54th Tour de la Guadeloupe - 2.6

Guadeloupe, August 6-15, 2004

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Stage 9a - August 15: Les Abymes - Baie-Mahault, 132,8 km

A tropical finish

By Hedwig Kröner in Baie-Mahault

Stage winner Nicolas Crosbie (France)
Photo ©: Hedwig Kröner

88 riders departed Les Abymes for the the last stage of this year's Tour de la Guadeloupe, involving four circuits around Baie-Mahault before the finish.

Controlled by the European teams, nobody was allowed to break away from the peloton, with the entire bunch staying together until the third circuit (km 65), when Cory Lange from Canada decided to put some pressure on.

Quickly a chase group of 15 formed, 35 seconds behind, with the peloton at 1'00. The 15 joined Lange at km 72 and entered the last circuit with the bunch closing in, only 40 seconds behind at km 90. The finish was very fast and some of the riders from the lead group were dropped, while the peloton split into several groups.

Frenchman Nicolas Crosbie went on a solo attack with 5 km to go when it started to rain very heavily. The last couple of kilometres were one curve after another, and Crosbie managed to take his lead onto the line, as many of the riders did not want to risk anything before the final time trial this afternoon. Daniel Bernal took the 5th GC rank of Javier Guerrero because of a crash just before the 1km to go mark, with Guerrero awarded his actual time.

Photography

Images by Hedwig Kröner

Miguel Ubeto (EDS, L) with Daniel Bernal (USL) at the start in Les Abymes.
Overnight leader Flober Pena Pena (LOFT) at the finish, one step away from victory.
Thibaut Humbert (UVMG), one of Alexandre Lecoq's domestiques, is glad the Tour's almost over.
Stage winner Nicolas Crosbie (France, C) with Miss Guadeloupe on the podium.
Nicolas Crosbie (France) with the stage winner's trophy.

Results

1 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) France        
2 Frédéric Theobald (Gua) ASBM    0.20
3 Henning Bommel (Ger) Germany        
4 Marc Altmann (Ger) Germany      0.27
5 Ludovic Catalan (Gua) UVMG      0.29
 
General classification after stage 9a
 
1 Flober Pena Pena (Col) LOFT         
2 Miguel Ubeto (Ven) EDS          0.21
3 Alexandre Lecoq (Gua) UVMG      1.49
4 Nicolas Dumont (Fra) SM-RDA     2.06
5 Daniel Bernal (Col) USL         2.47