Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Mont Ventoux Photo ©: Sirotti |
55th Circuit de la Sarthe - 2.1
France, April 10-13, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 3 - April 12: Angers - Mamers, 186.6 km
Albasini takes his chance, Klöden stays on top
By Jean-François Quénet in Neufchâtel-en-Saosnois
|
One year after Stefan Schumacher put his name on the record book of the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire, another German is close to repeating that feat. Andreas Klöden is one stage away from his second stage race win this year after Tirreno-Adriatico, but he only has four seconds advantage over former French champion Nicolas Vogondy who came third in stage 3, won by Michael Albasini. Albasini's team-mate from Liquigas, Vincenzo Nibali, came in at the same time as Klöden, and was expected to be the biggest threat to the Astana rider.
However, the Liquigas team is now reduced to just three riders. They started with four, but Magnus Backstedt stopped at the feed zone today, according to his preparation plan for Paris-Roubaix, the race that made him famous in 2004. "We came with the intention of winning a stage in this race", Nibali said after taking the lead in the young rider's classification. "I hadn't raced since Tirreno-Adriatico because I was in a training camp in Tenerife with Franco Pellizotti and Enrico Gasparotto. I only flew back one day before racing here. So I didn't know if I had the rhythm or not but today I've attacked twice and I've seen that the legs were turning well."
|
The winner of the ProTour event GP Plouay last year has the capacity to exploit the côte de Gazonfier with its 18% steep section in Le Mans on the final stage of Circuit de la Sarthe. But Nibali doesn't promise that he'll do it. In fact, the Astana team controlled the situation to perfection as the race went towards the hills of the Alpes mancelles, then Klöden was able to make his move by himself.
"Nibali was marked because he was well placed on GC," stage winner Albasini explained. "I had more freedom and I took the opportunity to attack as we passed on the line for the first time." The final breakaway has also replaced some riders closer to Klöden on GC: Nicolas Vogondy is at four seconds, Vladimir Duma at 10, Christophe Kern at 15 as well as Albasini, just ahead of Nibali, at 16.
If it was only a duel between Klöden and Nibali, the German would probably have enough cards in his hands to secure the leadership, but he'll have to face attacks from riders who have nothing to lose, and the final stage is going to be very spectacular.
|
How it unfolded
Six riders broke clear after five kilometers: Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole), Stéphane Augé (Cofidis), Stéphane Pétilleau (Bretagne-Armor Lux), Christian Müller (Skil-Shimano), Carlos Da Cruz (Française des Jeux) and Dimitri Champion (Bouygues Telecom). Astana set the pace in the bunch and didn't give more than three minutes to the leaders.
Pétilleau, who is originally from the province of Sarthe, persisted by himself when the race entered the forest of Perseigne with 35km to go. On the finish line at the top of the Belvedere, with one lap of 15km to go, Simon Gerrans (Ag2r) was very active in the front of the bunch. It created a few splits. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) attacked twice and his team-mate Michael Albasini countered. The Swiss rider rode away with Maryan Hary (Cofidis), Christophe Kern (Crédit Agricole), Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel), Vladimir Duma (Flaminia) and Noan Lelarge (Bretagne-Armor Lux).
Albasini accelerated 600 metres before the finishing line and grabbed a solo victory.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Régis Garnier/www.velofotopro.com
- Maxime Gourov (Astana) at the start.
- Andreas Klöden (Astana) looking pensive in the start.
- Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) with a smile.
- Dimitri Champion (Bouygues Telecom) in the escape.
- Carlos Da Cruz (Française des Jeux) was also in the break today.
- Klöden looking stylish in yellow.
- Laurent Brochard (Bouygues Telecom) tries an attack near the finish.
- Michael Albasini (Liquigas) takes the win on stage 3.
- Kilian Patour (Slipstream) and Christophe Moreau (Ag2R) cross the finish line.
- Albasini on the podium.
- Klöden kept the race lead by just four seconds.
- Laurent Brochard is the first french rider.
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) is the most serious challenger to Andreas Klöden.
- Michael Albasini (Liquigas) is the winner of stage 3
- Andreas Klöden (Astana) still leads the race with one day to go.
