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55th Circuit de la Sarthe - 2.1
France, April 10-13, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage
Stage 4 - April 13: Mamers - Le Mans, 188.80 km
Sutton the fastest in Le Mans, Klöden captures overall
By Jean-François Quénet in Le Mans
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French stage race Circuit de la Sarthe allowed Andreas Klöden (Astana) to make it two after Tirreno-Adriatico. The German easily controlled his rivals, mostly Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) who attacked him in the grueling climb of Gazonfier in Le Mans. As there was a regroupment at the end of the stage, the bunch sprint was won by Chris Sutton (Cofidis).
The Australian is making the Pays de la Loire his favourite region of France for winning. He entered the record books of Cholet-Pays de Loire last year with an unexpected bunch sprint finish. "It's been very hard for me to come back in the form I had last year," he said. "I was really sick in June. I did tests after tests until I went to Italy at the Mapei center where they found me positive with three different viruses. I had three months off. I was only allowed to walking but nothing hard."
The young man from New South Wales was tough enough to miss Christmas at home in order to prepare his second pro season the most professionally possible. "I stayed here in November to improve my French and get my head on straight." He shared the experience with his former teammate Nicolas Roche, now with Crédit Agricole. "He's my other brother", CJ said in a smile.
"I had a very difficult early season this year," he continued to explain. "My first race - the Tour Mediterranéen - was a big wake-up call. I cooled down and followed a new program made by my uncle and coach, Shane Sutton." Coming 2nd to Robert Hunter in a stage of the Tour of Santarem in Portugal was a way for him to re-start. Sixth in stage two of the Circuit de la Sarthe behind Paride Grillo, he felt the sprinting legs were back. But still, on the finishing line in Le Mans, he couldn't believe his eyes.
Klöden was much chillier facing the victory. "It's very nice to win here," he said. "It was never a problem to follow [Laurent] Brochard or [Vincenzo] Nibali. It wasn't that easy but my team did a very good work. It was unusual to ride with six riders. I'm feeling good though. I hope I'll keep being healthy until the Tour de France. After the Flèche Wallonne, I'll sit down with my team and decide which program I'll follow between the training camp in May and the Tour. I hope Vino will be in his best form in July. With [Paolo] Savoldelli and [Eddy] Mazzoleni, we should have a good squad for winning the Tour."
After the Circuit de la Sarthe, Klöden will only take part in one classic: the Flèche Wallonne. "I've tried Liège-Bastogne-Liège some years ago, I know it's too long and too hard for me." Jan Ullrich's former right hand man doesn't race for participating anymore, only for winning.
How it unfolded
After the first king of the mountain price, four men rode away: Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole), Dimitri Champion (Bouygues Telecom), Freddy Bichot (Agritubel) and Stéphane Pétilleau (Bretagne-Armor Lux). They were re-joined by Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r). Their maximum lead was 2.10.
With 62km to go, only Pétilleau and Roche stayed in the front. They entered the finishing town of Le Mans with 50 seconds advantage and they got caught by the bunch after climbing the côte de Gazonfier for the second time with less than 18km to go. Laurent Brochard (Bouygues Telecom) was the most active trying to break clear for the stage win in his home town, but without success.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- Australian Christopher Sutton (Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone) was pleased with his final stage victory.
