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GP Ouest France-Plouay - CDM & ProT
France, August 27-28, 2005
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Hincapie stands tall in front of hostile crowd
By Jean-François Quénet in Plouay
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The atmosphere at the end of the GP Plouay - the most popular one-day race in France - was very similar to the 1998 edition of the Breton event when Pascal Hervé won in the wave of the Festina scandal. Never had a winner received such little applause in the village that hosted the world championships in 2000. No more than one-third of the spectators in the grandstands cheered for George Hincapie, not to mention those whistling and booing.
Big George didn't deserve such a treatment after sprinting to perfection against Alexandre Usov, who celebrated his 28th birthday with his team-mates from Ag2r the day before. "I raised my hands maybe too early," Hincapie admitted. The New Yorker also said he amazed himself: "With two laps to go, I was gonna drop out because my legs were finished. Everybody was so tired but I'm very happy to be winning."
While there wasn't the need for heckling, there was a need for the photo-finish to be analysed before the identity of the winner was determined. Davide Rebellin's third place, however, was quite clear and the Italian was satisfied with the results. "I'm not a great sprinter but I wanted to score points for the classification of the UCI Pro Tour," he said.
More disillusioned was Pro Tour leader Danilo Di Luca, who finished in 12th place. "At some stage, [Jan] Ullrich and [Alexandre] Vinokourov went away from the bunch," the Italian commented. "I counter-attacked them but no one wanted to contribute to the breakaway with me then. In fact, I understood almost from the start that this race would end up in a bunch sprint. The course of Plouay is hard but maybe not enough when so many riders have such great condition. It was difficult to escape. Then I got blocked in during the sprint. It's a pity because I had the possibility to score some more points today."
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Despite the inevitable, some riders tried to avoid a bunch sprint; an early three-man breakaway consisted of José Luis Arrieta (Illes Balears), Grégory Habeaux (Landbouwkrediet) and Matti Breschel (Team CSC), with Liquigas the most active team in the chase. In the final third of the race, though, Gerolsteiner riders came to the fore, as Fabian Wegmann of Gerolsteiner trying his chances on more than one occasion. RAGT's Eric Berthou was another one, but all had little chance of succeeding. Freddy Bichot (Française des Jeux) and Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) were the two last riders away during the final lap, but Bichot got instructions from his directeur sportif Marc Madiot not to ride.
Thus, 65 riders sprinted for the win at the end of a pretty disappointing scenario, although a big crowd - around 100.000 spectators - were back in Plouay, attracted by the fabulous line-up thanks to the existence of the UCI ProTour. But the boring race wasn't the reason for the crowd to be unhappy. Breton fans actually admire Hincapie since he won the Tour du Pays Pourleth in Ploerdut as a junior, just a few miles away from Plouay, back in 1991. A fabulous American national team captured the best junior races in this area with Fred Rodriguez and Jeff Evanshine! But the cycling enthusiasts have the feeling of being 'abused' by Lance Armstrong in the past few years, and not only because of the revelations in L'Equipe last week.
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Questioned about that matter, Hincapie - who refused to answer the press on his arrival to Plouay on Saturday - like the whole Discovery Channel team, gave a quick answer: "I'm Lance's biggest supporter. He's my best friend. He's a hero to billions of people including myself. It's a shame that some people don't like him but he's a hero to me." There were obviously a few people in Plouay who didn't share his admiration for the seven-time winner of the Tour de France.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jean-François Quénet
- Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC) fumes in disgust after crashing on the photographers' line.
- Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) disappointed after getting boxed in.
- Eric Berthou (R.A.G.T Semences) went for a desperate attack with two laps to go.
- Freddy Bichot (Française des Jeux) was instructed not to ride with Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) during the last lap.
- The podium - (L to R) Alexandre Usov (Ag2r Prevoyance, 2nd), George Hincapie (Discovery Channel, 1st) and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner).
- Once more with feeling to quote Bruce Lee.
- George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) with Miss Bretagne and the longest running sponsor of GP Plouay, Georges Le Tallec (who has sponsored the race since 1977).