Results
1 Michael Albasini (Sui) Liquigas 4.33.42 (40.6 km/h) 2 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 0.04 3 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 4 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.12 5 Noan Lelarge (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 0.15 6 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 0.18 7 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 8 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.21 9 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Crédit Agricole 10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 11 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 12 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 13 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 14 David Lelay (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 15 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.28 16 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.33 17 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 0.35 18 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Crédit Agricole 19 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 20 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2r Prévoyance 21 Maxime Méderel (Fra) Auber 22 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano 23 Julien Loubet (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 24 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 25 José Alberto Martinez Trinidad (Spa) Agritubel 26 Kilian Patour (Fra) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 0.41 27 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 28 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 29 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.43 30 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Auber 31 Paul Brousse (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 32 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas 33 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.58 34 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 35 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.02 36 Steven Cozza (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 37 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 38 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 39 Mickael Larpe (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 1.17 40 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 1.27 41 Paride Grillo Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 42 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux 43 Christoph Meschenmoser (Ger) Skil-Shimano 44 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 45 Mikel Gaztanaga Echeverria (Spa) Agritubel 46 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 1.34 47 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.54 48 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner 49 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 2.57 50 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 3.48 51 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) Bretagne-Armor Lux 6.01 52 Thomas Frei (Swi) Astana 53 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 6.22 54 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 55 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 56 Johan Lindgren (Swe) Française des Jeux 57 Gianluca Geremia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 58 Jeremie Galland (Fra) Auber 59 Christophe Diguet (Fra) Auber 60 Adam Wadecki (Pol) Ceramica Flaminia 61 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 7.25 62 Antonio Bucciero (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 7.45 63 Taylor Tolleson (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 9.44 64 William Frishkorn (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 65 Andrus Aug (Est) Ceramica Flaminia 66 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 10.01 67 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 68 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 69 Christian Müller (Ger) Skil-Shimano 70 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 71 David Derepas (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 11.30 72 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 12.25 73 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner 13.56 74 Huub Duyn (Ned) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 75 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Agritubel 76 Steve Chainel (Fra) Auber 77 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 78 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 79 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 80 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 81 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) Astana 82 Fabien Bacquet (Fra) Skil-Shimano 83 Anthony Colin (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 84 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 85 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 86 Stefano Boggia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 87 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 88 Filippo Savini (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 89 Tyler Butterfield (Ber) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 90 Philip Deignan (Irl) AG2r Prévoyance 91 Julien Belgy (Fra) Bouygues Telecom General classification after stage 3 1 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 2 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 0.04 3 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 0.10 4 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 0.15 5 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole 6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0.16 7 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 8 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.20 9 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 0.23 10 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.29 11 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 12 Kilian Patour (Fra) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 0.31 13 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.36 14 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.37 15 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.38 16 José Alberto Martinez Trinidad (Spa) Agritubel 0.40 17 David Lelay (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 0.42 18 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2r Prévoyance 0.43 19 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 0.44 20 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano 0.45 21 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 0.48 22 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas 0.50 23 Maxime Méderel (Fra) Auber 0.51 24 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1.01 25 Noan Lelarge (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 1.02 26 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 1.05 27 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 28 Julien Loubet (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1.06 29 Steven Cozza (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 1.16 30 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 1.17 31 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.25 32 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.34 33 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 1.35 34 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 1.40 35 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux 1.42 36 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Auber 1.47 37 Christoph Meschenmoser (Ger) Skil-Shimano 1.48 38 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 39 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 1.49 40 Mikel Gaztanaga Echeverria (Spa) Agritubel 1.51 41 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.53 42 Paul Brousse (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 1.54 43 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.58 44 Paride Grillo Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 2.05 45 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 2.10 46 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 2.15 47 