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24th GP Ouest France-Plouay - 1.HC
France, August 25, 2002
Inside line pays off for Jeremy Hunt
By Jeff Jones
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28 year old British sprinter Jeremy Hunt (BigMat-Auber 93) has claimed the biggest win of his career, taking today's GP Ouest France-Plouay in a bunch sprint. In the final metres, Hunt found a gap on the barriers to come past Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com), who had looked a certain winner with 50 m to go. Cooke was also pipped by Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) who took second place, making it an all-anglo podium.
Jeremy Hunt's last win came late last year in a stage of the Circuit Franco Belge, but the GP Ouest France will eclipse that many times, being ranked only one level below a World Cup. He now finds himself with an extra 175 UCI points, and a lot more bargaining power for a contract next season, after his team BigMat stops its sponsorship.
The 196 km race was held over 14 laps of the testing Circuit Jean-Yves Perron, containing two climbs per lap: Côte de Liseux and Côte du Ty Marrec, the latter with its summit at 4 km to go. Crowds lined the circuit for most of its 14 km length, and organisers estimate that around 100,000 people turned out to watch the action on a sunny August Sunday afternoon.
After the first two laps were ridden at an easy pace, the race got going on lap three, when a flurry of attacks eventually led to a group of 19 riders getting clear on the fourth lap. The group included danger men Paolo Bettini (Mapei), Igor Astarloa (Saeco), Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole) and Nicolas Jalabert (CSC). Stephane Barthe (St Quentin) managed to bridge up to them, on the fifth lap. With so many teams represented in the break, the bunch sat back and allowed them to gain a 3'00 lead by the end of the lap.
That was considered enough by the Coast and Jean Delatour teams, who started a serious chase to bring back the leaders. They succeeded and the break came back on the ninth lap. However, the status quo was not maintained for very long, as Andrea Tafi (Mapei), Nicolas Jalabert (CSC), Christophe Mengin (FDJeux.com), and Alessandro Bertolini (Alessio) were the next riders to escape. They managed a minute's lead, but were always kept in check by the watchful peloton, with the Cofidis team in particular doing the work.
On the 12th lap, a good bridging move went with Luca Paolini (Mapei), Bert De Waele (Landbouwkrediet), Marcus Zberg (Rabobank), Peter Van Petegem (Lotto-Adecco), Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r), Dave Bruylandts (Domo), Patrice Halgand, Stephane Goubert (Jean Delatour), and Baden Cooke (FDJ). These nine managed to catch the leaders on the same lap, but they were not organised well enough to stay away. The Cofidis team behind them was on the front of the peloton, closing the 40 second gap down on the 13th and penultimate lap.
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From then on, many riders tried - notably Laurent Jalabert a couple of times - but no-one succeeded in getting clear on the very fast final lap. The race was definitely headed for a bunch sprint as they sped down the Ty Marrec for the last time towards the finishing straight.
Christophe Mengin was leading the way for FDJ, with Andrea Tafi (Mapei) and Baden Cooke in tow. Tafi led out the sprint with Cooke right on his wheel. The Australian hit out very early, and looked to have the race won. But as he moved from the left hand side of the road towards the centre, suddenly a gap opened up which Jeremy Hunt gladly made use of, coming around on the inside in the final 10 metres to take a very big win. Cooke was also beaten by Stuart O'Grady's bike throw, and slammed the bars in frustration with victory so close.
Unfortunately, as Hunt crossed the line a crash near the back of the peloton brought down a number of riders, including Alessio's Alessandro Bertolini, who looked to be the worst hurt.
Photography
Photos by AFP
- Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) prepares to start the GP Ouest France
- Richard Virenque (Domo-Farm Frites) and Laurent Jalabert (CSC) chat before the start of the GP Ouest France
- Richard Virenque (Domo-Farm Frites) gets ready to start the GP Ouest France
- The dash for the line in the GP Ouest France. Jeremy Hunt (R) gets his nose in front of Baden Cooke, with Stuart O'Grady (C) preparing for the big bike throw.
- Jeremy Hunt (BigMat-Auber 93) raises his arms as he wins the 24th GP Ouest France-Plouay.
