36th Etoile de Bessèges - 2.1

France, February 1-5, 2006

Main Page Results Overall standings Next Stage

Stage 1 - February 1: Marseille - Marseille, 126.2 km

Willems best in Marseille

Frederik Willems (Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen)
Photo ©: Sirotti

26 year-old Belgian Frederik Willems (Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen) scored his biggest career win by taking out the first stage of the Etoile de Bessèges in Marseille. Willems attacked late in the race to reach the finish alone, 20 seconds ahead of Preben Van Hecke (Davitamon-Lotto) and Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom). The three were part of a larger group of 14 riders, who put up to 10 minutes into the peloton at the finish.

Chocolade Jacques recorded its first victory of the season, after Willems could play off the fact that his teammate Glenn d'Hollander was also in the break. "We rode a fantastic race," team director Walter Planckaert was quoted by VRT teletekst. "Willems went and D'Hollander reacted to every counter-attack. For the final classification, this is also excellent."

How it unfolded

The break of the day formed after 30 km when the peloton climbed up to Camp du Castellet. Along with Willems, D'Hollander, Van Hecke, and Voeckler, were also Mads Kaggestad and Killian Patour (Credit Agricole), Michael Blaudzun and Brian Vandborg (Team CSC), Ludovic Turpin and Sylvain Calzati (Ag2R Prevoyance), Antoine Dalibard (Bretagne-Jean Floc'h), Maxime Mederel (Auber 93), Christophe Laurent (Agritubel) and Matthe Pronk (Unibet.com).

Willems made his attack at the bottom of the Gineste climb with 16 km to go, and all attempts to recapture him were in vain. The rest of the break shattered completely, with the first eight riders arriving within 34 seconds of each other, while the rest trickled in minutes later.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti

Frederik Willems (Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen) grabs victory in the first stage of the first French stage race of the season
Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) comes in third as part of a break that had an almost-ten-minute advantage on the bunch
Franck Vandenbroucke (Unibet.Com) rolls in 16 minutes down. Can the former great hope of Belgian cycling regain some of his past glory this season?
Frederik Willems (Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen) with the day's trophy
Frederik Willems (Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen) on the podium, with the race leader jersey over a nice cosy jacket. This may be the South of France, but it's still winter!

Images by Régis Garnier/www.velofotopro.com

Two ex world champions - Joop Zoetemelk (l) and Luc Leblanc
Frank Vandenbroucke makes an appearance for unibet.com
Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) doesn't look too fussed about the season start
A new bike for a new year...
Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) was making his first appearance for the new team
The start in what look like quite agreeable conditions

Results

1 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen    3.20.34 (37.753 km/h)
2 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                  0.20
3 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                    0.21
4 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC
5 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                      0.24
6 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole
7 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen      0.28
8 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC                             0.34
9 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                     1.44
10 Killian Patour (Fra) Credit Agricole                     2.03
11 Antoine Dalibard (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H          2.05
12 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Auber 93                            2.13
13 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel                       6.56
14 Matheus Pronk (Ned) Unibet.Com                           7.12
15 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                        10.00
16 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
17 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
18 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prevoyance
19 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Auber 93
20 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
21 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
22 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 93
23 René Mandri (Est) Auber 93
24 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
25 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team
26 Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance
27 Jean-Paul Simon (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
28 Fabien Sanchez (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
29 Yann Pivois (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
30 Michele Maccanti (Ita) Team L.P.R.
31 Jens Renders (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
32 Laszio Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole
33 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
34 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Credit Agricole
35 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
36 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team CSC
37 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
38 Angel Castresana (Spa) Unibet.Com
39 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
40 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
41 Thomas Peterson (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
42 Jörg Ludewig (Ger) T-Mobile Team
43 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
44 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
45 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
46 Timothy Duggan (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
47 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com
48 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
49 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Agritubel
50 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel
51 David Le Lay (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
52 Christian Müller (Ger) Team CSC
53 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Credit Agricole
54 Craig Lewis (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
55 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise Des Jeux
56 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
57 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
58 Dan Bowman (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
59 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team L.P.R.
60 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Team L.P.R.
61 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
62 Dmitry Muravyev (Kaz) Jartazi-7Mobile
63 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
64 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
65 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93
66 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
67 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
68 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
69 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
70 Antoniod'Aniello (Ita) Miche
71 Steven Cummings (GBr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
72 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC
73 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Credit Agricole
74 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
75 Pasquale Muto (Ita) Miche
76 Allan Johansen (Den) Team CSC
77 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
78 Michael Lange (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
79 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
80 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
81 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
82 Danny Pate (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
83 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
84 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
85 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
86 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
87 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC
88 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
89 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) Team L.P.R.                       14.53
90 Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Team L.P.R.
91 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
92 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) Team L.P.R.
93 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen       16.01
94 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
95 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile Team
96 François Parisien (Can) Team TIAA - CREF
97 Michael Blanchy (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
98 Werner Van Zimmeren (Ned) Flanders
99 Bart De Spiegelaere (Bel) Flanders
100 Franck Vandenbroucke (Bel) Unibet.Com
101 Gregory De Munster (Bel) Flanders
102 Alejandro Borrajo (Arg) Miche
103 Jarno Van Mingeroet (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
104 Sven Nevens (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
105 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile Team
106 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Miche
107 Yuri Metlushenko (Ukr) Miche
108 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Credit Agricole
109 Denis Flahaut (Bel) Flanders
110 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance
111 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC
112 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team
113 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.Com
114 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
115 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team
116 Charles Guilbert (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
117 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
118 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
119 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Unibet.Com
120 Stuart Gillespie (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
121 Ronny Poelvoorde (Bel) Flanders
122 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
123 Mathieu Criquelion (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
124 Maurizio Carta (Ita) Miche
125 Ivaïlo Gabrovski (Bul) Flanders
126 Aron Huysmans (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
127 Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
128 Lénaïc Olivier (Fra) Agritubel
129 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Unibet.Com
130 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel
131 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel
132 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
133 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Unibet.Com
134 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R Prevoyance
135 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel
136 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93
137 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Ag2R Prevoyance
138 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Credit Agricole
139 Andy Capelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
140 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Auber 93
141 Emilien Berges (Fra) Auber 93
142 Dario Pieri (Ita) Team L.P.R.
143 Francesco Planckaert (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
144 Stijn Dedecker (Bel) Flanders
145 Paul Manning (GBr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
DNF Denis Robin (Fra) Agritubel
DNF Mart Van Zanbeek (Ned) Flanders
DNF Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Team L.P.R.

