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27th Cholet-Pays De Loire - 1.2
France, March 21, 2004
2003 Results Results Past winners
Bert De Waele profits from French rivalry
By Jean-François Quénet in Cholet
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Bert De Waele (29) scored the second win of his pro career in Cholet-Pays de Loire, a race known for being similar to Belgian semi-classics because of the wind, the short hills and some rain showers on the way. Previously, he had won the Tour du Doubs last year, a race where he also came second just after turning pro with Landbouwkrediet in 2001.
"I'm very surprised to win here today but I was right to attack with about two kilometres to go as [Didier] Rous and [Thor] Hushovd were watching each other", he said, delighted after his success.
Another Belgian was under the spotlight before him: Frederik Willems (Vlaanderen) was the first serious lone attacker, although Englishman Tom Southam was the very first rider to make a move of any sort. It wasn't a surprise for all the fans Southam still has in the west part of France, since he took part in many breakaways for Nantes 44 Cyclisme before joining Amore e Vita.
Willems was later glad to see Frédéric Guesdon (Fdjeux.com), Thomas Voeckler (La Boulangère), Jurgen Van de Walle (Chocolate Jacques) and Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole) coming across while a counter-attack was formed by 20 riders, the strongest teams being La Boulangère, Crédit Agricole and CSC with four riders each.
On the last of the 10 climbs of the day, located with 41 km to go, Guesdon and Van de Walle attacked. Franck Schleck from CSC bridged the gap on his own, then a trio made of Rous (La Boulangère), Hushovd (CA) and De Waele (Landbouwkrediet) also came back, so six riders competed for the win on the final circuit in Cholet.
"I didn't know the Cholet-Pays de Loire was such a hard race, now I know it's a very good one," Hushovd commented. "When De Waele attacked, everybody was watching me. I paced by myself because I had no other choice. Then nobody wanted to go away from my rear wheel, and I said: 'OK, if you guys don't want to ride for the win, we'll ride for second place.' I didn't have the same motivation for second place and Rous passed me with 200 metres to go. The French teams were racing against each other, that's why none of us won. Also, I was tired at the end."
The Norwegian has increased his lead in the Coupe de France. He now has 75 points, while Dimitri Fofonov (Cofidis) and Rous share the second place with 35 points each. "This isn't an objective for me but I believe it's important for my team as Crédit Agricole is also the sponsor of the French cup. I'll try to keep the lead for as long as possible."
Photography
Image by Daniel Schamps
- Bert De Waele (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) crosses the line in triumph
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- Winner Bert De Waele (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) interviewed by race speaker Daniel Mangeas
- Best young rider was Vladimir Goussev (CSC) in a similar effort to Alexandre Vinokourov in 1998.
- Franck Bouyer (Brioches) receives from race organizer Gérard Chesneau the reward for the best local rider
- Didier Rous and Thor Hushovd joined Bert De Waele on the final podium of Cholet-Pays de Loire
- Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) remains the leader of the Coupe de France
Results - 202 km
1 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 5.09.07 (39.208 km/h) 2 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 0.05 3 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 4 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 5 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) FDJeux.com 0.06 6 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 0.10 7 Vladimir Goussev (Rus) Team CSC 0.54 8 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Crédit Agricole 9 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 10 Franck Pencole (Fra) Oktos-Saint Quentin 1.08 11 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 12 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 13 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJeux.com 14 Chris Peers (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 1.14 15 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1.23 16 Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 17 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 1.31 18 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 1.34 19 Andoni Aranaga Azkune (Spa) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 1.37 20 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Oktos-Saint Quentin 1.39 21 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) AG2r Prévoyance 22 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 23 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 24 Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJeux.com 25 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) FDJeux.com 26 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 27 Médéric Clain (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 28 Jimmi Madsen (Den) Team CSC 29 Johan Coenen (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 30 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) FDJeux.com 31 Nelson Vitorino (Por) Würth-Bom Petisco 32 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Team CSC 33 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole 34 Joaquim Andrade (Por) Würth-Bom Petisco 35 Jose Carlos Silva Rodrigues (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 36 Unai Yus Querejeta (Spa) Brioches la Boulangère 37 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 38 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 6.02 39 Lénaïc Olivier (Fra) Auber 93 6.27 40 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 41 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93 42 Laurent Paumier (Fra) Auber 93 43 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz) Oktos-Saint Quentin 44 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 45 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93 46 Cédric Hervé (Fra) Crédit Agricole 