Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Mt Hood Classic Photo ©: Swift |
54th Circuit de la Sarthe - 2.1
France, April 4-7, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage
Stage 4 - April 7: Ernee - Le Mans, 184.4 km
Tight final win for Schumacher
By Jean-François Quénet in Le Mans
|
Alessandro Bertolini gave Selle Italia-Diquigiovanni another stage win at Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire. He outsprinted T-Mobile's Serguei Gonchar who equalled Stefan Schumacher on time but the rider from Gerolsteiner kept the lead for good, thanks to the hundredth of a second difference in the time trial.
Just like every day, there were three men away, all from French teams as usual: Sébastien Duret (Bretagne-Jean Floc'h), Mark Scanlon (Ag2r) and Emilien-Benoît Bergès (Auber 93). Their lead went up to 5'40, but Gerolsteiner - strangely helped by Unibet.com - didn't give them much space. It was a strong effort though. "I even believed we could make it," Duret commented. "At least I can see my improvement, because last year I ended up walking up Gazonfier, I couldn't finish this race on my bike."
The côte de Gazonfier is 18% steep and extremely spectacular. There were thousands of spectators watching. Unfortunately they didn't see much action again. Duret and Scanlon got caught in the last 5km. An attack was launched by Gonchar on the hill. The Ukrainian veteran was followed by Bertolini, who won the sprint. Had the 1-2 been reversed, Gonchar would have won GC because he scored only six seconds bonus. He was five seconds down before the start and the bunch crossed the line just five seconds after the winner. That's how Gonchar and Schumacher finished on the same time.
"We won it all together and we were closely watched," Schumacher said. "Next week, I'll ride the Ardennes classics for Davide Rebellin."
Bertolini, 35, is another domestique who took his chance at Circuit de la Sarthe. "The previous days, I was working for bunch sprints in favour of Alberto Loddo," he said. "I quickly got on well with Gonchar because we were teammates last year at Domina Vacanze. He had a great condition here today. That's why we managed to stay away from the bunch."
But it was tight, very tight...
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by AFP Photo
- Alessandro Bertolini (Selle Italia) beats Serguei Gonchar to win the final stage
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- Alessandro Bertolini scored a second stage win for Selle Italia-Diquigiovanni
- Mark Scanlon and Sébastien Duret spoke about their long lasting breakaway
Results
1 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 4.21.35 2 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile Team 3 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.05 4 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 5 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 6 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Team 7 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 8 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance 9 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 10 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team 11 Bo Hamburger (Den) Miche 12 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 13 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 14 Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) Miche 15 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel 16 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 17 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 18 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 19 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 20 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 21 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 22 David Le Lay (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 23 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 24 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 25 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 26 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom 27 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 28 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 29 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 30 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 31 Carlos Garcia Quesada (Spa) Unibet.Com 32 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Credit Agricole 33 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 0.15 34 Andrus Aug (Est) Acqua Sapone 0.34 35 Freddy Gonzalez (Col) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 36 Noan Lelarge (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 37 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 38 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93 1.08 39 Denis Robin (Fra) Agritubel 40 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 41 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Credit Agricole 42 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team 43 Jure Zrimsek (Slo) Acqua Sapone 44 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com 45 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 1.51 46 Alberto Loddo (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 47 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R Prevoyance 48 Philippe Schnyder (Swi) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 49 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Auber 93 50 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 51 Mickael Delage (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 52 Pasquale Muto (Ita) Miche 53 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 93 54 Seweryn Zenon Kohut (Pol) Miche 55 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 56 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Credit Agricole 57 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93 58 Antoine Dalibard (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 59 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 60 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 61 Allessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua Sapone 62 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 2.23 63 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 3.28 64 Slawomir Kohut (Pol) Miche 65 Emilien Berges (Fra) Auber 93 66 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 5.15 Final General classification 1 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 16.30.40 2 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile Team 3 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 0.03 4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 5 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 0.05 6 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.06 7 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 0.11 8 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Team 0.12 9 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 0.13 10 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom 0.14 11 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 0.16 12 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.17 13 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.21 14 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.30 15 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.32 16 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 0.36 17 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 0.37 18 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team 0.38 19 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.41 20 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.44 21 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 0.45 22 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 0.47 23 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance 0.52 24 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Credit Agricole 0.55 25 Carlos Garcia Quesada (Spa) Unibet.Com 26 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 27 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.57 28 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 1.06 29 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 30 David Le Lay (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 1.09 31 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel 1.11 32 Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) Miche 1.12 33 Noan Lelarge (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 1.28 34 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com 1.35 35 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 1.37 36 Bo Hamburger (Den) Miche 1.38 37 Jure Zrimsek (Slo) Acqua Sapone 1.43 38 Andrus Aug (Est) Acqua Sapone 1.49 39 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.06 40 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team 2.16 41 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93 2.22 42 Alberto Loddo (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 2.27 43 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 2.30 44 Freddy Gonzalez (Col) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 2.31 45 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 2.41 46 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.45 47 Allessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua Sapone 2.49 48 Denis Robin (Fra) Agritubel 2.51 49 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 2.57 50 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R Prevoyance 3.02 51 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Auber 93 3.05 52 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 93 3.06 53 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 3.10 54 Mickael Delage (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 3.11 55 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93 3.15 56 Philippe Schnyder (Swi) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 3.18 57 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 58 Antoine Dalibard (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 3.32 59 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 3.36 60 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 3.50 61 Emilien Berges (Fra) Auber 93 4.25 62 Seweryn Zenon Kohut (Pol) Miche 4.35 63 Slawomir Kohut (Pol) Miche 4.36 64 Pasquale Muto (Ita) Miche 4.54 65 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 5.04 66 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 5.51 Points classification 1 Alberto Loddo (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 2 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 3 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 5 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 6 Andrus Aug (Est) Acqua Sapone 7 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile Team 8 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R Prevoyance 9 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 10 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance 11 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 12 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 13 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 14 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 15 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile Team 16 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 17 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 18 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 19 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Auber 93 20 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 21 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 22 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 23 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 24 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 25 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 26 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Credit Agricole 27 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 28 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 29 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team 30 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 31 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com 32 Bo Hamburger (Den) Miche 33 Mickael Delage (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 34 Emilien Berges (Fra) Auber 93 35 Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) Miche 36 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel Mountains classification 1 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance 25 pts 2 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R Prevoyance 20 3 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 18 4 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 10 5 Emilien Berges (Fra) Auber 93 10 6 Freddy Gonzalez (Col) Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 7 7 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 6 8 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 5 9 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 4 10 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team 4 11 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 1 12 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com 1 U23 classification 1 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 16.30.46 2 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom 0.08 3 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.24 4 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.26 5 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team 0.32 6 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 0.35 7 Jure Zrimsek (Slo) Acqua Sapone 1.37 8 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.00 9 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 2.24 10 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Auber 93 2.59 11 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 93 3.00 12 Mickael Delage (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 3.05 13 Antoine Dalibard (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 3.26 14 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 3.30 15 Emilien Berges (Fra) Auber 93 4.19 16 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 4.58 17 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 5.45 Teams classification 1 Team CSC 49.32.23 2 T-Mobile Team 0.19 3 Francaise Des Jeux 0.42 4 Bouygues Telecom 0.53 5 Ag2R Prevoyance 0.59 6 Agritubel 1.20 7 Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone 1.52 8 Credit Agricole 2.44 9 Miche 4.19 10 Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 4.49 11 G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h 5.16 12 Acqua Sapone 5.39 13 Auber 93 5.57