Results
1 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 4.13.52 (44.6 km/h) 2 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 3 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 4 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2r Prévoyance 5 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Crédit Agricole 6 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 7 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 8 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 9 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 10 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano 11 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 12 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 13 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Crédit Agricole 14 David Lelay (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 15 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 16 Maxime Méderel (Fra) Auber 17 Kilian Patour (Fra) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 18 Julien Loubet (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 19 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 20 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Crédit Agricole 21 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 22 José Alberto Martinez Trinidad (Spa) Agritubel 23 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 24 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 25 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 26 Steven Cozza (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 27 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 28 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 29 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 30 Mikel Gaztanaga Echeverria (Spa) Agritubel 31 David Derepas (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 0.49 32 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 33 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Auber 34 Christophe Diguet (Fra) Auber 35 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 36 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.13 37 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 38 Thomas Frei (Swi) Astana 1.16 39 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 40 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 41 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner 42 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 43 Christoph Meschenmoser (Ger) Skil-Shimano 44 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux 45 Taylor Tolleson (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 46 Paul Brousse (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 47 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 48 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.42 49 Johan Lindgren (Swe) Française des Jeux 3.44 50 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 3.53 51 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 52 Jeremie Galland (Fra) Auber 4.05 53 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 54 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 55 Gianluca Geremia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 56 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner 57 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) Bretagne-Armor Lux 58 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 59 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 15.04 Final general classification 1 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 15.58.47 2 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 0.04 3 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 0.10 4 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.13 5 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 0.15 6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0.16 7 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.20 8 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 0.23 9 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 10 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.29 11 Kilian Patour (Fra) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 0.30 12 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.36 13 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.37 14 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.38 15 José Alberto Martinez Trinidad (Spa) Agritubel 0.40 16 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 17 David Lelay (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 0.42 18 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2r Prévoyance 0.43 19 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano 0.45 20 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 0.48 21 Maxime Méderel (Fra) Auber 0.51 22 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 1.05 23 Julien Loubet (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1.06 24 Steven Cozza (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 1.16 25 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 1.17 26 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.28 27 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.34 28 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 1.40 29 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 1.49 30 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 1.50 31 Mikel Gaztanaga Echeverria (Spa) Agritubel 1.51 32 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Auber 2.36 33 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.41 34 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux 2.58 35 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.01 36 Christoph Meschenmoser (Ger) Skil-Shimano 3.04 37 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 38 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.09 39 Paul Brousse (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 3.10 40 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.38 41 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 5.51 42 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 6.15 43 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 6.20 44 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 6.51 45 Thomas Frei (Swi) Astana 7.26 46 Christophe Diguet (Fra) Auber 7.37 47 Johan Lindgren (Swe) Française des Jeux 10.18 48 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) Bretagne-Armor Lux 11.01 49 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 11.04 50 Gianluca Geremia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 11.16 51 Jeremie Galland (Fra) Auber 11.47 52 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 11.52 53 Taylor Tolleson (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 12.06 54 David Derepas (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 13.16 55 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 14.42 56 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 17.05 57 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner 18.25 58 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 19.02 59 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 22.32 Mountains classification 1 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 28 pts 2 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 27 3 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 26 4 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 12 5 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 10 6 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 10 7 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano 7 8 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux 7 9 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 6 10 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 4 11 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4 12 José Alberto Martinez Trinidad (Spa) Agritubel 4 13 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 3 14 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 2 15 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 2 16 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 1 17 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 1 Points classification 1 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 43 pts 2 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 38 3 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 28 4 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare 27 5 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 26 6 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 25 7 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 24 8 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramica Flaminia 20 9 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Crédit Agricole 19 10 Kilian Patour (Fra) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 18 11 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 18 12 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 16 13 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2r Prévoyance 14 14 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 14 15 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole 14 16 Mikel Gaztanaga Echeverria (Spa) Agritubel 14 17 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 13 18 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 12 19 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 10 20 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 10 21 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux 9 22 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 9 23 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 9 24 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 8 25 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 8 26 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 8 27 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 7 28 Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano 6 29 Gianluca Geremia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 6 30 David Lelay (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 4 31 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3 32 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3 33 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1 Young rider classification 1 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 15.59.00 2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0.03 3 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.24 4 Julien Loubet (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 0.53 5 Steven Cozza (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 1.03 6 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.21 7 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Auber 2.23 8 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 2.48 9 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.25 10 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 6.38 11 Thomas Frei (Swi) Astana 7.13 12 Johan Lindgren (Swe) Française des Jeux 10.05 13 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) Bretagne-Armor Lux 10.48 14 Taylor Tolleson (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 11.53 15 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 14.29 16 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 18.49 Team classification 1 Crédit Agricole 47.57.49 2 Agritubel 1.11 3 AG2r Prévoyance 1.55 4 Française des Jeux 2.04 5 Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone 2.21 6 Skil-Shimano 2.24 7 Gerolsteiner 2.39 8 Bouygues Telecom 4.17 9 Bretagne-Armor Lux 5.39 10 Auber 8.43 11 Ceramica Flaminia 10.48 12 Astana 11.01 13 Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 11.50 14 Roubaix Lille Metropole 20.49
