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53rd Circuit de la Sarthe - 2.1

France, April 5-8, 2005

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Stage 3 - April 7: Angers - Sablé-sur-Sarthe, 195.4 km

Nazon opens the book for Crédit Agricole

By Jean-François Quénet in Sablé

Damien Nazon (Credit Agricole)
Photo ©: AFP Photo
Click for larger image

Damien Nazon gave Crédit Agricole its first win for the 2005 season, and it's also France's fourth win in three days of racing in the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire, which is quite unusual in professional cycling these days. The oldest of the two Nazon brothers was used to being the first man to score for his former team Bonjour, as he did in the 2000 Le Tour de Langkawi when Jean-René Bernaudeau created his team. Instead of January, he has had to wait for April to prove himself the fastest of the bunch.

"Above all, this is my first win in two years," he said. "And this is a very, very long time for a sprinter." Since the 2003 Tour de France, Nazon faced some physical troubles including a broken ankle. He also got divorced and changed team in the meantime. Last year, he only came back from an injury in June. "I was almost sure to ride the Tour de France but I didn't get selected," he recalled. "It was strange to me because I was used to do it. It broke something in the rhythm of my career. Now I hope I've started again for good."

Nazon came out of the shadow when he finished 4th in Cholet-Pays de Loire three weeks ago. He finally claimed a win in the region where he got his first pro success. Back in 1994, when he was a young amateur for Vendée U, he beat a few professional sprinters in stage 1 of the Circuit de la Sarthe. "I've always liked to come and race here," he said.

Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis)
Photo ©: JF Quenet
Click for larger image

"But I really didn't think I'd be able to win today," he added. "We only came across to the leaders with five or six hundred metres to go." For a long time, Freddy Bichot (Française des Jeux), Stéphane Pétilleau (Bretagne-Jean Floc'h) and Yohan Le Boulanger (RAGT) stayed in the front with a maximum lead of 1'30. Bichot and Pétilleau were still away at the bell lap with 10km to go, but three chasers were about to catch them: race leader Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), local hero Laurent Brochard (Bouygues Telecom) and Sébastien Joly (Crédit Agricole).

"I'm still more eager to win a stage than race for GC," Chavanel explained. "I mostly came here to prepare for the classics in the Ardennes, I'll ride GP Denain next week before Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I haven't won the Circuit de la Sarthe yet. Brochard is strong as well. I believe the strongest men will be in the front tomorrow." The gruelling climb of Gazonfier, to be done four times on the final circuit of Le Mans, is hard enough for a true battle of the most on form riders.

Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile)
Photo ©: AFP Photo
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Since Discovery Channel rode strongly behind Chavanel and Brochard during stage 4, the American team must have some serious intentions for the last day. With four riders in the top 11 overall, there will be different options with Jurgen Van den Broeck, Volodimir Bileka, Fumi Beppu and Michael Barry, the latter being the biggest threat for the ambitious Frenchmen. It will also be interesting to see how far Jan Ullrich pushes himself on that climb. So far, he has given a good impression on the roads of the Pays de la Loire region. He doesn't look stressed and a few riders are amazed to see how strong he is in the bunch although this is his first race of the year.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by AFP Photo

