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Tour of Britain - 2.3Great Britain, September 1-5, 2004Main Page Results Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage Stage 4 - September 4: Newport - Celtic Manor Resort, 160kmArdila fortifies lead with fine stage winBy Shane Stokes at Celtic Manor Race leader Mauricio Ardila (Chocolade Jacques) defended his race lead in the best possible fashion today when he won the penultimate stage of the Tour of Britain at Celtic Manor in South Wales. The 25 year old Colombian went clear of all bar one of his main rivals on the final climb up to the finish, outsprinting Spaniard Fernandez Moreno (Relax-Bodysol) in their dash to the line. Former World Cup winner Michele Bartoli of Team CSC outsprinted José Luis Rubiera (US Postal Service), Paolo Savoldelli (T-Mobile) and three others to take third, three seconds later. Eric Leblacher (Credit Agricole) had started the day level on time with Ardila but could only manage 13th on the 160.9 kilometre stage, losing eight seconds on the line and slipping to third overall. Counting his time bonus for finishing first, Ardila is now 17 seconds clear of Nick Nuyens (QuickStep - Davitamon), 18 ahead of Leblacher and 19 ahead of points leader Julian Dean (Credit Agricole) and Moreno. Savoldelli, Bartoli and Rubiera are sixth, seventh and eighth respectively while British champion Roger Hammond finished eleventh on the stage and is now twelfth overall. With just a 90 minute criterium in Westminster remaining tomorrow, Ardila is looking increasingly likely to win the 2.3 race on the streets of London. For his rivals, today was their real chance to take time back on him but they missed out; the only significant break was one featuring a quintet of riders over nine minutes back. Britons Jeremy Hunt (MrBookmaker.com), Yanto Barker (Wales) and Russell Downing (Great Britain), plus the Dutchman Koos Moerenhout (Lotto-Domo) and the Dane Kurt-Asle Arvesen of Team CSC did what they could to stay clear but were mopped up before the final leg-sapping climb to the Celtic Manor resort. As for the other classifications, MrBookmaker.com's Ben Day ended today with the same nine point cushion he started with over South African champion Ryan Cox (Barloworld) and needs simply to finish tomorrow to guarantee a win in that competition. Dean is eight points clear of Hammond in the points classification, while Rodney Green (Barloworld) is ten clear in the intermediate sprints ranking. MrBookmaker.com and Credit Agricole are on level time in the Team GC and with Chocolade Jacques just four seconds further back, everything is left to play for in that particular competition. How it unfoldedThere was a very active start to today's race with attack after attack going clear once the riders left Newport. Credit Agricole were responsible for hauling back quite a few of these, showing they were intent on moving their man Leblacher ahead of Ardila. About ten kilometres into the race a group of four formed at the head of affairs, the break comprising Kristof Trouvé (MrBookmaker.com), Kieran Page (Great Britain), Geert Verheyen (Chocolade Jacques) and Bradley Wiggins (Credit Agricole). This quartet was joined soon afterwards by several more riders but were then all reeled in by the combined efforts of Barloworld and QuickStep. Pavel Padrnos (US Postal) then tried his hand. Reinforcements in the form of André Korff (T-Mobile), Kurt Asle Arvesen, Paul Manning (Great Britain), Aaron Kemps (Quick.Step-Davitamon), Jeff Louder (Navigators Insurance), local rider Julian Winn (Wales) and Padrnos's team-mate Michael Creed arrived soon afterwards and held a 14 second lead over twelve chasers. The peloton was half a