47 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 48 Renaud Dion (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences-MG Rover 49 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 50 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Auber 93 6.33 51 Stéphane Berges (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 6.39 52 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Amore e Vita-Beretta 6.41 53 Loïc Lamouller (Fra) Auber 93 6.42 54 Christian Pfannberger (Aut) eD'system-ZVVZ 6.45 55 Frédéric Finot (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences-MG Rover 56 Tom Southam (GBr) Amore e Vita-Beretta 57 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 58 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 59 Celio Cristiano Sousa (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 60 Frederik Willems (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 61 Jens Renders (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 62 Peter Wuyts (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 63 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 64 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 65 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 66 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 67 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Carvalhelhos-Boavista 6.57 DNF Freddy Bichot (Fra) FDJeux.com DNF Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJeux.com DNF Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère DNF Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère DNF Ben Day (Aus) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans DNF Björn Leukemans (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans DNF Michael Sandstöd (Den) Team CSC DNF Cezary Zamana (Pol) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Maxim Rudenko (Ukr) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim DNF Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim DNF Pieter Mertens (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim DNF Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance DNF Julien Laidoun (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance DNF Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance DNF Erki Pütsep (Est) AG2r Prévoyance DNF Jérôme Bernard (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences-MG Rover DNF Christophe Laurent (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences-MG Rover DNF Gilles Bouvard (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences-MG Rover DNF Roman Luhovyy (Ukr) R.A.G.T Semences-MG Rover DNF Ludovic Martin (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences-MG Rover DNF Nicolas Reynaud (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences-MG Rover DNF Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone DNF Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole DNF Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole DNF Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Oktos-Saint Quentin DNF Ivaïlo Gabrovski (Bul) Oktos-Saint Quentin DNF Maxim Gourov (Kaz) Oktos-Saint Quentin DNF Benjamin Levecot (Fra) Oktos-Saint Quentin DNF Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra) Oktos-Saint Quentin DNF Ludovic Auger (Fra) Auber 93 DNF David Breard (Fra) Auber 93 DNF Vidal Fitas (Por) Würth-Bom Petisco DNF Nuno Marta (Por) Würth-Bom Petisco DNF Krassimir Vasilev (Bul) Würth-Bom Petisco DNF Ricardo Costa (Por) Würth-Bom Petisco DNF Petr Bencik (Cze) eD'system-ZVVZ DNF Lubomir Kejval (Cze) eD'system-ZVVZ DNF Michal Precechtel (Cze) eD'system-ZVVZ DNF Lubor Tesar (Cze) eD'system-ZVVZ DNF Frantisek Trkal (Cze) eD'system-ZVVZ DNF Jan Valach (Svk) eD'system-ZVVZ DNF Roman Bronis (Svk) eD'system-ZVVZ DNF Michal Pomietlo (Pol) Amore e Vita-Beretta DNF Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Rus) Amore e Vita-Beretta DNF Thomas Grönqvist (Swe) Amore e Vita-Beretta DNF Anders Grönqvist (Swe) Amore e Vita-Beretta DNF Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Amore e Vita-Beretta DNF Tony Bracke (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Alejandro Marque (Spa) Carvalhelhos-Boavista DNF André Vital (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista DNF José Vaz (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista DNF Pedro Miguel Miranda Soeiro (Por) Carvalhelhos-Boavista DNF Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Carvalhelhos-Boavista Coupe de France standings after round 3 1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 75 pts 2 Dimitri Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis 35 3 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 35
Past winners
2003 Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJeux 202 kms in 4.54.04 (41.215 km/h) 2002 Jimmy Casper (Fra) FJDeux.com 202 kms in 4.55.23 (40.218 km/h) 2001 Florent Brard (Fra) Festina 202 kms in 4.56.59 (40.810 km/h) 2000 Jens Voigt (Ger) 202 kms in 4.52.13 (41.065 km/h) 1999 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Casino 202 kms in 5.03.32 (39.925 km/h) 1998 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Casino 202 kms in 5.09.20 (39.181 km/h) 1997 Jann Kirsipuu (Est) 202 kms in 4.56.25 1996 Stéphan Heulot (Fra) 207 kms in 4.59.43 1995 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) 207 kms in 5.08.45 1994 Laurent Madouas (Fra) 207 kms in 5.26.59 1993 Marc Bouillon (Fra) 209 kms in 5.16.31 1992 Laurent Desbiens (Fra) 205 kms in 5.19.16 1991 Sammie Moreels (Bel) 205 kms in 5.12.03 1990 Kim Andersen (Den) 200 kms in 5.03.59 1989 Frank Boucanville (Fra) 238 kms in 6.24.53 1988 Patrick Onnockx (Bel) 241 kms in 6.33.46 1987 Frédéric Garnier (Fra) 239 kms in 6.23.33 1986 Domenique Lecrocq (Fra) 237 kms in 6.17.44 1985 Marc Madiot (Fra) 236 kms in 6.28.36 1984 Pascal Poisson (Fra) 233 kms in 5.55.10 1983 Eric Dall'Armellina (Fra) 1982 Pierre Bazzo (Fra) 220 kms in 5.24.37 1981 Roger Legeay (Fra) 1980 Roger Legeay (Fra) 1979 Pierre Bazzo (Fra) 1978 Jacques Bossis (Fra) Notes: In 1987 and 1989 it was called GP Cholet-Mauleon From 1990, it took the name of GP Cholet-Pays de Loire Between 1982-86 and 1988 the race was known as Mauleon - Moulins. Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
