Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Bayern Rundfahrt Photo ©: Schaaf |
53rd Circuit de la Sarthe - 2.1
France, April 5-8, 2005
Main Page Results Previous Stage
Stage 4 - April 8: Sablé-sur-Sarthe - Le Mans, 180 km
Sylvain Chavanel imitates David Millar
By Jean-François Quénet in Le Mans
|
Since he took the leader's jersey after the time trial on day 2 of the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire, Sylvain Chavanel kept saying that he would like to win a stage rather than the overall classification. As he couldn't make it in Sablé, his last chance was the last stage finishing in Le Mans. The Cofidis rider was in a comfortable situation where he was likely to control the race smoothly but he wanted more.
On the final circuit including the 18% steep climb of Gazonfier to be done four times, Chavanel himself launched an attack with three laps to go. This action meant the end of the hopes for early attackers Stéphane Bergès (Agritubel) and Mads Kaggestad (Crédit Agricole), the two of the six men away who resisted till the circuit. The four others were Tom Stubbe (Chocolate Jacques), Slawomir Kohut (Miche), Hubert Dupont (RAGT) and Sébastien Duret (Bretagne-Jean Floc'h).
"I was actually surprised that Chavanel attacked," runner-up Markus Fothen commented. "I expected [Laurent] Brochard to make an effort but he didn't and I had to bridge the gap by myself." With two laps (11.2km) to go, it was impressive to see the riders laying first and second on GC breaking clear. Chavanel was so hungry to get his first win of the year, that he went away solo with just less than 10k to go. "It was very hard," Fothen added. "I'm not exactly a climber and I couldn't follow him on the hill. I'm actually happy with my second place. This is my first result this year. The form is improving. My big goal is the Tour of Italy for the first part of the season, after that race, we'll see."
|
Fothen, 23, may not be a true climber but he is a time triallist. As an U23 he was German champion, European champion and world champion (in Hamilton, Canada) for ITT. For his first year as a pro with Gerolsteiner, he won the GP Schwarzwald last year. He is an often smiling enthusiastic champion to be watched for the future.
The Circuit de la Sarthe is known for promoting young talents. One year ago, Thomas Lövkvist followed the path of Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond, who also had won the race aged 20. Since Chavanel is turning 26 this year, he isn't exactly in the same category. He actually isn't the first Cofidis rider to win both the last stage and GC. David Millar did exactly the same thing four years ago.
Chavanel got a fright though. He was leading by 30 seconds on Fothen and Discovery Channel's Volodimir Bileka when he passed Gazonfier for the last time. But he had to stop. "As I put my chain on the big ring, it went over it, he described. I had to get off my bike to fix it. It didn't take long but I was afraid of Fothen's come back because I knew my advantage wasn't huge. It went fine at the end."
Chavanel was happy to put his arms up for the first time this year. "But I came here for preparation for the Ardennes classics," he said. "I trained after Tuesday's stage and rode for 265km total that day. Now I know that I have good condition. It's up to me to be mentally strong for Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, that's what makes the difference. I need to do well there but I can't promise that I will."
|
Jan Ullrich showed that his condition is more than acceptable. Anyone out of shape would have pulled out on the last day, because it was very hard due to the bad weather. The German hung on in the first chasing group, looking fit and motivated. If he doesn't face any new health problems, he may get his first win sooner than expected, just like two years ago when he won the Rund um Köln only two weeks after beginning his season at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by AFP Photo
- Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) and Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) rugged up
- Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) riding behind the Gerolsteiner train
- Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) concentrates hard in the final stage
- Despite the bad weather Jan Ullrich was in good spirits in the last stage, and finished 6th
- Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) wins the final stage
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- Lithuanian champion Thomas Vaitkus finished in 7th place in Le Mans just behind Jan Ullrich
- Freddy Bichot and Benoit Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux) were exhausted because of the bad weather condition
- Not only the GC but also a stage win for Sylvain Chavanel.
- A happy environment for Sylvain Chavanel in Le Mans
- Double win for Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis)
- Runner up Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) will go far in cycling.
- Smiling Chavanel thinking about next week's classics
Results
1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 4.26.01
2 Markus Fohten (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.53
3 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel
4 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 1.06
5 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.48
6 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T- Mobile Team 1.50
7 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prévoyance
8 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom
9 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prévoyance
10 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel
11 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino Sapore
12 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance
13 Eric Berthou (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover
14 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93
15 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel
16 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover
17 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 2.16
18 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf
19 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf
20 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch
21 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel
22 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T- Mobile Team
23 Cédric Herve (Fra) Crédit Agricole 2.46
24 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole
25 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.06
26 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux
27 Maurizio Carta (Ita) Miche 3.33
28 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Auber 93
29 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech 3.35
30 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93
31 Patrick McCarty (USA) Discovery Channel
32 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 4.31
33 Damien Nazon (Fra) Crédit Agricole
34 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel 5.48
Final general classification
1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 15.57.13
2 Markus Fohten (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.03
3 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel 1.11
4 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 1.46
5 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 2.09
6 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prévoyance 2.14
7 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover 2.15
8 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom 2.16
9 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel 2.19
10 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T- Mobile Team 2.20
11 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prévoyance 2.25
12 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance 2.30
13 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel 2.41
14 Eric Berthou (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover 2.42
15 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93 2.44
16 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch 2.59
17 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.04
18 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf 3.11
19 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf 3.14
20 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino Sapore 3.33
21 Cédric Herve (Fra) Crédit Agricole 4.03
22 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux 4.06
23 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Auber 93 4.20
24 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux 4.21
25 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech 4.31
26 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T- Mobile Team 4.41
27 Patrick McCarty (USA) Discovery Channel 4.45
28 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93 4.49
29 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 5.28
30 Damien Nazon (Fra) Crédit Agricole 5.41
31 Maurizio Carta (Ita) Miche 5.56
32 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 6.47
33 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel 8.58
34 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole 11.22
Points classification
1 Damien Nazon (Fra) Crédit Agricole 48 pts
2 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel 40
3 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 35
4 Markus Fohten (Ger) Gerolsteiner 34
5 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf 33
6 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prévoyance 29
7 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93 25
8 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 22
9 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prévoyance 18
10 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel 17
11 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom 15
12 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Auber 93 14
13 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 14
14 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T- Mobile Team 10
15 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf 9
16 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 8
17 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux 8
18 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux 7
19 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel 6
20 Eric Berthou (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover 6
21 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance 4
22 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch 3
23 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech 3
24 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole 3
25 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover 2
26 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93 2
27 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel 1
Mountains classification
1 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel 31 pts
2 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf 18
3 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 10
4 Eric Berthou (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover 10
5 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prévoyance 9
6 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux 8
7 Markus Fohten (Ger) Gerolsteiner 8
8 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole 8
9 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Auber 93 6
10 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech 6
11 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 5
12 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel 2
13 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch 2
14 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 1
Young rider classification
1 Markus Fohten (Ger) Gerolsteiner 15.58.16
2 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prévoyance 1.11
3 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel 1.38
4 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93 1.41
5 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 2.01
6 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf 2.11
7 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.18
8 Patrick McCarty (USA) Discovery Channel 3.42
9 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 4.25
10 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 5.44
