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GP d'Ouverture La Marseillaise - 1.1
France, January 31, 2006
2005 Results Results Past winners
Cooke opens up with a win
Gerrans crashes out
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Baden Cooke has kicked off his European campaign with a win in the Grand Prix d'Ouverture "La Marseillaise" in Tholonet. Cooke, riding in his new Unibet.com team colours, beat ex-teammate Philippe Gilbert (Française Des Jeux) and Anthony Geslin (Bouygues Telecom) in a bunch sprint.
The sprint was not without incident, however, as a big crash with 500m to go took out several riders, including Cooke's compatriot and Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under winner Simon Gerrans. Gerrans (AG2R) was taken to hospital in Aix-en-Provence where he was diagnosed with a fractured left collarbone, ruptured acromioclavicular ligaments, and head injuries that required several stitches. He will be transferred to today to a hospital in Nice and will take several weeks to recover. Maurizio Carta (Miche) was also involved in the crash, while Gerrans' teammate Philippe Deignan crashed on the descent with 5 km to go to the finish.
The 136 km race started in comparatively warm (15°) conditions with the sun shining. Freddy Bichot (Française des Jeux) made the first attack on the first climb, but was caught by Laurent Brochard (Bouygues Telecom) on the descent. A group of 15 formed in front before the peloton closed the gap.
Towards the end of the race, with 35 km to go, a five man group escaped containing Eric Leblacher (Française des Jeux), Peter Mertens (Davitamon-Lotto), Remi Pauriol (Crédit Agricole), Jens Renders (Chocolade Jacques) and Karsten Kroon (CSC). The group was only caught in the final kilometre as the sprinters teams wound it up.
In the end, Cooke was able to repeat his victory of 2004, with Gilbert having to settle for second again, ahead of Geslin.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- There was a crash during the final sprint which brought down Ag2r rider Simon Gerrans
- Baden Cooke wins in his first outing for new team unibet.com
- Baden Cooke (unibet.com) shows he's got some good early-season form for his new squad
- All smiles for Cookey in his first race for a new team
- The podium (l-r): Philippe Gilbert (Francaises des Jeux), Baden Cooke (unibet.com) and Anthony Geslin (Bouygues Telecom)
- Hey boss, I got one! Cooke approaches directeur sportif Hilaire van der Schueren following his win
- Time for a hug to celebrate what could be the beginning of a great partnership
- Cooke and van der Schueren talk after Cooke's win
Images by AFP Photo
- A happy Baden Cooke with his flowers
- Baden Cooke (Unibet.com) on top of the podium
- Baden Cooke (Unibet.com) wins the GP d'Ouverture La Marseillaise
Images by Régis Garnier/www.velofotopro.com
- T-Mobile is presented to the crowd
- French champion Pierrick Fedrigo looks pleased to be strating his season
- Sandy Casar (Fancaise des Jeux) looks a little pensive before the start
- Unibet.com's Aussie duo of Baden Cooke and Matt Wilson
- Lloyd Mandory looks happy before the start
- Laurent Brochard waits for the start, ready for a new year
- Neo-pro Rémi Pauriol is a local rider among the bunch
- Baden Cooke wins the Grand Prix d'Ouverture 'La Marseillaise'
- Simon Gerrans (AG2R) suffered injuries in a big crash
- Simon Gerrans looks a little sore after a crash in the closing stages
- Baden Cooke (unibet.com) on the podium
- The podium (l-r): Phillipe Gilbert, Baden Cooke and Anthony Geslin
- Dimitri Muraviev is the best climber
Results - 136.2 km
1 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.Com 3.17.55 (41.29 km/h) 2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 3 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 5 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 6 Antonio D'aniello (Ita) Miche 7 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 8 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team CSC 9 René Mandri (Fra) Auber 93 10 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile 11 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 12 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 13 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC 14 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 15 Jens Renders (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 16 Pasquale Muto (Ita) Miche 17 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Agritubel 18 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 19 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile 20 Charles Guilbert (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H 21 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Credit Agricole 22 Bradley Mcgee (Aus) Francaise Des Jeux 0.05 23 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team L.P.R. 24 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Credit Agricole 25 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 26 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Credit Agricole 27 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 28 Jörg Ludewig (Ger) T-Mobile Team 29 Angel Castresana SPA Unibet.Com 30 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 31 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team 32 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 33 Jean-Paul Simon (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 34 Dmitry Muravyev (Kaz) Jartazi-7Mobile 35 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 36 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 37 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Team L.P.R. 38 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 39 Andy Capelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 40 Matte Pronk (Ned) Unibet.Com 41 Yann Pivois (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H 42 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel 43 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 44 Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 45 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 93 46 David Le Lay (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H 47 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 48 Mads Kaggestadt (Nor) Credit Agricole 49 Dan Bowman (USA) Team TIAA-CREF 50 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Credit Agricole 51 Allan Johansen (Den) Team CSC 52 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com 53 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 54 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 55 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H 56 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 57 Sandy Casar (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 58 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise Des Jeux 59 Steven Cummings (GBr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 60 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Credit Agricole 0.18 61 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 0.21 62 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 0.28 63 Antoine Dalibard (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H 3.04 64 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 3.53 65 Michele Maccanti (Ita) Team L.P.R. 66 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Unibet.Com 67 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H 7.01 68 Craig Lewis (USA) Team TIAA-CREF 69 Michael Lange (USA) Team TIAA-CREF 70 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 7.05 71 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 7.08 72 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 7.10 73 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Unibet.Com 7.41 74 Jean Mespoulede (Fra) Auber 93 8.04 75 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 9.16 76 Ian Macgregor (USA) Team TIAA-CREF 10.57 77 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Miche 11.08 78 Franck Vandenbroucke (Bel) Unibet.Com 79 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 80 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Unibet.Com 81 François Parisien (Fra) Team TIAA-CREF 82 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel 83 Christian Müller (Ger) Team CSC 11.10 84 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 85 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 86 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 87 Fabien Sanchez (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 88 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93 89 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Ag2R Prevoyance 90 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Auber 93 91 Werner Van Zimmeren (Bel) Flanders 92 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 93 Lénaïc Olivier (Fra) Agritubel 94 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 95 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93 96 Timothy Duggan (USA) Team TIAA-CREF 97 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 98 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Credit Agricole 13.22 99 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 100 Danny Pate (USA) Team TIAA-CREF 101 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 102 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team 103 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile Team 104 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 105 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 16.54 106 Aron Huysmans (Ger) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 16.57 107 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile Team 108 Sven Nevens (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile 109 Dario Pieri (Ita) Team L.P.R. 110 Denis Flahaut (Bel) Flanders 111 Ronny Poelvoorde (Bel) Flanders 112 Francesco Planckaert (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile 113 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) Team L.P.R. 114 Yohan Cauquil (Fra) Jartazi-7Mobile 115 Mathieu Criquelion (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 116 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 117 Gleen D'hollander (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Vlaanderen 118 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Credit Agricole 119 Yuri Metlushenko (Ukr) Miche 120 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 121 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R Prevoyance 122 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Auber 93 123 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 124 Niel Brouzes (Fra) Auber 93 125 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H 126 Ivaïlo Gabrovski (Bul) Flanders 127 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 128 Michael Blanchy (Fra) Jartazi-7Mobile 129 Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile 130 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'H Courtesy of velomania.net
Past winners
2005 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team CSC 2004 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com
2003 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 2002 Xavier Jan (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 2001 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC World Online 2000 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra)
