Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Bayern Rundfahrt Photo ©: Schaaf |
Boucles de la Mayenne - 2.2
France, June 19-22, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 2 - June 21: Voutré - Évron, 172km
Agritubel takes over with Bichot in the lead
By Jean-François Quénet
The Boucles de la Mayenne have a air of the Tour de France with Jimmy Casper winning a stage and Freddy Bichot taking the yellow jersey. Both Agritubel riders should be on the start line in Brest on July 5, although nothing is definite for Bichot who is the local boy on these roads.
Bichot lives just outside Laval where he already won the Boucles de la Mayenne as an amateur in 2002, and he is in a position to do it again on Sunday. With 21 seconds over runner up Franck Charrier from CC Nogent-sur-Oise, he's got more of an advantage than the bonus awarded during the last stage.
"I think my team is good enough to defend the jersey even without Kevin Ista. He was sick and we lost him today," Bichot commented. "They made me win the hot spot sprint today already and Romain Feillu let me finish third at the end to get four more seconds. When all five of us were in the front, we went really fast."
Former race leader Piotr Zielinski of Bretagne-Armor Lux made a couple of mistakes at the beginning with chasing down riders who weren't dangerous on GC. He chased so much that he couldn't follow Bichot and the riders who counter-attacked for forming the decisive 20-mann breakaway.
Agritubel capped their initiative with a stage win by Casper who will return to the Tour de France two years after taking the win on stage one in Strasbourg.
How it unfolded
Just before kilometer 53, which every day marks the location of the hot spot bonus sprint, Aleksejs Saramotins (Rietumu Banka) gave birth to the decisive breakaway as he took away with him Jimmy Casper (Agritubel). In a couple of waves, a group of 20 riders formed in the front: Casper, Freddy Bichot, Maxime Bouet, Romain Feillu and Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel), Franck Charrier, Stéphane Rossetto, Benoît Daeninck and Brice Feillu (CC Nogent-sur-Oise), Jos van Emden and Thomas Berkhout (Rabobank), Björn Glanser and Stefan Gänser (Kuota-Senges), Antoine Dalibard (Bretagne-Armor Lux), Juan Gomis Lopez (Tavira), Niels Albert (Palmans), David Tanner (VC La Pomme), Andrius Buividas (CC Etupes), Sergey Firsanov and Saramotins (Rietumu Banka).
Vogondy was the last man to enter the breakaway after counter-attacking race leader Piotr Zielinski (Bretagne-Armor Lux) who couldn't make it to the front. As soon as they became five Agritubel riders in the lead, they rode flat out and created a significant gap. CC Nogent-sur-Oise who had four riders in the lead also did part of the work. With the Feillu brothers being in one of each team, they didn't have problems communicating.
Romain and Brice Feillu contested the king of the mountain prizes in a man-to-man affair. Brice beat his older brother at the top of the Mont Rochard which was the last difficulty of the day with 52km to go. Brice Feillu was also the only man to attack in the front group with 3 km to go. But the superiority of Agritubel was too evident.
Romain Feillu started the sprint in the last curve and gave way to Casper for the stage win in Evron ahead of Tanner. He also let Bichot take the third place and the four seconds bonus going with it. Bichot became the new race leader with 21 seconds over Charrier.
