GP de Lys lez Lannoy - 1.6

France, May 16, 2004

A new "Monsieur Roubaix" comes from South Africa: Ian McLeod

By Jean-François Quénet in Lys-lez-Lannoy

McLeod on the podium
Photo ©: JF Quenet

There's no doubt about South African cycling being highly competitive overseas now. The French campaign of TT3 HSBC has continued successfully with Ian McLeod claiming the GP Lys-lez-Lannoy and his companion Nicholas White finishing 3rd. The pair are bagging a weekly win now after the queen stage of Ruban Granitier Breton (White) and the last stage of Tour de la Manche (McLeod). In these Tours, they also finished 7th (McLeod) and 2nd (White) overall respectively.

Lys-lez-Lannoy is located in the suburbs of Roubaix and the finish of the Grand Prix was held only one kilometre away from the famous velodrome where the South Africans received inspiration when they paid a visit to the temple of Paris-Roubaix on Saturday. The race also included cobblestone sections and steep hills in Belgium but it frighten the South Africans. When a group of eight went away on the hardest part of the course with 120km to go, McLeod and White were there with Bart Scheirlinckx and Sébastien Mattozza, both from Belgian TT3 Flanders-Afin, and the most active riders were Geert Steurs (Jong Vlaanderen 2016), Mickaël Leveau (VC Rouen) and Arnaud Lesvenan (Maître Jacques-Côtes d'Armor).

Organizing club VC Roubaix had missed the break and chased hard but never brought the bunch across. Despite being the fastest in the front group, Leveau attacked with 30km to go and White went with him. Lesvenan counter-attacked and the two Flanders riders couldn't follow, then a new group of five was formed with White and McLeod, Leveau, Steurs and Lesvenan. It was perfect for HSBC. As the junction was made, McLeod went on his own. There were 18km remaining but it could have been 50, he would have made it anyhow, he was so fresh and confident. He won solo with a margin of more than 1 minute.

"Last week's win at the Tour de la Manche and this one are the best wins of my career so far, he commented. I've won other races in South Africa but they aren't the same quality." Aged 23, Scottish born McLeod is a champion in the making. No doubt that he's able to join a major team very soon.

Photography

Images by Jean-Francois Quenet

Ian McLeod (HSBC) goes solo with 18 km to go
The HSBC team delighted with its success
Nic White (HSBC) describes how it happened
McLeod on the podium flanked by Mickaël Leveau (2nd) and Nicholas White (3rd)

Results - 179.3 km

1 Ian McLeod (RSA) HSBC                            4.39.01
2 Mickaël Leveau (Fra) VC Rouen                       1.02
3 Nicholas White (RSA) HSBC
4 Arnaud Lesvenan (Fra) Maître Jacques CA
5 Geert Steurs (Bel) De Jong Vlaanderen
6 Adam Gawlik (Pol) MUL                               1.24
7 Aron Huysmans (Bel) De Jong Vlaanderen              1.48
8 Andreas Molandsveen (Nor) Maître Jacques CA
9 David Bréard (Fra) Auber 93
10 Gaylor Cumont (Fra) VC Rouen
11 Heiko Sepp (Est) VC Les Mureaux
12 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Crédit Agricole        1.52
13 Guillaume Le Dinahet (Fra) Maître Jacques CA
14 Denis Flahaut (Fra) EC Raismes
15 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) De Jong Vlaanderen
16 David Vanpelt (Bel) Pesant Club Liégeois
17 Julien Muselet (Fra) VC Les Mureaux
18 Andries Verspeeten (Bel) De Jong Vlaanderen
19 Ludovic Poilvet (Fra) Maître Jacques CA
20 Gérard Lavalard (Fra) ESEG Douai