General classification after stage 1

1 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen    3.20.24
2 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                  0.24
3 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                    0.25
4 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC                           0.31
5 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                      0.34
6 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole
7 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen      0.38
8 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC                             0.41
9 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                     1.53
10 Killian Patour (Fra) Credit Agricole                     2.13
11 Antoine Dalibard (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H          2.15
12 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Auber 93                            2.23
13 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel                       7.06
14 Matheus Pronk (Ned) Unibet.Com                           7.22
15 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                        10.10
16 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
17 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
18 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prevoyance
19 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Auber 93
20 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
21 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
22 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 93
23 René Mandri (Est) Auber 93
24 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
25 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team
26 Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance
27 Jean-Paul Simon (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
28 Fabien Sanchez (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
29 Yann Pivois (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
30 Michele Maccanti (Ita) Team L.P.R.
31 Jens Renders (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
32 Laszio Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole
33 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
34 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Credit Agricole
35 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
36 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team CSC
37 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
38 Angel Castresana (Spa) Unibet.Com
39 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
40 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
41 Thomas Peterson (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
42 Jörg Ludewig (Ger) T-Mobile Team
43 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
44 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
45 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
46 Timothy Duggan (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
47 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com
48 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
49 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Agritubel
50 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel
51 David Le Lay (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
52 Christian Müller (Ger) Team CSC
53 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Credit Agricole
54 Craig Lewis (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
55 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise Des Jeux
56 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
57 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
58 Dan Bowman (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
59 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team L.P.R.
60 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Team L.P.R.
61 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
62 Dmitry Muravyev (Kaz) Jartazi-7Mobile
63 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
64 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
65 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93
66 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
67 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
68 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
69 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
70 Antoniod'Aniello (Ita) Miche
71 Steven Cummings (GBr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
72 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC
73 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Credit Agricole
74 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
75 Pasquale Muto (Ita) Miche
76 Allan Johansen (Den) Team CSC
77 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
78 Michael Lange (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
79 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
80 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
81 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
82 Danny Pate (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
83 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
84 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
85 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
86 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
87 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC
88 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
89 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) Team L.P.R.                       15.03
90 Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Team L.P.R.
91 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
92 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) Team L.P.R.
93 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen       16.11
94 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel
95 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile Team
96 François Parisien (Can) Team TIAA - CREF
97 Michael Blanchy (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
98 Werner Van Zimmeren (Ned) Flanders
99 Bart De Spiegelaere (Bel) Flanders
100 Franck Vandenbroucke (Bel) Unibet.Com
101 Gregory De Munster (Bel) Flanders
102 Alejandro Borrajo (Arg) Miche
103 Jarno Van Mingeroet (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
104 Sven Nevens (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
105 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile Team
106 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Miche
107 Yuri Metlushenko (Ukr) Miche
108 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Credit Agricole
109 Denis Flahaut (Bel) Flanders
110 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance
111 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC
112 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team
113 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.Com
114 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
115 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team
116 Charles Guilbert (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H
117 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
118 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
119 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Unibet.Com
120 Stuart Gillespie (USA) Team TIAA - CREF
121 Ronny Poelvoorde (Bel) Flanders
122 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux
123 Mathieu Criquelion (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
124 Maurizio Carta (Ita) Miche
125 Ivaïlo Gabrovski (Bul) Flanders
126 Aron Huysmans (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 
127 Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
128 Lénaïc Olivier (Fra) Agritubel
129 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Unibet.Com
130 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel
131 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel
132 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
133 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Unibet.Com
134 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R Prevoyance
135 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel
136 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93
137 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Ag2R Prevoyance
138 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Credit Agricole
139 Andy Capelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
140 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Auber 93
141 Emilien Berges (Fra) Auber 93
142 Dario Pieri (Ita) Team L.P.R.
143 Francesco Planckaert (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile
144 Stijn Dedecker (Bel) Flanders
145 Paul Manning (GBr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago

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