Results
1 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Agritubel 4.05.21 (42.062 km/h) 2 David Tanner (Aus) Velo Club La Pomme 3 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 4 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 5 Franck Charrier (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 6 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga 7 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Team Kuota-Senges 8 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Kuota-Senges 9 Andrius Buividas (Ltu) Club Cycliste tupes 10 Beno It Daeninck (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 11 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank Continental 12 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank Continental 13 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 14 Antoine Dalibard (Fra) Bretagne Armor Lux 15 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Rietumu Bank-Riga 16 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans Cras 17 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 18 Juan Gomis Lopez (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 19 Brice Feillu (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 0.30 20 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Agritubel 0.36 21 Vanmarck E Sep (Bel) Davitamon Lotto Jong Vlaanderen 3.33 22 Mathieu Delaroziere (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 3.39 23 Hakan Nilsson (Swe) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 24 Martin Lollesgaard (Den) Team Odense Energi 3.41 25 Matti Helminen (Fin) Palmans Cras 26 Steven De Neef (Bel) Davitamon Lotto Jong Vlaanderen 27 Simon Lebrun (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 3.43 28 Martin Hansen (Den) Team Odense Energi 29 Luis Silva (Por) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 30 Jean Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne Armor Lux 31 Romain Vanderbiest (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 32 Yann Guyot (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 33 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Vendee U 34 Alexandre Binet (Fra) Vendee U 35 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) Bretagne Armor Lux 36 Gwenael Teillet (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 37 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 38 Duret Sébastien (Fra) Bretagne Armor Lux 39 Fremin Jérome (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 40 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 41 Thim Othée Lefrancois (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 42 Lalouette Kévin (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 43 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 3.49 44 Julien Gay (Fra) Vendee U 3.52 45 Grégory Barteau (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 13.12 46 Jesper Morkov (Den) Team Odense Energi 21.27 47 Joeri Adams (Bel) Rabobank Continental 48 Nicolas Suzanne (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 49 Stijn Huys (Bel) Palmans Cras 50 Nicolas Boisson (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 51 Evgeny Popov (Rus) Rabobank Continental 52 Arnaud Godet (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 53 Gianni Denolf (Bel) Palmans Cras 54 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental 55 Jetse Bol (Ned) Rabobank Continental 56 Gregory Joseph (Bel) Davitamon Lotto Jong Vlaanderen 57 Tim Mertens (Bel) Davitamon Lotto Jong Vlaanderen 58 Arnaud Depreeuw (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 59 Fabien Sanchez (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 60 Jonathan Balbenua (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 61 Julien Barbier (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 62 Olivier Nari (Fra) S.Club.O. Dijon 63 Besson Jérémy (Fra) S.Club.O. Dijon 64 Loïc Muhlemann (Swi) S.Club.O. Dijon 65 Peter Mohlmann (Ned) Team Kuota-Senges 66 Samu El Caldeira (Por) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 67 Kasper Jorgensen (Den) Team Odense Energi 68 Martin Garrido Mayo Rga (Arg) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 69 Kalvis Eisaks (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga 70 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 71 Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 72 Renaud Pioline (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 73 Mathieu Fabry (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 74 Neuville Jérome (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 75 Guillaume De Gasquet (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 76 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Bretagne Armor Lux 77 Martins Trautmanis (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga 78 Yannick Ricordel (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 79 Thomas Bouteille (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 80 Frédrik Johansson (Swe) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 81 Morten Knudsen (Den) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 82 Philip Walsleben (Ger) Palmans Cras 83 Mikael Renou (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 84 Luis Bartolomeu (Por) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 85 Ronan Guinaudeau (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 86 Thibault Mace (Fra) Vendee U 87 Ludovic Bret (Fra) Vendee U 88 Anthony Vignes (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 89 Yoann Lucas (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 90 Guillaume Malle (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 91 Van Ruittenbee K Malaya (Ned) Team Kuota-Senges 92 Tyler Butterfield (Ber) Vendee U 93 Arnaud Girard (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 94 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Kuota-Senges 95 Math Ieu Halleguen (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 96 Erwan Brenterch (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 97 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 98 Paul Sneeboer (Ned) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 99 Gael Malacarne (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 100 Mickael Jeannin (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 101 Rapha Ël Lesage (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 102 Alexandre Bosquain (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 103 Cyrille Heymans (Lux) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 104 Hannes Blank (Ger) Differdange Apiflo Vacances DNF Kevin Ista (Fra) Agritubel DNF Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Palmans Cras DNF Lars Ulrich (Den) Team Odense Energi DNF Christian Jorgensen (Den) Team Odense Energi DNF Eddy Forner (Ita) Differdange Apiflo Vacances DNF