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39th Ruban Granitier Breton - 2.2
France, April 25-May 1, 2005
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Stage 2 - April 27: La Chapelle Des Marais - Auray, 162.5 km
Once again, one second missing for Downing
By Jean-François Quénet in Auray
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The Ruban Granitier Breton is definitely a match between Brittany and Great-Britain. The locals are leading now since Stéphane Pétilleau, 34, a former pro from Castorama, TVM, Gan, and Crédit Agricole, now with Bretagne-Jean Floc'h, won stage 2 after an impressive solo ride. He first went away by himself with 80km to go and resisted for a while to the peloton despite a hard chase. He attacked again with four other riders and decided to ride alone with 40km to go.
Wasn't it crazy? "I had to dare," Pétilleau reckoned. "Bernard Hinault often says that the best defense is attacking. I got inspiration from these words today. Coming onto the final circuit, I calculated that 20 seconds lead was enough because the course was extremely technical." He never had more than 50 seconds lead all the way through!
The speed was very high. The riders in the bunch couldn't believe that they wouldn't bring him back. There was a strong chase by the English team Recycling.co.uk, since Russell Downing was the virtual leader of the race after taking four seconds bonus on the way. "I tried to contest the first sprint but Downing was too quick for me", former race leader Sam Lee said. "I'm happy to keep the Espoirs jersey anyway. I'll try to carry it for a few more days, but I don't know what to expect. I feel pretty good but this race is very hard." There are two Australians in this race, both coming from McGee/NSWIS, Kieran Cameron, hailing from Coffs Harbour showed his sprinting skills by taking second place on the stage.
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The day before, Downing missed the lead by one second. And he did it again! By one second, Pétilleau now lies in first position. "Being one second behind is the best for me," Downing said, admitting that he didn't calculate his move at the end. "During the last lap, it was messing around. There was a huge crowd. With people everywhere on the road, it was hard to avoid crashing, that's why I missed the final sprint and couldn't get the bonus. I was on 3rd or 4th wheel, but one guy pushed me slightly. I thought it would be close."
After stage 1, Downing was one second behind a young gun from a small team, now he's still one second down, but behind the hot favourite who is a member of the strongest team. "But the race is far from over with four days to go and a lot of hills and attacks coming up", Downing predicts. He's aware that the Ruban Granitier Breton is Bretagne-Jean Floc'h's main goal for the year and Pétilleau wants to quit cycling with the most beautiful win he can imagine.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- U Nantes-Atlantique had three riders in top 10 today
- Sam Lee was still leading the race at the start and looking happy
- Impressive solo win by Stéphane Pétilleau
- Russell Downing has to be satisfied with the green jersey, no more for now
- Best young rider Sam Lee makes friends in Brittany
- Breton coke for an Aussie visitor
- Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme presented the leader's jersey to Stéphane Pétilleau
- The heroes of the day Olivier Grammaire, Stéphane Pétilleau, Christian Prudhomme, Russel Downing and Sam Lee
Results
1 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 2 Kieren Cameron (Aus) S.C.O Dijon General classification after stage 2 1 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 7.48.03 2 Russel Downing (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 0.01 3 Samuel Lee (Aus) Super Sport 35 ACNC 0.05 4 Tarno Raudsepp (Est) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0.12 5 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 0.18 6 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Equipe De France Police 0.20 7 Jose Herrada Lopez (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 8 Tim Van Der Zanden (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 0.21 9 Kieren Cameron (Aus) S.C.O Dijon 10 Jelle Van Groezen (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 0.22 11 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.23 12 Guillaume Lefloch (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 13 Bartasz Kolendo (Pol) V.C La Pomme Marseille 14 Frédéric Mille (Fra) Equipe De France Police 15 Giani Meersman (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 16 David Le Lay (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 0.24 17 Jean Luc Delpech (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 18 Maciek Bodnar (Pol) Skil Moser Ah Trentino 0.26 19 Olivier Grammaire (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 20 Charles Guilbert (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 21 Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong-Vlaanderen 22 Patr Lazar (Cze) A.S.C Dukla Praha 0.28 23 Julian Winn (GBr) Welsh National Team 24 Jos Pronk (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 25 Christian Grasmann (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.31 26 Simon Schaerer (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 0.32 27 Manuel Michot (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 28 Julien Simon (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 29 Steffen Gregger (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.33 30 Erik Lievens (Bel) Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong-Vlaanderen 31 Christophe Diguet (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 32 Jeroen Boelen (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 0.34 33 Julien Belgy (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 34 Noan Lelarge (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 35 Stanislav Kozubek (Cze) A.S.C Dukla Praha 36 Stefan Loffler (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.36 37 Maarten Neyens (Bel) Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong-Vlaanderen 