Images by Régis Garnier/www.velofotopro.fr.st
- Laurent Brochard (Bouygues Telecom) heads to the team presentation
- Looking happy as always... Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) ended the day in third
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) is the star of the day in Plouay
- Ullrich looks happy to return in France after his third at the Tour de France.
- Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile) was looking for another classics victory
- The beast that is Der Jan. Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) looks imposing at the start
- UCI Pro-Tour leader Danilo Di Luca was on the star line in Plouay
- Now, I'm SURE it's on the right way... Jan checks his back wheel before the start
- The start of the men's race
- The first serious escape of the day with José Luis Arrieta (Illes Balears), Grégory Habeaux (Landbouwkrediet) and Matti Breschel (CSC) in it
- The peloton with Gerrand, Jalabert, Monnerais, Garzelli all near the front
- José Luis Arrieta (Illes Balears) was out alone after eight laps
- Liquigas leads the pursuit with Jan Ullrich lurking close behind
- Sorry folks, Tom's in Spain right now... but he'll be back in France soon!
- Jan Ullrich and Danilo Di Luca ride together
- George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) stays in the peloton, just watching proceedings
- T-Mobile team controlled the race near the end with his two leaders - Vinokourov and Ullrich
- Vinokourov and Rebellin lead the race during the final lap...
- George Hincapie wins the Grand Prix Ouest-France in a big bunch sprint to the finish
- Cyril Dessel (left) and his mate Usov celebrate Usov's second place
- Yes, you won... Big George looks a little dumbfounded
- Now, who was that drink for...? Every province has a miss to call their own
- Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) remains Pro Tour leader and fields press questions after the race
- The podium: (l-r): Alexandre Usov (Ag2r-Prevoyance), George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner)
- Dare we say it? Brothers in arms...there, we said it
- View from a podium and they all look pretty chuffed
- This one's gonna be my new fruit bowl. George Hincapie displays a very colourful prize
Results - 226km
1 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 4.59.42 (45.25 km/h) 2 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2r Prevoyance 3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 4 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 5 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 6 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 7 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Quick Step 8 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quick Step 9 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 10 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 11 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Domina Vacanze 12 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 13 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux 14 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 15 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 16 David Etxebarria Alkorta (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 17 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 18 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 19 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux 20 Christophe Rinero (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 21 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 22 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank 23 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 24 Christopher Horner (USA) Saunier Duval-Prodir 25 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 26 Benjamin Levecot (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 27 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step 28 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 29 Lars Back (Den) Team CSC 30 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux 31 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 32 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 33 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 34 Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 35 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 36 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 37 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 38 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 39 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel 40 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 41 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Domina Vacanze 42 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 43 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 44 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Agritubel 45 Massimo Codol (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 46 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 47 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 48 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 49 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 50 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel 51 Guido Trentin (Ita) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 52 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Ag2r Prevoyance 53 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Fassa Bortolo 54 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 55 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 56 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 57 Patrick Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick Step 58 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 59 Sergio Barbero (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 60 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 61 Dimitry Muravyev (Kaz) Credit Agricole 62 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner 63 Sergio Miguel Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 64 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step 65 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 66 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 0.16 67 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.42 68 Gregory Habeaux (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 69 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 70 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 71 Ludovic Martin (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 72 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 73 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 74 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.50 75 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 76 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 77 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir 78 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole 79 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française Des Jeux 80 Eric Berthou (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 81 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 82 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 83 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Française Des Jeux 84 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 85 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole 86 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 2.45 87 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 88 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 89 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux 90 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 91 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 92 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 93 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.20 94 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 4.00 95 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 96 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 97 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas-Bianchi 5.17 98 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 6.21 99 Unai Etxebarria Arana (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Walter Beneteau Bouygues Telecom DNF Frédéric Mainguenaud Bouygues Telecom DNF Mickael Pichon Bouygues Telecom DNF Laurent Lefevre Bouygues Telecom DNF Rony Martias Bouygues Telecom DNF Frédéric Amorison Davitamon-Lotto DNF Henk Vogels Davitamon-Lotto DNF Wim Van Huffel Davitamon-Lotto DNF Frédéric Bessy Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone DNF David Moncoutie Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone DNF Stéphane Auge Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone DNF Janek Tombak Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone DNF Matthew White Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone DNF Davide Vigano Quick Step DNF Davide Bramati Quick Step DNF Bram Tankink Quick Step DNF Laszlo Bodrogi Credit Agricole DNF Pietro Caucchioli Credit Agricole DNF Jaan Kirsipuu Credit Agricole DNF Andy Schleck Team CSC DNF Jens Voigt Team CSC DNF Matti Breschel Team CSC DNF Peter Luttenberger Team CSC DNF Luke Roberts Team CSC DNF Igor Anton Hernandez Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Joseba Zubeldia Agirre Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Iker Flores Galarza Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Anton Luengo Celaya Euskaltel-Euskadi DNF Markus Fothen Gerolsteiner DNF Sven Krauss Gerolsteiner DNF Beat Zberg Gerolsteiner DNF Carlos Barredo Llamazales Liberty Seguros-Würth Team DNF Koen De Kort Liberty Seguros-Würth Team DNF Jörg Jaksche Liberty Seguros-Würth Team DNF Aaron Kemps Liberty Seguros-Würth Team DNF José Antonio Redondo Ramos Liberty Seguros-Würth Team DNF Rubens Bertogliati Saunier Duval-Prodir DNF Ivan Ravaioli Saunier Duval-Prodir DNF José Luis Arrieta Lujambio Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne DNF José Luis Carrasco Gamiz Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne DNF David Navas Chica Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne DNF Antonio Tauler Llull Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne DNF Iker Leonet Iza Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne DNF Jan Schaffrath T-Mobile Team DNF Torsten Hiekmann T-Mobile Team DNF Matthias Kessler T-Mobile Team DNF Christian Werner T-Mobile Team DNF Uros Murn Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Grégory Rast Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Daniel Schnider Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Sascha Urweider Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Baden Cooke Française Des Jeux DNF Cyrille Monnerais Française Des Jeux DNF Viatcheslav Ekimov Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team DNF Ryder Hesjedal Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team DNF Pavel Padrnos Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team DNF Yaroslav Popovych Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team DNF Enrico Franzoi Lampre-Caffita DNF Paolo Fornaciari Lampre-Caffita DNF Evgeni Petrov Lampre-Caffita DNF Daniele Righi Lampre-Caffita DNF Oleksandr Kvachuk Lampre-Caffita DNF Claudio Corioni Fassa Bortolo DNF Massimo Giunti Fassa Bortolo DNF Vincenzo Nibali Fassa Bortolo DNF Dario Andriotto Liquigas-Bianchi DNF Enrico Gasparotto Liquigas-Bianchi DNF Marco Milesi Liquigas-Bianchi DNF Andrea Noe' Liquigas-Bianchi DNF Franco Pellizotti Liquigas-Bianchi DNF Roy Sentjens Rabobank DNF Karsten Kroon Rabobank DNF Jean-Paul Simon Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Steve Cummings Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Glenn D'hollander Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Jurgen Van Loocke Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Ludovic Capelle Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Sven Renders Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Nicolas Reynaud R.A.G.T. Semences DNF Hubert Dupont R.A.G.T. Semences DNF Roman Luhovyy R.A.G.T. Semences DNF Cedric Coutouly Agritubel DNF Florent Brard Agritubel DNF Mickaël Buffaz Agritubel DNF Gilles Canouet Agritubel DNF Benjamin Johnson Agritubel DNF Samuel Dumoulin Ag2r Prevoyance DNF Lloyd Mondory Ag2r Prevoyance DNF Mariano De Fino Silveiro Naturino-Sapore di Mare DNF Gian Matteo Fagnini Naturino-Sapore di Mare DNF Cristian Gasperoni Naturino-Sapore di Mare Pro Tour standings 1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 184 pts 2 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 140 3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 139 4 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 136 5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 131 6 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 130 7 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 129 8 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 126 9 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step 120 10 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 111 11 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 99 12 Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 95 13 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 94 14 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 92 15 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 86 16 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 80 17 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step 80 18 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 75 19 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 73 20 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 70 Full standings: Individuals, Teams, Nations
