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76th Critérium International - 2.HC
France, March 31-April 1, 2007
2006 results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners
The Stages
- Stage 1 - March 31: Asfeld - Charleville-Mézières, 179 km
- Stage 2 - April 1: Les Vieilles Forges (Les Mazures) - Monthermé, 98.5 km
- Stage 3 - April 1: Charleville-Mézières - Charleville-Mézières, 8.3 km
Preview
Another one for CSC?
By Hedwig Kröner
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As the Spring Classics season gets underway in neighbouring Belgium, France is hosting the Critérium International for the 76th time since 1932. The three-stage race organised by Tour de France owner ASO will again feature a flattish stage on Saturday and a hilly stage as well as a final prologue-like time trial around Charleville-Mézières on Sunday to conclude the week-end.
Last year Italian Ivan Basso - then with Danish team CSC - proved to be the most complete rider in the bunch, beating Rabobank's Erik Dekker by 27 seconds. His then-teammates Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt - both two-time winners of the event - had to give in to his early season form, but happy to take another title for the squad directed by Bjarne Riis.
But this year, Julich and Voigt will be back to lead their team against other strong contenders, such as the Kazakh armada Astana, which will again be testing the complicity of its leading pair Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Klöden, who recently won Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy.
Another favourite comes from Spain, and also has a mighty teammate to help him out: Caisse d'Epargne is sending Vuelta a Murcia winner Alejandro Valverde and Luis León Sánchez, who showed great form in Paris-Nice.
So, will CSC be able to hold the title for a fourth consecutive year? The 'Triptych of road cycling' will certainly offer some tight finishes...
Start list
Team CSC Astana
1 Bobby Julich (USA) 11 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz)
2 Lars Bak (Den) 12 Benoît Joachim (Lux)
3 Juan José Haedo (Arg) 13 Andreas Klöden (Ger)
4 Anders Lund (Den) 14 Alexey Kolessov (Kaz)
5 Andy Schleck (Lux) 15 Julien Mazet (Fra)
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) 16 José Antonio Redondo (Spa)
7 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) 17 Evgeniy Sladkov (Kaz)
8 Jens Voigt (Ger) 18 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz)
Caisse d'Epargne Bouygues Telecom
21 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) 31 Jérôme Pineau (Fra)
22 Imanol Erviti (Spa) 32 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra)
23 Francisco Pérez (Spa) 33 Laurent Brochard (Fra)
24 Mathieu Perget (Fra) 34 Stef Clement (Ned)
25 Nicolas Portal (Fra) 35 Pierre Drancourt (Bel)
26 Vicente Reynes (Spa) 36 Saïd Haddou (Fra)
27 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) 37 Vincent Jérôme (Fra)
38 Johann Tschopp (Swi)
Lampre-Fondital Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner
41 Damiano Cunego (Ita) 51 David Verheyen (Bel)
42 Matteo Bono (Ita) 52 Sjef De Wilde (Bel)
43 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) 53 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra)
44 Claudio Corioni (Ita) 54 Steven Kleynen (Bel)
45 David Loosli (Swi) 55 Kevin Neirynck (Bel)
46 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) 56 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel)
47 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) 57 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel)
48 Patxi Vila (Spa) 58 James Vanlandschoot (Bel)
Française Des Jeux Euskaltel-Euskadi
61 Sandy Casar (Fra) 71 Beñat Albizuri (Spa)
62 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) 72 Jorge Azanza (Spa)
63 Sébastien Joly (Fra) 73 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa)
64 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) 74 Iban Iriondo (Spa)
65 Bradley McGee (Aus) 75 Markel Irizar (Spa)
66 Ian McLeod (RSA) 76 Antton Luengo (Spa)
67 Jérémy Roy (Fra) 77 Iban Mayoz (Spa)
68 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) 78 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa)
Cofidis Gerolsteiner
81 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) 91 Marcus Zberg (Swi)
82 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) 92 Johannes Frohlinger (Ger)
83 Maryan Hary (Fra) 93 Matthias Russ (Ger)
84 Maxime Monfort (Bel) 94 Ronny Scholz (Ger)
85 Ivan Parra (Col) 95 Peter Wrolich (Aut)
86 Chris Sutton (Aus) 96 Oliver Zaugg (Swi)
87 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel)
88 Steve Zampieri (Swi)
Crédit Agricole Slipstream-Chipotle
101 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) 111 William Frischkorn (USA)
102 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) 112 Steven Cozza (USA)
103 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) 113 Huub Duyn (Ned)
104 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) 114 Benjamin Johnson (Aus)
105 Angelo Furlan (Ita) 115 Ian MacGregor (USA)
106 Christophe Kern (Fra) 116 Danny Pate (USA)
107 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) 117 Kilian Patour (Fra)
