26th Tour de Normandie - 2.2

France, March 20-26, 2006

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Stage 1 - March 21: Mondeville - Forges les Eaux, 211 km

Huff wins TIAA-CREF's first big race in Europe

By Jonathan Vaughters, TIAA-CREF team manager

"I started my sprint with 300 meters to go, which is way, way too long," Brad Huff panted after winning Team TIAA-CREF's first major race in Europe. "But, I got it anyway."

Today's 211km stage from Mondeville to Forges les Eaux was a long, cold, crosswindy affair. Rabobank was ever present at the front of the race, defending the lead of 2005 Tour of Normandie champion, Kai Reus. With 5 km to go and the race at the breaking point in the crosswind, Rabobank had sent another of their strongmen up the road, however, TIAA-CREF's Mike Creed and Mike Friedman chased it down, setting up a perfect leadout from Danny Pate and Taylor Tolleson. Tolleson pulled off a bit early, leaving Huff alone at 300 meters to go, but with enough power to win the uphill sprint.

"We were all over the place, as the sprint was nuts, but somehow everyone contributed and it worked well," recalled Huff.

In addition to winning, Huff's 10 second bonus makes him the new race leader in this venerable French stage race. "I was eight years old when Viatcheslav Ekimov won this race... I don't think I knew how to ride a bike yet, but he's my hero, so I'l try to do him proud," said Huff as he rode to kiss his first podium girl.

Tomorrow is a double day, so Team TIAA-CREF will have its hands full defending its first ever race lead.