Images by Jean-Francois Quenet

Results

1 Damien Nazon (Fra) Crédit Agricole                          4.35.50
2 Andris Nauduzs (Lat) Naturino Sapore                               
3 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf             
4 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Miche                                          
5 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel                           
6 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prévoyance                               
7 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf            
8 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Crédit Agricole                               
9 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                            
10 Markus Fohten (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                  
11 Andy Flickinger (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance                             
12 Fabio Borghesi (Ita) Miche                                        
13 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                             
14 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93                                       
15 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux                            
16 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Auber 93                                       
17 Camille Bouquet (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                
18 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis                                    
19 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel                                  
20 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T- Mobile Team                                  
21 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                           
22 Bas Giling (Ned) T- Mobile Team                                   
23 Cédric Herve (Fra) Crédit Agricole                                
24 Hubert Dupont (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                      
25 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel                             
26 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Naturino Sapore                        
27 Slawomir Kohut (Pol) Miche                                        
28 Andre Korff (Ger) T- Mobile Team                                  
29 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Crédit Agricole                            
30 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance                              
31 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel                            
32 Jef Peeters (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf               
33 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Crédit Agricole                           
34 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf            
35 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prévoyance                               
36 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93                                   
37 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                            
38 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel                     
39 Renaud Dion (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                        
40 Stefan Schreck (Ger) T- Mobile Team                               
41 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                      
42 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux                        
43 Duret Sébastien (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                       
44 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                
45 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Naturino Sapore                            
46 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux                               
47 Eric Berthou (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                       
48 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93                                       
49 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                    
50 David Le Lay (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                          
51 Florent Brard (Fra) Agritubel                                     
52 Francesco Failli (Ita) Naturino Sapore                            
53 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf                
54 Frédérik Veuchelen (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf        
55 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux                            
56 Yann Pivois (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                           
57 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel                                     
58 Patrick McCarty (USA) Discovery Channel                           
59 Nicolas Portal (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance                          0.15
60 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino Sapore                       0.23
61 Maurizio Carta (Ita) Miche                                    1.26
62 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T- Mobile Team                       1.31
63 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel                               1.52
64 William Bonnet (Fra) Auber 93                                 2.58
65 Nicolas Dulac (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                      
66 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel                                
67 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech             
68 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis                                       
69 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                               
70 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner                            3.52
71 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner                              
72 Vincent Cantero (Fin) Bretagne - Jean Floch                   4.12
73 Massimo Amichetti (Ita) Miche                                     
74 Mathias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner                               7.27
75 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Cofidis                                       
76 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis                                      
77 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                             
78 Seweryn Kohut (Pol) Miche                                         
79 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T- Mobile Team                                 
80 Hervé Duclos - Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis                             
81 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux                           
82 Guido Trentin (Ita) Cofidis                                       
83 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                    
84 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole                              
85 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                 
86 Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) Naturino Sapore                         
87 Frédéric Mainguenaud (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                  23.57
 
General classification after stage 3
 
1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis                             11.31.23
2 Markus Fohten (Ger) Gerolsteiner                               0.05
3 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel                               0.08
4 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel                  0.10
5 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel                       0.11
6 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prévoyance                            0.13
7 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                   0.14
8 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel                             
9 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                        0.15
10 Florent Brard (Fra) Agritubel                                 0.18
11 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel                             
12 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T- Mobile Team                              0.19
13 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Crédit Agricole                       0.20
14 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prévoyance                          0.24
15 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Miche                                         
16 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Naturino Sapore                    0.26
17 Andris Nauduzs (Lat) Naturino Sapore                              
18 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Naturino Sapore                        0.28
19 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Crédit Agricole                        0.29
20 Slawomir Kohut (Pol) Miche                                        
21 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance                              
22 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                0.32
23 Fabio Borghesi (Ita) Miche                                        
24 David Le Lay (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                      0.35
25 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Auber 93                                   0.36
26 Jef Peeters (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf               
27 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux                    0.37
28 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                         0.38
29 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf            0.39
30 Eric Berthou (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                   0.41
31 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93                               0.43
32 Bas Giling (Ned) T- Mobile Team                               0.44
33 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf            
34 Duret Sébastien (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                   0.45
35 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                
36 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux                           0.46
37 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf       0.47
38 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux                        0.49
39 Francesco Failli (Ita) Naturino Sapore                        0.51
40 Andy Flickinger (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance                         0.52
41 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93                                       
42 Frédérik Veuchelen (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf    0.54
43 Nicolas Portal (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance                          0.57
44 Andre Korff (Ger) T- Mobile Team                              0.58
45 Patrick McCarty (USA) Discovery Channel                       0.59
46 Damien Nazon (Fra) Crédit Agricole                                
47 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                       1.00
48 Renaud Dion (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                    1.02
49 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93                                   1.03
50 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                            
51 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux                        1.04
52 Cédric Herve (Fra) Crédit Agricole                            1.06
53 Hubert Dupont (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                  1.09
54 Camille Bouquet (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                
55 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Crédit Agricole                              
56 Stefan Schreck (Ger) T- Mobile Team                           1.25
57 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino Sapore                       1.32
58 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel                                 1.37
59 Yann Pivois (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                       1.43
60 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf        1.46
61 Maurizio Carta (Ita) Miche                                    2.12
62 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T- Mobile Team                       2.14
63 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel                               3.04
64 William Bonnet (Fra) Auber 93                                 3.33
65 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel                            3.39
66 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis                                   3.45
67 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech         4.14
68 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner                            4.18
69 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                           4.20
70 Nicolas Dulac (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                  4.30
71 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner                          4.48
72 Vincent Cantero (Fin) Bretagne - Jean Floch                   5.48
73 Massimo Amichetti (Ita) Miche                                 5.56
74 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                7.39
75 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T- Mobile Team                             8.04
76 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                         8.13
77 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole                          8.27
78 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis                                      
79 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux                       8.40
80 Seweryn Kohut (Pol) Miche                                     8.45
81 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover             8.48
82 Guido Trentin (Ita) Cofidis                                   8.52
83 Mathias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner                               8.57
84 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Cofidis                                   9.21
85 Hervé Duclos - Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis                         9.29
86 Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) Naturino Sapore                    14.28
87 Frédéric Mainguenaud (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                  26.24
 