108 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) 118 Taylor Tolleson (USA)
Ag2r Prévoyance Barloworld
121 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) 131 Robert Hunter (RSA)
122 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) 132 Diego Caccia (Ita)
123 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) 133 Félix Rafael Cárdenas (Col)
124 Hubert Dupont (Fra) 134 Giampaolo Cheula (Ita)
125 John Gadret (Fra) 135 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita)
126 Simon Gerrans (Aus) 136 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita)
127 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) 137 James Perry (RSA)
128 Rene Mandri (Est) 138 Hugo Sabido (Por)
Agritubel Skil-Shimano
141 Romain Feillu (Fra) 151 Fabien Bacquet (Fra)
142 Aivaras Baranauskas (Ltu) 152 David Deroo (Fra)
143 Freddy Bichot (Fra) 153 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn)
144 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) 154 Clément L'Hottelerie (Fra)
145 Mikel Gaztañaga Echeverria (Spa) 155 Paul Martens (Ger)
146 José Alberto Martínez (Spa) 156 Christian Müller (Ger)
147 Anthony Ravard (Fra) 157 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned)
148 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) 158 Albert Timmer (Ned)
Wiesenhof-Felt Ceramica Panaria-Navigare
161 Olaf Pollack (Ger) 171 Paride Grillo (Ita)
162 Artur Gajek (Ger) 172 Antonio Bucciero (Ita)
163 Christian Leben (Ger) 173 Daniele Colli (Ita)
164 Jörg Ludewig (Ger) 174 Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita)
165 Daniel Musiol (Ger) 175 Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr)
166 Robert Retschke (Ger) 176 Matteo Priamo (Ita)
167 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) 177 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg)
168 Peter Velits (Svk) 178 Francesco Tomei (Ita)
Team LPR Karpin-Galicia
181 Maurizio Bellin (Ita) 191 Carlos Castaño (Spa)
182 Borut Bozic (Slo) 192 Gustavo César Veloso (Spa)
183 Luca Celli (Ita) 193 Santos Gonzalez (Spa)
184 Ignacio Gutierrez (Spa) 194 David Herrero (Spa)
185 José Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) 195 Serafin Martinez (Spa)
186 Marco Marcato (Ita) 196 Juan Francisco Mouron Doldan (Spa)
187 Luca Solari (Ita) 197 Isidro Nozal (Spa)
188 Roberto Traficante (Ita) 198 Enrique Salgueiro (Spa)
Past winners
2006 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2005 Bobby Julich (USA) CSC 2004 Jens Voigt (Ger) CSC 2003 Laurent Brochard (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 2002 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2001 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2000 Abraham Olano (Spa) ONCE 1999 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 1998 Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis 1997 Marcelino Garcia (Spa) 1996 Chris Boardman (GB) 1995 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 1994 Giorgio Furlan (Ita) 1993 Erik Breukink (Ned) 1992 Jean-Francois Bernard (Fra) 1991 Stephen Roche (Ire) 1990 Laurent Fignon (Fra) 1989 Miguel Indurain (Spa) 1988 Erik Breukink (Ned) 1987 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1986 Urs Zimmermann (Swi) 1985 Stephen Roche (Ire) 1984 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1983 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1982 Laurent Fignon (Fra) 1981 Bernard Hinault (Fra) 1980 Michel Laurent (Fra) 1979 Joop Zoetemelk (Ned) 1978 Bernard Hinault (Fra) 1977 Jean Chassang (Fra) 1976 Patrick Beon (Fra) 1975 Jacques Esclassan (Fra) 1974 Bernard Thevenet (Fra) 1973 Jean-Pierre Danguilaume (Fra) 1972 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1971 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1970 Georges Chappe (Fra) 1969 Gilbert Bellone (Fra) 1968 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1967 Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 1966 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1965 Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 1964 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1963 Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 1962 Joseph Groussard (Fra) 1961 Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 1960 Jean Graczyk (Fra) 1959 André Darrigade (Fra) 1958 Roger Hassenforder (Fra) 1957 Jean Forestier (Fra) 1956 Roger Hassenforder (Fra) 1955 René Privat (Fra) 1954 Roger Hassenforder (Fra) 1953 Robert Desbats (Fra) 1952 Louison Bobet (Fra) 1951 Louison Bobet (Fra) 1950 Pierre Barbotin (Fra) 1949 Emile Idee (Fra) 1948 Camille Danguilaume (Fra) 1947 Emile Idee (Fra) 1946 Kleber Piot (Fra), Camille Danguilaume (Fra) 1945 Joseph Goutorbe (Fra) 1944 Roger Piel (Fra) 1943 Louis Gauthier (Fra), Emile Idee (Fra) 1942 Aldo Bertocco (Fra), Emile Idee (Fra) 1941 Yvon Marie (Fra), Benoit Faure (Fra) 1940 Emile Idee (Fra) 1939 André Deforge (Fra) 1938 Pierre Jaminet (Fra) 1937 Roger Lapbie, René Le Greves (Fra) 1936 Paul Chocque (Fra) 1935 René Le Greves (Fra) 1934 Roger Lapbie (Fra) 1933 André Leducq (Fra) 1932 Leon Le Calvez (Fra) 1930 Robert Brugere (Fra) 1929 Paul Le Drogo (Fra) 1928 André Leducq (Fra) 1927 Julien Moineu (Fra) Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