Results

1 Charles Bradley Huff (USA) Team TIAA-CREF           5.55.38
2 Vidal Celis (Spa) Orbea                                    
3 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Auber 93                                 
4 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Cycle Racing Team Vang              
5 Martin Garrido (Arg) Duja / Tavira                         
6 Jérémie Galland (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise                   
7 Krzysztof Jezowski (Pol) Knauf Team                        
8 Tomasz Lisowicz (Pol) Knauf Team                           
9 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Knauf Team                           
10 Roy Hegreberg (Nor) Glud & Marstrand Horsens              
11 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h           
12 Kristof De Zutter (Bel) Bodysol-Jong Vlaanderen           
13 Chad Hartley (USA) Team TIAA-CREF                         
14 Mikel Gaztanaga (Spa) Atom                                
15 Iker Mezo (Spa) Orbea                                     
16 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Rabobank                           
17 Marvin Van Der Pluijm (Ned) Ubbink-Syntec Cycl. Team      
18 Emmanuel Bruand (Fra) Equipe De Normandie                 
19 Cédric Herve (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h               
20 Alexey Shmidt (Rus) Omnibike Dymamo Moscow                
21 Alexandre Urbain (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise                 
22 Tom Veelers (Ned) Rabobank                                
23 Henning Bommel (Ger) German National Team                 
24 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Gls                             
25 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank                              
26 Janek Tombak (Est) Kalev Chocolate Team                   
27 Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank                                   
28 Michael Friedman (USA) Team TIAA-CREF                     
29 Samuel Caldeira (Por) Duja / Tavira                       
30 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Rabobank                            
31 Julen Zubero (Spa) Orbea                                  
32 Thomas Kristiansen (Den) Team Gls                         
33 Folker De Haan (Ned) Ubbink-Syntec Cycl. Team             
34 Jacob Moe Rasmussen (Den) Team Gls                        
35 Michael Mourecek (Cze) Asc Dukla Praha                    
36 Ricardo Mestre (Por) Duja / Tavira                        
37 Danny Pate (USA) Team TIAA-CREF                           
38 Ivan Melero (Spa) Orbea                                   
39 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Omnibike Dymamo Moscow                
40 Rene Mandri (Fra) Auber 93                                
41 Paul Sneeboer (Ned) Duja / Tavira                         
42 Mart Ojavee (Est) Kalev Chocolate Team                    
43 Andri Lebedev (Est) Kalev Chocolate Team                  
44 Krassimir Vasilev (Bul) Duja / Tavira                     
45 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Omnibike Dymamo Moscow         
46 Taylor Tolleson (USA) Team TIAA-CREF                      
47 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga               
48 Emilien Berges (Fra) Auber 93                             
49 Marcin Sapa (Pol) Knauf Team                              
50 Michael Skelde (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens             
51 Frédéric Lubach (Fra) Equipe De Normandie                 
52 Josu Agirre (Spa) Orbea                                   
53 Morten Christiansen (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens        
54 Jean-Michel Delarue (Fra) Equipe De Normandie             
55 Kristoffer Nielsen (Den) Team Gls                         
56 Olegs Melehs (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga                      
57 Jaroslaw Rebiewski (Pol) Knauf Team                       
58 Carlos Andres Ibanez (Col) Atom                           
59 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Ubbink-Syntec Cycl. Team              
60 Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank                                 
61 Ivan Terenin (Rus) Omnibike Dymamo Moscow                 
62 David Le Lay (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h               
63 Jacob Nielsen (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens              
64 Fulco Van Gulik (Ned) Ubbink-Syntec Cycl. Team            
65 Francis De Greef (Bel) Bodysol-Jong Vlaanderen            
66 Andrei Mustonen (Est) Kalev Chocolate Team                
67 Mickael Leveau (Fra) Equipe De Normandie                  
68 Diego Alejandro Tamayo (Col) Atom                         
69 Daniels Ernestovskis (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga              
70 Michael Creed (USA) Team TIAA-CREF                        
71 Charles Guilbert (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h           
72 Milan Kadlec (Cze) Asc Dukla Praha                        
73 Robert Bartko (Ger) German National Team                  
74 Sébastien Harbonnier (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise             
75 Romain Feillu (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise                    
76 Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Knauf Team                            
77 Leif Lampater (Ger) German National Team                  
78 Angel Vazquez (Spa) Atom                                  
79 Herberts Pudans (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga                   
80 Jean Mespoulede (Fra) Auber 93                            
81 Lasse Bochmann (Den) Team Gls                             
82 Niels Brouzes (Fra) Auber 93                              
83 Ivan Seledkov (Rus) Omnibike Dymamo Moscow                
84 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h         
85 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Auber 93                             
86 Franck Vermeulen (Fra) Equipe De Normandie                
87 Franck Charrier (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise                  
88 Rune Udby (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens                  
89 Junya Sano (Jpn) Cycle Racing Team Vang                   
90 Sven Van Den Houtte (Bel) Bodysol-Jong Vlaanderen         
91 Martin Blaha (Cze) Asc Dukla Praha                        
92 Mauricio Ortega (Col) Atom                                
93 Kristofers Racenajs (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga               
94 Guido Fulst (Ger) German National Team                    
95 Robert Bengsch (Ger) German National Team                 
96 Petr Lazar (Cze) Asc Dukla Praha                          
97 Michael Berling (Den) Glud & Marstrand Horsens            
98 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) G.S.Bretagne-Jean Floc'h    1.04
99 Normunds Lasis (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga                1.22
100 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Cycle Racing Team Vang          1.40
101 Alan Perez (Spa) Orbea                               1.42
102 Marek Salermo (Est) Kalev Chocolate Team             1.56
103 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Omnibike Dymamo Moscow             
104 Jiri Hochmann (Cze) Asc Dukla Praha                  2.22
105 Vincent Cantero (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise                 
106 Maarten Neyens (Bel) Bodysol-Jong Vlaanderen         3.07
107 Steven De Neff (Bel) Bodysol-Jong Vlaanderen             
108 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Bodysol-Jong Vlaanderen           
109 Tony Cavet (Fra) Equipe De Normandie                 4.05
110 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Cycle Racing Team Vang            
111 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Cycle Racing Team Vang          
112 Andreas Müller (Ger) German National Team            5.33
113 Jan Kunta (Cze) Asc Dukla Praha                     11.34
114 Dennis Smit (Ned) Ubbink-Syntec Cycl. Team               
115 Milton Javier Ramos (Hon) Atom                      17.32
DNS Janar Jermakov (Est) Kalev Chocolate Team                
DNS Anders Lund (Den) Team Gls                               
DNF Takehiro Mizutani (Jpn) Cycle Racing Team Vang           
DNF Kevin Sluimer (Ned) Ubbink-Syntec Cycl. Team             
DNF Luis Bartolomeu (Por) Duja / Tavira                                           

General classification after stage 1

1 Charles Bradley Huff (USA) Team TIAA-CREF           6.03.02
2 Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank                                0.02
3 Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank                              0.05
4 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Auber 93                             0.07
5 Emilien Berges (Fra) Auber 93         

Courtesy of velomania.net