minute down. The large size of the group cost them some efficiency and after about three kilometres the bunch started to close things down again. Korff and Kemps tried the old textbook manoeuvre of attacking the break just before their recapture but it didn't pay off for them, with a general regrouping taking place. Following another few short-lived attempts, a group of 14 riders got clear before the first ascent of the steep category 3 ascent to the finish line at Celtic Manor. The break had 35 seconds at the bottom of the time and conserved most of its advantage to the top. Welsh rider Tom Southam led 20-year old amateur Tim Cassidy (Grant Thornton Team Ireland) past the prime line while behind, Tour de France runner up Andreas Klöden packed the race. Race leader Ardila jumped across to this front group and was soon joined by an attentive Leblacher, equal on time in the overall standings. After the descent the entire group was mopped up by the main bunch, with a five rider counterattack then surging forward and putting daylight between themselves and the rest. There were three British riders in the quintet - Jeremy Hunt (MrBookmaker.com), Yanto Barker (Wales) and Russell Downing (Great Britain), plus the Dutchman Koos Moerenhout (Lotto-Domo), and the Dane Kurt-Asle Arvesen of Team CSC. With the best-placed rider Downing over nine minutes down overall, the group posed no real threat for the race favourites and they were given more leeway than the previous efforts. With 90 of the stage's 160.9 kilometres covered the quintet had 6'45 on the main field. Then, following the second sprint at the New Distributor bridge, which went to Hunt ahead of Arvesen and Downing, the riders raced on to the second passage over the finish line. The group stayed together on the steep, crowd-lined slopes up to Celtic Manor, where Barker took the KOM prime ahead of Hunt, Moerenhout, Arvesen and Downing. Behind, the main bunch also crossed the prime line en masse, with the expected assaults on Ardila's jersey failing to materialise. At 112 kilometres the break's lead was down to 3'18, but this inched up again to over four minutes. However, with 40 kilometres remaining the Relax-Bodysol and QuickStep Davitamon-led peloton had halved this gap, spelling danger for the break. The leading five did what they could to pick up the pace but by the time they reached 20 kilometres to go point, their lead had dwindled to 1'12. US Postal had four riders within 20 seconds of yellow and was particularly active, with Quick.Step-Davitamon, T-Mobile and Credit Agricole also riding hard. With 15 kilometres remaining the leaders had 55 seconds; at the final Distributor Bridge sprint, won by Jeremy Hunt, it was down to a very fragile 27. The break was overhauled before the final ascent up to the Celtic Manor resort, setting the scene for a nail-biting finish. Riders such as Bartoli, Rubiera, Savoldelli and Hammond have a far bigger list of results than does Ardila and must have fancied their chances, but the young Colombian proved more than equal to the task. He surged clear of the rest of the field along with Fernandez Moreno, and then outsprinted the Spaniard to take the stage plus a tighter grip on his yellow jersey. Nick Nuyens came home seventh and moved to second overall while Leblacher lost eight seconds to Ardila and his chance of taking the lead. "It was a good circuit and it worked out well for my team," said Ardila. When the break went away the other teams were pulling it back so Chocolade Jacques were quite content to let the other teams do the work. We knew it was a very hard finish today and that the difference would be made on the final rise to the line, not necessarily during the race."
