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43rd Tour de Bretagne Cycliste - Trophée des Granitiers - 2.2
France, April 25-May 1, 2009
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Stage 2 - April 26: Treffieux - Fougères, 153.3km
Fouchard & Metlushenko surprise and stay away
By Jean-François Quénet in Fougères, France
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Despite amateur teams comprising only one-third of the peloton, one of them is sporting the leader's jersey two days into the Tour de Bretagne. Julien Fouchard (Côtes d'Armor-Maître Jacques) wasn't confident he'd be given so much freedom when he attacked with Ukrainian sprinter Yuriy Metlushenko (Amore e Vita) with 70 kilometres to go, but a big crash in the bunch and the flat tyre of race leader Dennis Van Winden - who waited for more than one minute for assistance - helped them stay away and contest a win in the stage that included the gruelling climb of La Pinterie in Fougères.
"This is unexpected," said Fouchard about the advantage he kept over the favourites - more than three minutes. His amateur team will have its work cut out for it as it tries to control the race for the remaining five days. Everyone knows that Fouchard, an engineering student from Normandy, is a good time triallist. He was the winner of the U23 Chrono des Nations at the end of last season.
The Breton continental teams of Besson Chaussures and Bretagne-Schuller have already promised to challenge their local rivals after the events of stage two. "What happened is sad," stage 1 winner Van Winden said. "I felt very good."
However, every stage of the Tour de Bretagne features small hills where riding offensively is a common strategy. Until the time trial on stage six, many scenarios remain possible.
How it unfolded
Stage two of the Tour de Bretagne started at a high pace, with the bunch covering 48 kilometres in the first hour.
No break managed to get a significant gap until Julien Fouchard (Côtes d'Armor-Maître Jacques) and Yuriy Metlushenko (Amore e Vita) tried with 70km to go. Initially, they struggled to put distance on the peloton, but when they were allowed to go, their advantage went up to eight minutes.
That deficit remained as the bunch approached 20 kilometres until the final circuit in Fougères. A crash at 114km took down about 40 riders and caused too much disorganisation in the peloton for an effective chase to take place.
Race leader Dennis Van Winden (Rabobank) didn't go down in the spill but had a flat tyre during the first of the final five laps.
All that helped Fouchard and Metlushenko to stay away despite the charge led from the bunch by Norway's Alexander Kristoff (Joker-Bianchi). With two kilometres to go, Fouchard, who was fresher than Metlushenko, accelerated and went for a solo win. He also became the new leader of the Tour de Bretagne.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- Julien Fouchard (Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques) on the podium as winner of stage two.
- The crowd in Fougères gets a look at the day's victor.
- All smiles for a suprised Julien Fouchard on the podium.
Results
1 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques 3.37.31 2 Yuri Metlushenko (Ukr) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds 0.06 3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Joker Bianchi 2.49 4 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step 5 Michel Kreder (Ned) Rabobank Continental 3.06 6 Gwenael Teillet (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique 7 Maarten De Jonge (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step 8 Julien Simon (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun 3.09 9 Florian Guillou (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 10 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Joker Bianchi 11 Stian Remme (Nor) Joker Bianchi 12 Alexander Mironov (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team 13 Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step 14 Philipp Mamos (Ger) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds 15 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun 16 Romain Hardy (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques 17 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design 18 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne Schuller 19 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Bretagne Schuller 20 Sander Armee (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step 21 Florian Vachon (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 22 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun 23 Gaël Malacarne (Fra) Bretagne Schuller 3.15 24 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain National Team 25 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 26 Klaas Sys (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step 27 Volodymyr Starchyk (Ukr) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds 28 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Great Britain National Team 29 Sven Vandousselacre (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes 30 Bram Schmitz (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof 31 Anthony Vignes (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique 32 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step 33 Frederik Wilmann (Nor) Joker Bianchi 34 Yohan Cauquil (Fra) C.C Bourgas 35 Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Bretagne Schuller 3.21 36 Julien Guay (Fra) Vendee U 37 Timofey Kritskiy (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team 38 Thibault Mace (Fra) Vendee U 39 Clément Mahe (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000 40 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise 41 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun 42 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Bretagne Schuller 43 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bretagne Schuller 3.25 44 Tony Hurel (Fra) Vendee U 45 Ronan