Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Mt Hood Classic Photo ©: Swift |
38th Ruban Granitier Breton - 2.6
France, April 26-May 2, 2004
Prologue - April 26: Cesson Sevigne - Cesson Sevigne, 4.2 km
Last amateur appearance for expat Boucher
By Jean-François Quénet in Rennes
David Boucher has dominated the prologue of the 38th Ruban Granitier Breton just one week before turning professional with Oktos. He's a Frenchman racing for the Belgian amateur team Deschacht-Eddy Merckx. "I wasn't given enough credit in my own country so I crossed the border with the hope of convincing someone to sign me", he said.
Hailing from Maubeuge on the French-Belgian border, but now living in Belgium with his girlfriend, Boucher has made the right choice. Aged 24, he's one of the most predominant French riders despite being on another circuit. Last week, he was quite impressive when he won a stage in the Tour de Loir-et-Cher where his team, directed by Dirk de Wolf, also made in impact with the overall win by Tom Stubbe.
In the prologue of the Granitier, Deschacht-Eddy Merckx placed four men in the top 10. On a very technical 4.2 km circuit, Boucher was the only one to go under the 5 minute mark with an unbelievable average speed of 50.7 km/h.
His teammate Jeremy Yates also did well with a 6th place, 10 seconds down. "Time trialling isn't exactly my thing," he said. "So I'm quite happy with my time. I'm determined to do well here and I'm looking forward to all the climbs coming up in the next few days."
The kiwi is quite familiar with Brittany since he won the junior world championship in Plouay in 2000. Soon to be 22 years of age, he's at a turning point of his career and a win in an international race like this one would be welcome for sure.
Photography
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- South Africans warming up in Brittany - HSBC's Neil McDonald and Nic White
- Impressive stage winner David Boucher turning pro with Oktos next week
- The most elegant rider Julien Gonet won one year of free coffee!
- Best climber is Steijn Ennekens from Deschacht-Eddy Merckx, only 19 years of age.
- Jeremy Yates is the best young rider after the prologue
- It will be hard for anyone to take the lead off David Boucher now
- Dirk de Wolf is a happy DS with 4 men in top 10 already
Results
1 David Boucher (Fra) Team Deschacht Eddy Merckx 4.58.34 2 Kees Jeurissen (Ned) Van Hemert Eurogifts 0.07.64 3 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) V.C Roubaix 0.07.91 4 Philippe Gascon (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 0.10.01 5 Martial Locatelli (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 0.10.06 6 Jeremy Yates (NZl) Team Deschacht Eddy Merckx 0.10.40 7 Jean Luc Delpech (Fra) Jean Floc'h Moreac 56 0.11.89 8 Stijn Ennekens (Bel) Team Deschacht Eddy Merckx 0.12.88 9 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Team Deschacht Eddy Merckx 0.14.44 10 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 0.14.45 11 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Jean Floc'h Moreac 56 0.14.99 12 Vincent Van Rijn (Ned) Van Hemert Eurogifts 0.15.49 13 Sergey Lazarev (Rus) Angel Travel Ro St Petersburg 0.15.95 14 Manuel Michot (Fra) Bretagne Espoirs 0.16.07 15 Christophe Thebault (Fra) Jean Floc'h Moreac 56 0.16.21 16 Rodolphe Parent (Fra) V.C Rouen 76 0.16.90 17 Dominique Rault (Fra) Jean Floc'h Moreac 56 0.16.92 18 Anthony Malaczyk (GBr) Wales 0.16.96 19 Pierre Drancourt (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.17.01 20 Samuel Gicquel (Fra) Jean Floc'h Moreac 56 0.17.15 21 Stanislav Belov (Rus) Angel Travel Ro St Petersburg 0.17.41 22 Benoit Geoffroy (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 0.17.60 23 Sébastien Talabardon (Fra) V.C Roubaix 0.18.04 24 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.18.37 25 Julien Gonnet (Fra) Bretagne Espoirs 0.18.93 26 Luis Bartolomeu (Por) Wurth Bom Petico Tavira 0.19.23 27 Herman Conan (Fra) Bretagne Espoirs 0.19.46 28 Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus) Angel Travel Ro St Petersburg 0.19.59 29 Yohann Gene (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.19.83 30 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) V.C Roubaix 0.20.70 31 Jonathan Dayus (GBr) U Nantes Atlantique 0.20.91 32 Simon Gerrans (Aus) U Nantes Atlantique 0.21.00 33 Neil Macdonald (RSA) Team H.S.B.C 0.21.44 34 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 0.21.59 35 Jelle Van Groezen (Ned) Van Hemert Eurogifts 36 Vincent Cantero (Fra) Jean Floc'h Moreac 56 0.21.71 37 David Lelay (Fra) V.C Roubaix 38 Charles Guilbert (Fra) V.C Rouen 76 0.22.02 39 Folkert De Haan (Ned) Noordelijke Wielervereniging Groningen 0.22.07 40 Hervé Arcade (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.22.14 41 Huw Pritchard (GBr) Wales 42 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.22.33 43 Sergey Kondrashkov (Rus) Angel Travel