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Tour of Belgium - 2.2
Belgium, May 19-23, 2004
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Stage 4b - May 22: Mechelen-Mechelen, 115 km
Stage cancelled as riders protest
By Jeff Jones
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The fourth half stage of the Tour of Belgium was meant to be another one for the sprinters after this morning's time trial, but instead the organisers were forced to cancel it after the riders refused to race on the finishing circuits. After the peloton had captured early breakaway David Zabriskie (US Postal-Berry Floor) with 34 km to go, and subsequently Frank van Dulmen (BankGiroLoterij) on the second of four 10 km finishing circuits, it came to a sudden halt on the finish line with two laps (20 km) to go.
With the finishing crash of yesterday still fresh in their minds, the majority of the riders felt that the cobbles and corners on the finishing circuits were too dangerous to race over and there commenced a big argument between the organisers and various representatives of the peloton. Most riders were in agreement with each other to stop, even if their team directors weren't of the same mind. Most thought it was unfortunate for the public and for the Tour of Belgium, but decided to take a stand for safety reasons.
Peter Van Petegem told Belgian TV 1 that, "There aren't many stage races that finish with such dangerous local laps. It's always in Belgium. They want to make a kermis out of it."
Organiser Rob Discart was quoted on Radio 1 as saying, "They have overreacted. It was especially hurtful for the tour itself. The riders are playing with their fortune and that of the tour. That the riders didn't want to ride on the cobbles is their decision. This parcours had everything for a good finale.
"The expectations of the riders have evolved. I want to talk with ex-riders, who have recently retired, in order to better understand their wishes."
Eventually, the riders were convinced to re-start, but simply rode the last 20 km at a moderate speed with no-one attacking. With 200m to go, a few riders sprinted and it was Samuele Marzoli (Lampre) who crossed the line first in front of Francesco Planckaert (Chocolade Jacques), but the result didn't stand as the jury determined there hadn't been any real racing.
The Tour of Belgium will (hopefully) finish tomorrow with the toughest stage between Ans and Eupen, featuring many of the climbs used in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Sylvain Chavanel (Brioches la Boulangere) remains the overall leader, with Bart Voskamp (Chocolade Jacques) and Max Van Heeswijk (USPS-Berry Floor) in second and third.
Photography
Images by Karen Lambrecht
- Sylvain Chavanel (Brioches la Boulangere) talks to race organiser Rob Discart about the protest
- Samuele Marzoli (Lampre) won the half sprint at the end of the stage, but the results were later annulled
Results
Stage anulled General classification after stage 4a 1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 13.28.43 2 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 0.03 3 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 0.18 4 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre 0.21 5 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 0.27 6 Geert Omloop (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 7 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 0.28 8 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Domo 9 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Lampre 0.29 10 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 0.33 11 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 0.39 12 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.41 13 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 0.42 14 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 15 Stijn Devolder (Bel) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 0.43 16 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Lampre 17 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre 0.44 18 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 0.45 19 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo 0.49 20 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 21 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Domo 0.51 22 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.56 23 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 0.58 24 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 0.59 25 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 1.03 26 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 1.08 27 Mikhail Timochine (Rus) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1.09 28 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1.10 29 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Relax-Bodysol 30 Janek Tombak (Est) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 31 Zbigniew Piatek (Pol) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 1.11 32 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1.12 33 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1.13 34 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 1.15 35 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.16 36 Roger Hammond (GBr) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 1.20 37 Jans Koerts (Ned) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 1.25 38 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 39 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 40 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 1.27 41 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre 1.28 42 Sven Renders (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen 2016 1.32 43 Marco Bos (Ned) BankGiroLoterij 44 Jo Planckaert (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 1.33 45 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 1.36 46 Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 1.57 47 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 2.31 48 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 2.55 49 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 2.57 50 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Relax-Bodysol 3.18 51 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 3.23 52 Erki Pütsep (Est) AG2r Prévoyance 3.31 53 Marc Streel (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 3.42 54 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 4.41 55 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 4.59 56 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 5.04 57 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Cofidis 5.26 58 Allan Johansen (Den) BankGiroLoterij 6.28 59 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 6.40 60 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 8.00 61 Andy De Smet (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 8.11 62 Kristof Trouve (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 8.29 63 Jonathan Patrick McCarty (USA) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 8.42 64 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon 10.32 65 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 10.41 66 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 11.09 67 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 11.32 68 David Zabriskie (USA) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 11.54 69 Julien Laidoun (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 12.07 70 Francesco Planckaert (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Wincor Nixdorf 13.00 71 Nico Mattan (Bel) Relax-Bodysol 19.14 72 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 19.19 73 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Relax-Bodysol 19.26 74 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen 2016 19.53 75 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 19.54 76 Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen 2016 19.55 77 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 19.59 78 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 20.01 79 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 20.15 80 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Relax-Bodysol 20.17 81 Matthew White (Aus) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 20.18 82 Samuele Marzoli (Ita) Lampre 20.41 83 Julien Smink (Ned) BankGiroLoterij 21.13 84 Geert Steurs (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen 2016 21.52 85 Stéphane Berges (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 21.58 86 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 23.39 87 Alain Van Katwijk (Ned) BankGiroLoterij 24.31 88 Bert Roesems (Bel) Relax-Bodysol 24.50 89 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Relax-Bodysol 25.05 90 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto-Domo 25.06 91 Björn Leukemans (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 29.17 92 Rony Martias (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère 29.45 93 Eelke Van Der Wal (Ned) BankGiroLoterij 29.56 94 Oleksandr Kvachuk (Ukr) Lampre 30.34 95 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Quick.Step-Davitamon 30.51 96 Aron Huysmans (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen 2016 31.24 97 Frank Van Dulmen (Ned) BankGiroLoterij 31.28 98 Rudi Kemna (Ned) BankGiroLoterij 32.26 99 Bart De Spieghelaere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 35.35 100 Stefan Wijnands (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen 2016 36.06 101 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) MrBookmaker.com-Palmans 36.51 102 Allan Bo Andresen (Den) BankGiroLoterij 50.49