38 Michael Mourecek (Cze) A.S.C Dukla Praha 39 Thierry David (Fra) V.C La Pomme Marseille 0.37 40 Paul Manning (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 41 Pierre Bernard Vaillant (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 0.39 42 Alexandre Sabalin (Rus) V.C La Pomme Marseille 0.40 43 Paul Newton (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 44 Kristian House (GBr) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.41 45 Kevin Neirynck (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 0.42 46 Kieran Page (GBr) A.V.C Aix En Provence 47 Timothée Lefrancois (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 48 Marvin Van Der Pluym (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 49 Julien Guiborel (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 50 Timo Krieger (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 0.43 51 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 52 Steven De Neef (Bel) Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong-Vlaanderen 53 Cyrille Noel (Fra) Equipe De France Police 0.44 54 Julien Guay (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.45 55 Ivan Santaromita (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 56 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) V.C La Pomme Marseille 0.48 57 Philippe Vaillant (Fra) Equipe De France Police 58 Frédéric Lubach (Fra) Equipe De France Police 0.50 59 Lionel Faure (Fra) V.C La Pomme Marseille 60 Yvan Sartis (Fra) Equipe De France Police 61 Florian Guillou (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 0.51 62 Kevin Desmet (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 0.52 63 Romain Paillard (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 64 Kenny Vanderschuren (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 0.53 65 Alessio Sienogo (Fra) G.S Promo Ciclo 0.55 66 Andréa Fumagalli (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 0.57 67 Dean Downing (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 0.58 68 Pérrig Quemener (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 69 Pavel Linet (Fra) G.S Promo Ciclo 0.59 70 Olivier Nari (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 1.04 71 Alex Broggi (Fra) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 1.06 72 Wim Botman (Ned) Skil Moser Ah Trentino 73 Martin Blaha (Cze) A.S.C Dukla Praha 1.10 74 Nicolas Prin (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 75 Loïc Muhlemann (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 1.15 76 Pedro Villa Garcia (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 1.20 77 Jamie Norfolk (GBr) Welsh National Team 1.21 78 Frank Wiersta (Ned) Skil Moser Ah Trentino 1.26 79 David Heine (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 1.38 80 Robert Hayles (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 1.39 81 Jonas Leib (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 1.40 82 Matteo Buratto (Fra) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 1.57 83 Roy Curvers (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 2.08 84 Fabien Fleury (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 2.18 85 Tony Goossens (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 2.22 86 Gabriele Benedetti (Fra) G.S Promo Ciclo 2.23 87 Alexei Medvevev (Rus) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 2.24 88 Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel) Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong-Vlaanderen 2.46 89 Xavier Laureau (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 2.56 90 Bart Oegema (Ned) A.V.C Aix En Provence 2.58 91 Robin Sharmen (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 5.36 92 Robert Partrige (GBr) Welsh National Team 5.51 93 Yanto Barker (GBr) Welsh National Team 5.58 94 Romain Mary (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 7.35 95 Kristof De Zutter (Bel) Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong-Vlaanderen 7.56 96 Mario Ickx (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 9.54 97 Alexandre Blain (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 10.04 98 Ivan Alvarez Lopez (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 10.29 99 Paul Sheppard (GBr) Welsh National Team 10.32 100 Michal Kesl (Cze) A.S.C Dukla Praha 10.38 101 Pablo Hernan Marcosano (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 10.40 102 Ralf Malosti (Fra) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 10.53 103 Marco Ferri (Fra) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 11.07 104 Fabien Rey (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 11.09 105 Daryl Impey (RSA) V.C La Pomme Marseille 11.23 106 Marco Maloni (Fra) G.S Promo Ciclo 12.56 107 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 13.03 108 Gonzalo Zambrano Calderon (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 16.59 109 Michal Hrazdira (Cze) A.S.C Dukla Praha 17.07 110 Benoit Genauzau (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 17.44 111 Bas Waaijer (Ned) Skil Moser Ah Trentino 21.19 112 Vincent Joffre (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 21.27 Points classification 1 Russel Downing (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 39 pts 2 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 30 3 Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong-Vlaanderen 30 4 Kieren Cameron (Aus) S.C.O Dijon 20 5 Jos Pronk (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 20 6 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Equipe De France Police 19 7 Alexandre Blain (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 18 8 Stefan Loffler (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 16 9 Charles Guilbert (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 16 10 Romain Paillard (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 15 11 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 14 12 Pavel Linet (Fra) G.S Promo Ciclo 12 13 Samuel Lee (Aus) Super Sport 35 ACNC 10 14 Giani Meersman (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 10 15 Timothée Lefrancois (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 10 16 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 10 17 Dean Downing (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 10 18 Tarno Raudsepp (Est) Team U Nantes Atlantique 9 19 Paul Newton (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 9 20 Kieran Page (GBr) A.V.C Aix En Provence 8 21 Alessio Sienogo (Fra) G.S Promo Ciclo 8 22 Erik Lievens (Bel) Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong-Vlaanderen 6 23 Lionel Faure (Fra) V.C La Pomme Marseille 6 24 Paul Manning (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 5 25 Kevin Desmet (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 5 26 Yanto Barker (GBr) Welsh National Team 5 27 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 4 28 Olivier Grammaire (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 4 29 Julien Belgy (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 4 30 Robert Hayles (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 4 31 Romain Mary (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 4 32 Mario Ickx (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 4 33 Ivan Santaromita (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 3 34 Guillaume Lefloch (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 2 35 Pierre Bernard Vaillant (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 2 36 Frédéric Lubach (Fra) Equipe De France Police 2 37 Alex Broggi (Fra) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 1 Mountains classification 1 Olivier Grammaire (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 28 pts 2 Stanislav Kozubek (Cze) A.S.C Dukla Praha 18 3 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 16 4 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 11 5 Russel Downing (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 8 6 Timothée Lefrancois (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 8 7 Tim Van Der Zanden (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 6 8 Giani Meersman (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 6 9 Stefan Loffler (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 4 10 Frédéric Lubach (Fra) Equipe De France Police 4 11 Alexandre Blain (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 4 12 Pierre Bernard Vaillant (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 2 13 Kristian House (GBr) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 2 14 Yvan Sartis (Fra) Equipe De France Police 2 15 Jose Herrada Lopez (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 1 16 Robin Sharmen (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 1 Young rider classification 1 Samuel Lee (Aus) Super Sport 35 ACNC 7.48.08 2 Jose Herrada Lopez (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 0.15 3 Tim Van Der Zanden (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 0.16 4 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.18 5 Guillaume Lefloch (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 6 Bartasz Kolendo (Pol) V.C La Pomme Marseille 7 Giani Meersman (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 8 Maciek Bodnar (Pol) Skil Moser Ah Trentino 0.21 9 Jos Pronk (Ned) Eurogifts.Com 0.23 10 Simon Schaerer (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 0.27 11 Julien Simon (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 12 Julien Belgy (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.29 13 Maarten Neyens (Bel) Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong-Vlaanderen 0.31 14 Pierre Bernard Vaillant (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 0.34 15 Kieran Page (GBr) A.V.C Aix En Provence 0.37 16 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0.38 17 Julien Guay (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.40 18 Ivan Santaromita (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 19 Alessio Sienogo (Fra) G.S Promo Ciclo 0.50 20 Andréa Fumagalli (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 0.52 21 Pérrig Quemener (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 0.53 22 Wim Botman (Ned) Skil Moser Ah Trentino 1.01 23 Nicolas Prin (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 1.05 24 Loïc Muhlemann (Swi) V.C Mendrisio Mapei 1.10 25 Pedro Villa Garcia (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 1.15 26 Frank Wiersta (Ned) Skil Moser Ah Trentino 1.21 27 David Heine (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 1.33 28 Matteo Buratto (Fra) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 1.52 29 Gabriele Benedetti (Fra) G.S Promo Ciclo 2.18 30 Alexei Medvevev (Rus) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 2.19 31 Xavier Laureau (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 2.51 32 Bart Oegema (Ned) A.V.C Aix En Provence 2.53 33 Robert Partrige (GBr) Welsh National Team 5.46 34 Mario Ickx (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 9.49 35 Pablo Hernan Marcosano (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 10.35 36 Ralf Malosti (Fra) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 10.48 37 Marco Ferri (Fra) G.S.C Viris Vigevano 11.02 38 Daryl Impey (RSA) V.C La Pomme Marseille 11.18 39 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 12.58 40 Gonzalo Zambrano Calderon (Spa) Enypesa Lambea El Mundo 16.54 41 Vincent Joffre (Fra) Vendee U-Pays De La Loire 21.22 Combativity classification 1 Russel Downing (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk-Mg-Xpower-Litespeed 14 pts 2 Alexandre Blain (Fra) A.V.C Aix En Provence 12 3 Stefan Loffler (Ger) Die Hofbrau Radler Stuttgart 8 4 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 5 5 Olivier Grammaire (Fra) S.C.O Dijon 4 6 Timothée Lefrancois (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 3 7 Frédéric Lubach (Fra) Equipe De France Police 2 8 Pierre Bernard Vaillant (Fra) Super Sport 35 ACNC 2 9 Sébastien Duret (Fra) G.S Bretagne Jean Floch 2 10 Giani Meersman (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 1 11 Mario Ickx (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren 2000 1 12 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Equipe De France Police 1