Ro St Petersburg 0.22.55 44 Samuel Boudard (Fra) Bretagne Espoirs 0.22.75 45 Guillaume Blot (Fra) V.C Roubaix 0.22.85 46 David Tandart (Fra) V.C Roubaix 0.22.92 47 Léonardo Pappalardo (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.22.93 48 Marco Giani (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Pl Valli / Team Fidibc.Com 0.23.09 49 Régis Lhuillier (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 0.23.19 50 Andreas Welsh (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.23.29 51 Nicholas White (RSA) Team H.S.B.C 0.23.32 52 Roy Curvers (Ned) Van Hemert Eurogifts 0.23.39 53 Sébastian Frey (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.23.66 54 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 0.23.74 55 Maint Berkenbosh (Ned) Noordelijke Wielervereniging Groningen 0.23.81 56 Francesco Giulani (Ita) G.S Camel Brunero Boeris Cirie 0.24.07 57 Romain Mary (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 0.24.16 58 Bart Heirewegh (Bel) Team Deschacht Eddy Merckx 0.24.18 59 Nic Ingels (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 0.24.89 60 Numo Marta (Por) Wurth Bom Petico Tavira 0.25.34 61 René Schild (Ger) Team Comnet Senges 0.25.39 62 Laurent Chotard (Fra) V.C Rouen 76 0.25.66 63 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Van Hemert Eurogifts 0.25.68 64 Paul Sheppard (GBr) Wales 0.25.85 65 Jean Avril (Fra) Christophe V.C Rouen 76 0.25.87 66 Jamie Norfolk (GBr) Wales 0.25.94 67 Helder Miranda (Spa) Wurth Bom Petico Tavira 0.26.20 68 Ricardo Costa (Por) Wurth Bom Petico Tavira 0.26.36 69 Alexandre Cabrera (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 0.26.45 70 Roger Cren (Fra) Bretagne Espoirs 0.26.54 71 Nicolas Boulenger (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 0.27.08 72 Tarno Raudsepp (Est) U Nantes Atlantique 0.27.46 74 Christopher Esch (RSA) Team H.S.B.C 0.27.63 75 Stephen Roach (GBr) Wales 0.27.95 76 Julien Sauve (Fra) Bretagne Espoirs 0.28.01 77 Adriaan Helmantel (Ned) Noordelijke Wielervereniging Groningen 0.28.20 78 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Team H.S.B.C 0.28.27 79 Olivier Grammaire (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 0.28.47 80 Thimothée Lefrancois (Fra) U Nantes Atlantique 0.28.55 81 Clemente Cavaliere (Ita) G.S Camel Brunero Boeris Cirie 0.29.06 82 David Vitoria (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Pl Valli / Team Fidibc.Com 0.29.21 83 Ben Johnson (Aus) S.C.O Dijon 0.29.22 84 Yannick Rebouilleau (Fra) U Nantes Atlantique 0.29.23 85 Daniel Spence (RSA) Team H.S.B.C 0.29.37 86 Alberto Ceralli (Ita) G.S Camel Brunero Boeris Cirie 87 Nico Graf (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.29.46 88 Aloys Van Duuren (Ned) Noordelijke Wielervereniging Groningen 0.29.64 89 Michael Schweizer (Ger) Team Comnet Senges 0.29.65 90 David Heine (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.30.43 91 Remo Spirgi (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Pl Valli / Team Fidibc.Com 0.30.66 92 Stefan Loffler (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.30.69 93 Ben Thaens (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 0.30.74 94 Alex Pavlov (RSA) Team H.S.B.C 0.31.89 95 Steven De Decker (Bel) Team Deschacht Eddy Merckx 0.31.99 96 Jean Yon (Fra) Philippe V.C Rouen 76 0.32.30 97 Ivan Buoso (Ita) G.S Camel Brunero Boeris Cirie 0.32.41 98 Rolan Mittendorf (Ger) Team Comnet Senges 0.32.63 99 Daniel Petrov (Rus) Wurth Bom Petico Tavira 0.33.06 100 David Migne (Fra) U Nantes Atlantique 0.33.41 101 Mickael Buckers (Ger) Team Comnet Senges 0.33.51 102 Sergey Firzanov (Rus) Angel Travel Ro St Petersburg 0.33.73 103 Szymon Kurynowsik (Ita) G.S Camel Brunero Boeris Cirie 0.33.83 104 Alexandre Bousseau (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.34.17 105 Neirynck Kevin (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 0.35.25 106 Laurent Mangel (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 0.35.30 107 Mario Lourenco (Por) Wurth Bom Petico Tavira 0.35.53 108 Uwe Sengewald (Ger) Team Comnet Senges 0.36.58 109 Ilya Chernetskiv (Rus) Angel Travel Ro St Petersburg 0.37.23 110 Stéphane Belot (Fra) V.C Rouen 76 0.37.79 111 Jonas Leib (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Pl Valli / Team Fidibc.Com 0.38.83 112 Nico Van Dijk (Ned) Noordelijke Wielervereniging Groningen 0.39.39 113 Colin Menc Molina (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 0.39.71 114 Davide Rossi (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Pl Valli / Team Fidibc.Com 0.41.05 115 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Van Hemert Eurogifts 0.41.91 116 Rob Partridge (GBr) Wales 0.42.61 117 Thijs Zonneveld (Ned) A.V.C Aix En Provence 0.43.56 118 Sebastian Prengel (Ger) Team Comnet Senges 0.48.24 119 Pablo Pico (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Pl Valli / Team Fidibc.Com 0.53.35 Courtesy of velostory.net