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.22 48 Mickael Larpe (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 2.35 49 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 2.38 50 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 5.04 51 Thomas Frei (Swi) Astana 6.10 52 Johan Lindgren (Swe) Française des Jeux 6.34 53 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 6.36 54 Christophe Diguet (Fra) Auber 6.48 55 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) Bretagne-Armor Lux 6.56 56 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 7.01 57 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 7.03 58 Gianluca Geremia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 7.11 59 Adam Wadecki (Pol) Ceramica Flaminia 7.20 60 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 7.28 61 Jeremie Galland (Fra) Auber 7.42 62 Antonio Bucciero (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 9.26 63 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 10.12 64 William Frishkorn (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 10.13 65 Christian Müller (Ger) Skil-Shimano 10.14 66 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 10.15 67 Andrus Aug (Est) Ceramica Flaminia 10.33 68 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 10.38 69 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 10.43 70 Taylor Tolleson (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 10.50 71 David Derepas (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 12.27 72 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 13.06 73 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 13.55 74 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 14.07 75 Filippo Savini (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 76 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 14.13 77 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 14.17 78 Huub Duyn (Ned) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 14.20 79 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner 80 Steve Chainel (Fra) Auber 14.24 81 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) Astana 14.25 82 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 83 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Agritubel 14.39 84 Stefano Boggia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 14.45 85 Philip Deignan (Irl) AG2r Prévoyance 14.51 86 Tyler Butterfield (Ber) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 15.03 87 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 15.09 88 Fabien Bacquet (Fra) Skil-Shimano 15.12 89 Julien Belgy (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 15.30 90 Anthony Colin (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 15.41 91 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 15.49 Mountains classification 1 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 20 pts 2 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 14 3 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Agritubel 12 4 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 10 5 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 10 6 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 10 7 Christian Müller (Ger) Skil-Shimano 9 8 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 8 9 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano 7 10 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux 7 11 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 6 12 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 4 13 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4 14 José Alberto Martinez Trinidad (Spa) Agritubel 4 15 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 4 16 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 2 17 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 1 18 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 1 Points classification 1 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 40 pts 2 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 32 3 Paride Grillo Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 30 4 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 25 5 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 20 6 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 20 7 Kilian Patour (Fra) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 17 8 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Agritubel 17 9 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 16 10 Adam Wadecki (Pol) Ceramica Flaminia 16 11 Fabien Bacquet (Fra) Skil-Shimano 16 12 Andrus Aug (Est) Ceramica Flaminia 15 13 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole 14 14 Mikel Gaztanaga Echeverria (Spa) Agritubel 14 15 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 13 16 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 13 17 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 13 18 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 13 19 Noan Lelarge (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 12 20 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 10 21 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 10 22 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 10 23 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux 9 24 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 9 25 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 9 26 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 8 27 Antonio Bucciero (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 8 28 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 8 29 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 7 30 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Crédit Agricole 7 31 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 6 32 Gianluca Geremia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 6 33 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux 5 34 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 5 35 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 4 36 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 4 37 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3 38 Christian Müller (Ger) Skil-Shimano 3 39 David Lelay (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 2 40 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 2 41 Steve Chainel (Fra) Auber 2 42 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1 43 Mickael Larpe (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 1 Young rider classification 1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 2 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 3 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.21 4 Julien Loubet (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 0.50 5 Steven Cozza (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 1.00 6 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.18 7 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Auber 1.31 8 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 1.32 9 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.06 10 Mickael Larpe (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 2.19 11 Thomas Frei (Swi) Astana 5.54 12 Johan Lindgren (Swe) Française des Jeux 6.18 13 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) Bretagne-Armor Lux 6.40 14 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 6.45 15 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 10.27 16 Taylor Tolleson (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 10.34 17 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 13.51 18 Filippo Savini (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 19 Huub Duyn (Ned) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 14.04 20 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 14.53 21 Fabien Bacquet (Fra) Skil-Shimano 14.56 22 Anthony Colin (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 15.25 Team classification 1 Liquigas 35.15.42 2 Credit Agricole 0.31 3 Francaise Des Jeux 1.22 4 Ag2R Prevoyance 1.37 5 Agritubel 1.42 6 Gerolsteiner 1.54 7 Bretagne Armor Lux 2.05 8 Skil-Shimano 2.06 9 Bouygues Telecom 2.16 10 Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 2.18 11 Cofidis,Le Credit Par Tel 2.52 12 Ceramica Flamina 7.14 13 Auber 93 7.36 14 Astana 9.00 15 Team Slipstream 11.05 16 Roubaix Lille Metropole 15.22