- The podium in Plouay (L to R): Baden Cooke (FDJ, 3rd), Jeremy Hunt (BigMat, 1st) and Stuart O'Grady (CA, 2nd)
Photos by Jean-François Quénet
- Mapei teammates Paolo Bettini (L) and Andrea Tafi (R) looking relaxed before the start.
- Daniele Nardello (Mapei-Quick Step) smiles at the start
- Brad McGee (FDJeux.com) enjoying the sunshine at the start
- Mirko Celestino (Saeco, L), Fabrizio Guidi (Team Coast, C) and Dario Pieri (Alessio, R) before the start
Results - 196 km
1 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Big Mat-Auber 93 4.44.02 (41.4 km/h) 2 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 3 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com 4 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 5 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Domo-Farm Frites 6 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 7 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 8 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 9 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) CSC-Tiscali 10 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 11 Raphael Schweda (Ger) Team Coast 12 Luca Paolini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 13 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 14 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Bonjour 15 Franck Renier (Fra) Bonjour 16 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Jean-Delatour 17 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) CSC-Tiscali 18 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 19 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 20 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 21 Davide Casarotto (Ita) Alessio 22 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 23 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Rabobank 24 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Saeco-Longoni Sport 25 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio 26 Thierry Loder (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 27 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 28 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 29 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 30 Matthias Buxhofer (Aut) Phonak Hearing Systems 31 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Coast 32 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Credit Agricole 33 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 34 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2r-Prevoyance 35 Richard Virenque (Fra) Domo-Farm Frites 36 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 37 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 38 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 39 Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi) Saint-Quentin Oktos 40 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Jean-Delatour 41 Gorka Gonzalez Larranaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 42 Joseba Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 43 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Jean-Delatour 44 Christophe Mengin (Fra) FDJeux.com 45 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 46 Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 47 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis 48 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 49 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 50 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Jean-Delatour 51 Tom Stremersch (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 52 Andrei Kivilev (Kaz) Cofidis 53 Eddy Ratti (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 54 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 55 Mauro Gianetti (Swi) Team Coast 56 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 57 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 58 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 59 Vladimir Smirnov (Ltu) Team Colpack-Astro 60 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Bonjour 61 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 62 Xavier Jan (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 63 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) FDJeux.com 64 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) FDJeux.com 65 Thierry De Groote (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 66 Michael Blaudzun (Den) CSC-Tiscali 67 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu) Saeco-Longoni Sport 68 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 69 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis 70 Andrey Kaschekin (Kaz) Domo-Farm Frites 71 Alexei Sivakov (Rus) Big Mat-Auber 93 72 Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 73 Oscar Mason (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 74 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) FDJeux.com 75 Walter Bénéteau (Fra) Bonjour 0.58 76 Niki Aebersold (Swi) Team Coast 77 Bekim Christensen (Den) Team Coast 78 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bonjour 79 Vincent Bader (Swi) Saint-Quentin Oktos 80 Davide Bramati (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 81 Frank Høj (Den) Team Coast 82 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 3.07 83 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 84 Stefano Casagranda (Ita) Alessio 5.56 85 Marco Milesi (Ita) Domo-Farm Frites 86 Médéric Clain (Fra) Cofidis 87 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJeux.com 88 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 89 Jeff Louder (USA) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 90 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 91 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 92 Alberto Vinale (Ita) Alessio 93 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 94 Cédric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole 95 Joona Laukka (Fin) Jean-Delatour 96 Roger Hammond (GBr) Palmans-Collstrop 97 Lylian Lebreton (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 98 Stéphane Heulot (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 99 Sébastien Talabardon (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 100 Gorka Arrizabalaga Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 101 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole 102 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Jean-Delatour 103 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 104 Olivier Asmaker (Fra) CSC-Tiscali 105 Stéphane Barthe (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 106 Vincent Templier (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 107 Carlos Dacruz (Fra) FDJeux.com 108 Rafael Nuritdinov (Uzb) Team Colpack-Astro 109 David Derepas (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 110 Christian Charrière (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 111 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 112 Kurt Van Landeghem (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 113 Christophe Oriol (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 114 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 115 Peter Wuyts (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 116 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 117 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 6.58 118 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 119 Bradley McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com 8.11 120 Lander Euba Ziarrusta (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10.38 TC Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