"It worked out well in the sprint to the line. In various other races such as the Tour of Poland and the Tour of Pays Basque I have been up there in the points. If it is not too hilly I can still sprint at the top of the hills and so it proved today." The Colombian goes into tomorrow's 90 minute stage with a seventeen second lead over Nuyens and is reasonably confident that he can hold on. "The lead is certainly more comfortable than I had before so I am happy. It should be easier for my team to control the race tomorrow as it is a criterium, so hopefully all will work out well for us." PhotographyImages by Shane Stokes/Cyclingnews.com
Images by John Pierce/PhotoSport International
Results1 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Chocolade Jacques 3.32.37 (45.41 km/h) 2 Fernandez Moreno (Spa) Relax - Bodysol 3 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Team CSC 0.03 4 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 5 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) T-Mobile 6 John Gadret (Fra) Chocolade Jacques 7 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 8 Julian Dean (NZl) Credit Agricole 9 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile 0.06 10 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 0.08 11 Roger Hammond (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 12 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Mr Bookmaker.com 13 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Credit Agricole 14 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto-Domo 15 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Insurance 16 Ben Day (Aus) Mr Bookmaker.com 0.10 17 Ryan Cox (RSA) Barloworld 0.11 18 Tom Southam (GBr) Great Britain 0.13 19 Philip Deignan (Irl) Ireland 20 Alejandro Alberto Borrajo (Arg) Ceramiche Panaria 21 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Great Britain 22 Hector Guerra Garcia (Spa) Relax - Bodysol 23 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile 24 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Relax - Bodysol 0.24 25 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole 26 Mario De Clercq (Bel) Mr Bookmaker.com 27 José Azevedo (Por) US Postal-Berry Floor 28 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) Barloworld 29 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC 0.32 30 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Scotland 31 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Chocolade Jacques 32 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques 33 Wim de Vocht (Bel) Relax - Bodysol 34 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 35 Tim Cassidy (Irl) Ireland 36 Kristof Trouve (Bel) Mr Bookmaker.com 37 David McCann (Irl) Ireland 0.35 38 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Ireland 39 Ciarán Power (Irl) Navigators Insurance 40 Jamie Norfolk (GBr) Wales 0.40 41 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) US Postal-Berry Floor 0.42 42 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal-Berry Floor 43 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Ceramiche Panaria 0.45 44 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 0.48 45 Gary Hand (GBr) Scotland 0.50 46 Kieran Page (GBr) Great Britain 0.53 47 Robert Partridge (GBr) Wales 48 Julio Lopez De La Torre (Spa) Relax - Bodysol 0.58 49 Nico Mattan (Bel) Relax - Bodysol 1.00 50 Jason McIntyre (GBr) Scotland 1.03 51 Alex Coutts (GBr) Scotland 52 Kirk Obee (USA) Navigators Insurance 53 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance 54 Chris Newton (GBr) Great Britain 1.06 55 Stefan Adamsson (Swe) Barloworld 56 Maksym Rudenko (Ukr) Chocolade Jacques 57 Russel Downing (GBr) Great Britain 58 David Smith (GBr) Scotland 1.09 59 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto-Domo 60 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 61 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Chocolade Jacques 1.17 62 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Credit Agricole 63 Jeremy Yates (NZl) Credit Agricole 1.22 64 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quick Step-Davitamon 1.25 65 Benjamin Noval (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 66 Michael Creed (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 67 Mario Aerts (Bel) T-Mobile 68 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Quick Step-Davitamon 1.31 69 Paidi O'Brien (Irl) Ireland 1.32 70 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 71 Paride Grillo (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 72 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Team CSC 1.34 73 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Quick Step-Davitamon 1.45 74 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 75 Yanto Barker (GBr) Wales 1.50 76 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 77 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto-Domo 2.00 78 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Credit Agricole 2.35 79 Duncan Urquhart (GBr) Scotland 2.37 80 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld 2.42 81 Rodney Green (RSA) Barloworld 82 Gareth Jones (GBr) Wales 14.40 DNF Julian Winn (GBr) Wales DNF Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile DNF Viktor Rapinski (Blr) Navigators Insurance DNS Tommy Evans (Irl) Ireland Points 1 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Chocolade Jacques 15 pts 2 Fernandez Moreno (Spa) Relax - Bodysol 14 3 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Team CSC 13 4 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 12 5 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) T-Mobile 11 6 John Gadret (Fra) Chocolade Jacques 10 7 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 9 8 Julian Dean (NZl) Credit Agricole 8 9 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile 7 10 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 6 11 Roger Hammond (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 5 12 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Mr Bookmaker.com 4 13 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Credit Agricole 3 14 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto-Domo 2 15 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Insurance 1 Mountains KOM Cat 3 at Celtic Manor 1 Tom Southam (GBr) Great Britain 4 pts 2 Tim Cassidy (Irl) Ireland 3 3 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld 2 4 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 1 KOM Cat 3 at Celtic Manor 1 Yanto Barker (GBr) Wales 4 pts 2 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 3 3 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto-Domo 2 4 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 1 Sprints Sprint at Distributor Bridge 1 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 5 pts 2 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 3 3 Russel Downing (GBr) Great Britain 2 4 Yanto Barker (GBr) Wales 1 Sprint at Distributor Bridge 1 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 5 pts 2 Russel Downing (GBr) Great Britain 3 3 Yanto Barker (GBr) Wales 2 4 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 1 Teams 1 T-Mobile 10.38.13 2 Mr Bookmaker.com 0.04 3 Chocolade Jacques 0.13 4 Credit Agricole 5 Relax - Bodysol 0.15 6 Team CSC 0.21 7 US Postal-Berry Service 0.47 8 Great Britain 0.57 9 Ireland 0.58 10 Barloworld 1.19 11 Navigators Insurance 1.24 12 Ceramiche Panaria 13 Quick Step-Davitamon 1.38 14 Scotland 2.03 15 Lotto-Domo 2.55 16 Wales 3.01 General classification after stage 4 1 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Chocolade Jacques 17.31.06 2 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 0.17 3 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Credit Agricole 0.18 4 Julian Dean (NZl) Credit Agricole 0.19 5 Fernandez Moreno (Spa) Relax - Bodysol 6 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) T-Mobile 0.20 7 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Team CSC 0.24 8 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 9 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto-Domo 0.27 10 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Insurance 11 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 0.29 12 Roger Hammond (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 0.33 13 John Gadret (Fra) Chocolade Jacques 14 Alejandro Alberto Borrajo (Arg) Ceramiche Panaria 0.34 15 Ben Day (Aus) Mr Bookmaker.com 0.35 16 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Mr Bookmaker.com 0.38 17 Philip Deignan (Irl) Ireland 0.41 18 Hector Guerra Garcia (Spa) Relax - Bodysol 0.43 19 Tom Southam (GBr) Great Britain 20 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Great Britain 21 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile 22 Ryan Cox (RSA) Barloworld 0.51 23 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole 0.54 24 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) Barloworld 25 José Azevedo (Por) US Postal-Berry Floor 26 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC 1.01 27 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Chocolade Jacques 1.02 28 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) US Postal-Berry Floor 1.12 29 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal-Berry Floor 30 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 1.42 31 Russel Downing (GBr) Great Britain 10.21 32 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile 13.56 33 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 14.05 34 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Relax - Bodysol 14.08 35 Tim Cassidy (Irl) Ireland 14.17 36 Ciarán Power (Irl) Navigators Insurance 14.20 37 Kristof Trouve (Bel) Mr Bookmaker.com 14.22 38 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Scotland 39 Wim de Vocht (Bel) Relax - Bodysol 40 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques 41 David McCann (Irl) Ireland 14.25 42 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Ireland 43 Kieran Page (GBr) Great Britain 14.43 44 Mario De Clercq (Bel) Mr Bookmaker.com 14.48 45 Julio Lopez De La Torre (Spa) Relax - Bodysol 46 Nico Mattan (Bel) Relax - Bodysol 14.50 47 Maksym Rudenko (Ukr) Chocolade Jacques 14.51 48 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance 14.53 49 Stefan Adamsson (Swe) Barloworld 14.56 50 Chris Newton (GBr) Great Britain 51 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto-Domo 14.59 52 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 53 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Chocolade