 Bjarke Nielsen (Den)
126 Geert Omloop (Bel)                136 Michael Rheis (Den)
127 Bert Roesems (Bel)                137 Jacob Moe Rasmussen (Den)
128 Michel Van Haecke (Bel)           138 Allan Bo Andresen (Den)
 
US Postal presented by Berry Floor    Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf
 
141 David Zabriskie (USA)             151 Manu L'hoir (Bel)
142 Michael Barry (Can)               152 Mauricio Ardila (Col)
143 Matthew White (Aus)               153 Dave Bruylandts (Bel)
144 Christian Van De Velde (USA)      154 Charles Guilbert (Fra)
145 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor)          155 Dimitri Konishev (Rus)
146 Damon Kluck (USA)                 156 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu)
147 Benoît Joachim (Lux)              157 Christian Poos (Lux)
                                      158 Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra)
 
Big.Mat-Auber 93                      Rabobank
 
161 Nicolas Meunier (Fra)             171 Robert Bartko (Ger)
162 Guillaume Auger (Fra)             172 Bobbie Traksel (Ned)
163 Ludovic Auger (Fra)               173 Roy Sentjens (Ned)
164 Cyril Saugrain (Fra)              174 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned)
165 Alexei Sivakov (Rus)              175 Kevin De Weert (Bel)
166 Plamen Stoianov (Bul)             176 Mathew Hayman (Aus)
167 Yannick Talabardon (Fra)          177 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned)
168 Sébastien Talabardon (Fra)        178 Levi Leipheimer (USA)
 
Vlaanderen-T Interim                  Formaggi Pinzolo Fiavé
 
181 Frederik Willems (Bel)            191 Domenico Gualdi (Ita)
182 Stijn Devolder (Bel)              192 Antonio Rizzi (Ita)
183 Jan Kuyckx (Bel)                  193 Matteo Cappe (Ita)
184 Steven Kleynen (Bel)              194 Uros Murn (Slo)
185 Wim Van Huffel (Bel)              195 Massimiliano Mori (Ita)
186 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel)         197 Markus Wimmer (Aut)
187 James Vanlandschoot (Bel)
188 Rudolf Wentzel (RSA)

Past winners

2002 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Bonjour
2001 Didier Rous (Fra) Bonjour
2000 Martin Rittsel (Swe) Memorycard-Jack&Jones
1999 Michaël Sandstod (Den) Team Home-Jack & Jones
1998 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Casino
1997 Johan Museeuw (Bel)
1996 Philippe Gaumont (Fra)
1995 Johan Musseuw (Bel)
1994 Eddy Seigneur (Fra)
1993 Laurent Desbiens (Fra)
1992 Olaf Ludwig (Ger)
1991 Charly Mottet (Fra)
1990 Stephen Roche (Irl)
1989 Charly Mottet (Fra)
1988 Pascal Poison (Fra)
1987 Herman Frison (Bel)
1986 Dirk De Wolf (Bel)
1985 Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke (Bel)
1984 Bernard Hinault (Fra)
1983 Leo Van Vliet (Ned)
1982 Frank Hoste (Bel)
1981 Bert Oosterbosch (Hol)
1980 Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke (Bel)
1979 Daniel Willems (Bel)
1978 Freddy Maertens (Bel)
1977 Gerrie Knetemann (Ned)
1976 Freddy Maertens (Bel)
1975 Freddy Maertens (Bel)
1974 Walter Godefroot (Bel)
1973 Freddy Maertens (Bel)
1972 Yves Hezard (Fra)
1971 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)
1970 Willy Van Neste (Bel)
1969 Alain Vasseur (Fra)
1968 Jean Jourdan (Fra)
1967 Lucien Aimar (Fra)
1966 Theo Martens (Bel)
1965 Gustave Desmet (Bel)
1964 Gustave Desmet (Bel)
1963 Joseph Planckaert (Bel)
1962 Joseph Groussard (Bel)
1961 Albertus Geldermans (Bel)
1960 Joseph Planckaert (Bel)
1959 Jacques Anquetil (Fra)
1958 Jacques Anquetil (Fra)
1957 Joseph Planckaert (Bel)
1956 Jean Adriansens (Bel)
1955 Louis Deprez (Fra)

Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com