Prajak Mahawong (Tha) Meitan Hompo - GDR DNF Justas Volungevicius (Ltu) Rietumu Bank-Riga General classification after stage 2 1 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 8.14.17 2 Franck Charrier (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 0.21 3 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank Continental 0.27 4 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Team Kuota-Senges 0.34 5 Antoine Dalibard (Fra) Bretagne Armor Lux 0.35 6 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 0.36 7 David Tanner (Aus) Velo Club La Pomme 0.40 8 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Agritubel 0.43 9 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 0.47 10 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank Continental 11 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans Cras 0.50 12 Beno It Daeninck (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 13 Juan Gomis Lopez (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 0.56 14 Andrius Buividas (Ltu) Club Cycliste tupes 1.06 15 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga 1.07 16 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Kuota-Senges 1.09 17 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 1.14 18 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Rietumu Bank-Riga 1.16 19 Brice Feillu (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 1.34 20 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Agritubel 1.39 21 Piotr Zielinski (Pol) Bretagne Armor Lux 3.45 22 Duret Sébastien (Fra) Bretagne Armor Lux 4.06 23 Matti Helminen (Fin) Palmans Cras 4.14 24 Gwenael Teillet (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 4.36 25 Yann Guyot (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 4.39 26 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 4.42 27 Jean Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne Armor Lux 4.43 28 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 4.45 29 Luis Silva (Por) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 4.47 30 Simon Lebrun (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 31 Martin Lollesgaard (Den) Team Odense Energi 4.48 32 Alexandre Binet (Fra) Vendee U 4.53 33 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Vendee U 34 Steven De Neef (Bel) Davitamon Lotto Jong Vlaanderen 4.54 35 Mathieu Delaroziere (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 4.58 36 Hakan Nilsson (Swe) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 4.59 37 Julien Gay (Fra) Vendee U 38 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 5.00 39 Thim Othée Lefrancois (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 40 Martin Hansen (Den) Team Odense Energi 5.01 41 Romain Vanderbiest (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 5.02 42 Lalouette Kévin (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 5.06 43 Vanmarck E Sep (Bel) Davitamon Lotto Jong Vlaanderen 5.07 44 Fremin Jérome (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 5.32 45 Grégory Barteau (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 14.34 46 Arnaud Godet (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 22.09 47 Gael Malacarne (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 22.14 48 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Kuota-Senges 22.17 49 Jonathan Balbenua (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 22.18 50 Philip Walsleben (Ger) Palmans Cras 22.24 51 Mickael Jeannin (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 22.25 52 Joeri Adams (Bel) Rabobank Continental 53 Evgeny Popov (Rus) Rabobank Continental 54 Anthony Vignes (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 22.26 55 Renaud Pioline (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 22.27 56 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Bretagne Armor Lux 57 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental 22.29 58 Fabien Sanchez (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 59 Jetse Bol (Ned) Rabobank Continental 22.31 60 Frédrik Johansson (Swe) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 61 Guillaume Malle (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 22.33 62 Van Ruittenbee K Malaya (Ned) Team Kuota-Senges 63 Morten Knudsen (Den) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 22.34 64 Arnaud Depreeuw (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 22.36 65 Math Ieu Halleguen (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 22.37 66 Martin Garrido Mayo Rga (Arg) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 67 Rapha Ël Lesage (Fra) CC Nogent Sur Oise 22.38 68 Kalvis Eisaks (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga 69 Tyler Butterfield (Ber) Vendee U 22.39 70 Stijn Huys (Bel) Palmans Cras 71 Thomas Bouteille (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 22.40 72 Ludovic Bret (Fra) Vendee U 73 Luis Bartolomeu (Por) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 74 Guillaume De Gasquet (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 22.41 75 Kasper Jorgensen (Den) Team Odense Energi 76 Loïc Muhlemann (Swi) S.Club.O. Dijon 22.42 77 Yoann Lucas (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 22.43 78 Mathieu Fabry (Fra) Velo Club La Pomme 79 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 22.44 80 Nicolas Suzanne (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 81 Besson Jérémy (Fra) S.Club.O. Dijon 22.45 82 Gregory Joseph (Bel) Davitamon Lotto Jong Vlaanderen 83 Olivier Nari (Fra) S.Club.O. Dijon 84 Cyrille Heymans (Lux) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 22.46 85 Jesper Morkov (Den) Team Odense Energi 86 Erwan Brenterch (Fra) Cotes D'Armor Maître Jacques 87 Nicolas Boisson (Fra) Club Cycliste tupes 88 Yannick Ricordel (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 22.49 89 Peter Mohlmann (Ned) Team Kuota-Senges 90 Martins Trautmanis (Lat) Rietumu Bank-Riga 22.51 91 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 22.53 92 Gianni Denolf (Bel) Palmans Cras 23.03 93 Samu El Caldeira (Por) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 94 Julien Barbier (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 23.09 95 Tim Mertens (Bel) Davitamon Lotto Jong Vlaanderen 23.11 96 Hannes Blank (Ger) Differdange Apiflo Vacances 23.25 97 Alexandre Bosquain (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 23.31 98 Paul Sneeboer (Ned) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 23.44 99 Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 23.47 100 Mikael Renou (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 23.51 101 Thibault Mace (Fra) Vendee U 23.57 102 Arnaud Girard (Fra) S.A Pavilly Barentin 24.03 103 Neuville Jérome (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 24.29 104 Ronan Guinaudeau (Fra) Equipe De France Poursuite 33.38