Jacques 15.07 54 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Ceramiche Panaria 15.08 55 Paride Grillo (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 15.11 56 Mario Aerts (Bel) T-Mobile 15.15 57 Michael Creed (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 58 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quick Step-Davitamon 59 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 15.20 60 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Quick Step-Davitamon 15.21 61 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Team CSC 15.24 62 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Quick Step-Davitamon 15.25 63 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 15.29 64 Jeremy Yates (NZl) Credit Agricole 15.31 65 Yanto Barker (GBr) Wales 15.34 66 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto-Domo 15.50 67 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Credit Agricole 16.18 68 Benjamin Noval (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 16.26 69 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 16.46 70 Jamie Norfolk (GBr) Wales 20.44 71 Kirk Obee (USA) Navigators Insurance 21.43 72 Jason McIntyre (GBr) Scotland 21.48 73 Paidi O'Brien (Irl) Ireland 22.15 74 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld 23.22 75 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Credit Agricole 24.01 76 Alex Coutts (GBr) Scotland 24.47 77 Rodney Green (RSA) Barloworld 26.29 78 Gary Hand (GBr) Scotland 26.53 79 David Smith (GBr) Scotland 29.30 80 Robert Partridge (GBr) Wales 34.41 81 Duncan Urquhart (GBr) Scotland 46.21 82 Gareth Jones (GBr) Wales 49.56 Points classification 1 Julian Dean (NZl) Credit Agricole 40 pts 2 Roger Hammond (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 32 3 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Chocolade Jacques 30 4 Alejandro Alberto Borrajo (Arg) Ceramiche Panaria 30 5 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 26 6 Fernandez Moreno (Spa) Relax - Bodysol 26 7 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto-Domo 25 8 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) T-Mobile 24 9 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 23 10 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 23 11 Paride Grillo (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 21 12 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 16 13 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Quick Step-Davitamon 15 14 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Credit Agricole 15 15 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Team CSC 14 16 Maksym Rudenko (Ukr) Chocolade Jacques 13 17 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 11 18 Yanto Barker (GBr) Wales 11 19 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Insurance 10 20 John Gadret (Fra) Chocolade Jacques 10 21 Ciarán Power (Irl) Navigators Insurance 10 22 Kirk Obee (USA) Navigators Insurance 10 23 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile 7 24 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Relax - Bodysol 7 25 Ben Day (Aus) Mr Bookmaker.com 6 26 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Mr Bookmaker.com 6 27 Russel Downing (GBr) Great Britain 6 28 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile 4 29 Stefan Adamsson (Swe) Barloworld 3 30 Tim Cassidy (Irl) Ireland 2 Mountains classification 1 Ben Day (Aus) Mr Bookmaker.com 35 pts 2 Ryan Cox (RSA) Barloworld 26 3 Duncan Urquhart (GBr) Scotland 23 4 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Credit Agricole 23 5 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Chocolade Jacques 22 6 Rodney Green (RSA) Barloworld 20 7 Tom Southam (GBr) Great Britain 18 8 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Insurance 16 9 Robert Partridge (GBr) Wales 12 10 Benjamin Noval (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 8 11 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 7 12 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) Barloworld 6 13 Yanto Barker (GBr) Wales 4 14 Fernandez Moreno (Spa) Relax - Bodysol 4 15 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) T-Mobile 4 16 Tim Cassidy (Irl) Ireland 3 17 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mr Bookmaker.com 3 18 David Smith (GBr) Scotland 3 19 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile 2 20 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) US Postal-Berry Floor 2 21 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 2 22 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto-Domo 2 23 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld 2 24 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal-Berry Floor 1 25 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 1 26 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Quick Step-Davitamon 1 Teams classification 1 Mr Bookmaker.com 52.35.04 2 Credit Agricole 3 Chocolade Jacques 0.04 4 Team CSC 0.13 5 US Postal-Berry Service 0.44 6 Great Britain 9.51 7 T-Mobile 13.17 8 Relax - Bodysol 13.31 9 Barloworld 14.40 10 Ceramiche Panaria 15.04 11 Ireland 27.39 12 Navigators Insurance 27.53 13 Quick Step-Davitamon 28.10 14 Lotto-Domo 29.36 15 Scotland 47.27 16 Wales 59.10 |
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