Points classification
 
1 Damien Nazon (Fra) Crédit Agricole                               48 pts
2 Andris Nauduzs (Lat) Naturino Sapore                             43
3 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                            37
4 Andy Flickinger (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance                            36
5 Fabio Borghesi (Ita) Miche                                       36
6 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Miche                                        33
7 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf           33
8 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93                                      25
9 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel                         24
10 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prévoyance                             20
11 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T- Mobile Team                               19
12 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Auber 93                                     14
13 Markus Fohten (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                14
14 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prévoyance                            11
15 Florent Brard (Fra) Agritubel                                   10
16 William Bonnet (Fra) Auber 93                                   10
17 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner                            10
18 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis                                    10
19 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis                                   9
20 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf          9
21 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel                                  9
22 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux                           8
23 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Crédit Agricole                             8
24 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux                           7
25 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel                                 7
26 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                          7
27 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel                    6
28 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Naturino Sapore                       6
29 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                            6
30 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Cofidis                                      5
31 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                          5
32 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                   4
33 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                   3
34 Eric Berthou (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                      3
35 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech               3
36 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                     2
37 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel                           1
38 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Naturino Sapore                           1
39 Yann Pivois (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                          1
40 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                1
 
Mountains classification
 
1 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Naturino Sapore                       18 pts
2 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf           18
3 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel                                  11
4 Eric Berthou (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                      10
5 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prévoyance                              9
6 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux                            8
7 Stefan Schreck (Ger) T- Mobile Team                               7
8 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Auber 93                                       6
9 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                6
10 Yann Pivois (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                          6
11 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Cofidis                                      6
12 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux                       5
13 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Miche                                        3
14 Stéphane Petilleau (Fra) Bretagne - Jean Floch                   2
15 Renaud Dion (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                       2
16 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                            2
17 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Naturino Sapore                           1
18 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Crédit Agricole                             1
19 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis                                     1
 
Young rider classification
 
1 Markus Fohten (Ger) Gerolsteiner                           11.31.28
2 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel                  0.05
3 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prévoyance                            0.08
4 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel                         0.09
5 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Miche                                      0.19
6 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux                     0.32
7 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf             0.34
8 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93                                0.38
9 Bas Giling (Ned) T- Mobile Team                                0.39
10 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux                           0.41
11 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolat Jacques - Wincor Nixdorf       0.42
12 Francesco Failli (Ita) Naturino Sapore                        0.46
13 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93                                   0.47
14 Patrick McCarty (USA) Discovery Channel                       0.54
15 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                       0.55
16 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux                        0.59
17 William Bonnet (Fra) Auber 93                                 3.28
18 Nicolas Dulac (Fra) RAGT Semences - MG Rover                  4.25
19 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner                          4.43
20 Vincent Cantero (Fin) Bretagne - Jean Floch                   5.43
21 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Télécom                         8.08
22 Mathias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner                               8.52
23 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Cofidis                                   9.16