Van Zandbeek (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof 46 Peter Brouzes (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise 47 Rudy Lesschaeve (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise 48 Olivier Grammaire (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 49 Christophe Diguet (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique 50 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Vendee U 3.31 51 Matthieu Converset (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise 52 Pierre-Luc Perrichon (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 53 Vincent Rouxel (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000 3.34 54 Cédric Herve (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques 55 Benoit Ebrard (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques 56 Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 3.39 57 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) C.C Bourgas 58 Lars Vierbergen (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof 3.44 59 Joost Van Leijen (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof 4.24 60 Romain Fondard (Fra) Lotto Bodysol Pcw 4.33 61 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank Continental 4.46 62 Steven De Neef (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes 63 Joeri Calleeuw (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes 4.55 64 Laurent Le Gac (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000 65 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun 5.09 66 Fabian Schaar (Ger) German National Team 5.34 67 Thomas Riber Sellebjerg (Den) Team Capinordic 5.44 68 Willy Roseau (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique 5.52 69 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Continental 5.58 70 Jetse Bol (Ned) Rabobank Continental 7.16 71 Benjamin Pascual (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 72 Evgeny Popov (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team 73 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Rabobank Continental 74 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design 75 Morten Hoberg (Den) Team Capinordic 76 Andrey Solomennikov (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team 77 Gregor Gazvoda (Slo) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design 78 Julien Gonnet (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique 79 Tom Copeland (GBr) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000 80 Mickael Damien (Fra) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design 81 Benjamin Gault (Fra) Vendee U 82 Arjen Pieter De Baat (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof 83 Russell Hampton (GBr) Great Britain National Team 84 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design 85 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Great Britain National Team 86 Svein Erik Vold (Nor) Joker Bianchi 87 Phil Cortes (Can) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds 88 Vladislas Borisov (Rus) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds 89 Richard England (Aus) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds 90 Kenny Terweduwe (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes 91 Jérémie Galland (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun 7.37 92 Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design 7.40 93 Ole Haavardsholm (Nor) Joker Bianchi 7.55 94 Alexander Pretovskiy (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team 8.56 95 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank Continental 96 Frédérik Verkinderen (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes 8.59 97 Quentin Santy (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise 9.03 98 Romain Mary (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 9.16 99 Yann Le Queau (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000 9.34 100 Jakob Steigmiller (Ger) German National Team 10.00 101 Mathieu Halleguen (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques 10.27 102 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) C.C Bourgas 10.53 103 Frank Schulz (Ger) German National Team 11.38 104 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes 12.17 105 Rob Woestenborghs (Bel) C.C Bourgas 12.38 106 Ryan Wills (NZl) Lotto Bodysol Pcw 12.43 107 Martin Prazdnovsky (Svk) C.C Bourgas 12.45 108 Alexandre Lemair (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 12.59 109 Karl Christian Koenig (Ger) German National Team 13.01 110 Joerg Lehmann (Ger) German National Team 13.02 111 Jeremy Honorez (Bel) Lotto Bodysol Pcw 112 Nico Keinath (Ger) German National Team 13.06 113 Benoît Daeninck (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise 13.12 114 Erwan Brenterch (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques 115 Matthieu Jeannes (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000 116 Stephen Collet (Bel) Lotto Bodysol Pcw 117 Stefan Vreugdenhil (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof 118 Mathieu Bernaudeau (Fra) Vendee U 119 Mickael Renou (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique 120 François Roossens (Bel) Lotto Bodysol Pcw 13.21 121 Edward Clancy (GBr) Great Britain National Team 13.26 122 Rudy Rouet (Bel) Lotto Bodysol Pcw 16.39 123 Paul Moucheraud (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 16.46 124 Nikola Aistrup (Den) Team Capinordic 17.18 125 Alexis Coulon (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 17.50 126 Geoffrey Febvay (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 127 Casper Jorgensen (Den) Team Capinordic 17.59 128 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Team Capinordic 25.20 129 Robert Hayles (GBr) Great Britain National Team 25.26 130 Daniel Kreutzfeldt (Den) Team Capinordic 25.32 DNF Stefan Histrov (Bul) C.C Bourgas DNF Dmitri Kosyakov (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team General classification after stage 2 1 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques
