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Eneco Tour of Benelux - ProT
Netherlands & Belgium, August 3-10, 2005
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Stage 4 - August 7: Landgraaf (Ned) - Verviers (Bel), 232 km
Ballan tastes success again in Belgium
Verbrugghe extends lead on a farcical stage
By Jeff Jones
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Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Caffita) has won the fourth stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux, which can be best described as "torrid", both because of the stormy weather and the tempestuous emotions that arose when the race had to be stopped after the peloton was sent the wrong way. Although the 232 km stage between Landgraaf and Verviers had an unscheduled stop with 43 km to go, fortunately there was enough left for a proper finale to be ridden, and Ballan chose the perfect wheel to come off to win the stage.
It was Russian Champion Serguei Ivanov (T-Mobile), who was very active in the closing stages, that led into the final corner with 250 metres to go with Ballan on his wheel. In third was Thomas Dekker, who let the gap go around the corner and effectively gave Ballan a 10 metre bonus in the sprint. That was enough for the Italian classics specialist, who earlier this year won a stage and finished second overall in the Driedaagse van De Panne, as well as placing sixth in the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Ballan surged over Ivanov for the victory while race leader Rik Verbrugghe (Quick.Step) rode an excellent sprint to finish second ahead of Leif Hoste and Allan Davis, increasing his lead in the general classification to 6 seconds over Davis.
"At the start of the sprint, I chose the wheel of Sergey Ivanov," said Ballan. "I felt that there was a gap behind us, so I gave everything and came over Ivanov for the win." The Italian added that he loved racing in the wet weather, and that it was "probably an ally for me today."
On the disruption to the race, Ballan commented, "Well, it was an unfortunate affair. We were constantly getting closer to the leaders. We would have definitely got them in the finale. I won here, that's actually what interests me the most."
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Race leader Rik Verbrugghe was happy with himself after increasing his lead on GC. "Erik Dekker and Allan Davis showed themselves to be very active in the intermediate sprints, so that at one point I was on the same time as Davis. Therefore I had to sprint for the seconds and with my second place I've done well. I give myself a 50 percent chance to win the Eneco Tour. It will be hard fought for every second in the coming days."
Verbrugghe used his local knowledge to lead the peloton back onto the parcours, after an absent race marshal had caused the whole bunch to go the wrong way at the bottom of the Cote de Wanne with 64 km to go. "I quickly realised that we had gone the wrong way," he said. "Going back was impossible with all the cars behind us, so I gave the sign to ride further. I know the roads in the area, although I knew we had to do a few more kilometres. Finally we got back on the right road."
For the race organisers to stop the break was "maybe not really right," according to Verbrugghe. "But we probably would have caught them."
Sunderland explains
Team CSC's first director Scott Sunderland was back with the peloton when the whole mess occurred. He explained it all to Cyclingnews: "It happened at the bottom of the descent after the Wanne. Instead of going left, they took us straight. One of the signallers had left his post. He'd gone on ahead and didn't stay there. By the time we realised it, we were halfway up another hill and couldn't come back down again.
"The peloton had to do an extra hill, but the lead riders didn't go wrong. The commissaires messed around until they made a decision about it. I told Tristan Hoffman [CSC's new director] to tell Vandevelde to keep going. In Tirreno-Adriatico a few years ago, the peloton went the wrong way and it was the end of the race. Back then it was up to the riders to know. Apparently now, the commissaire said we have a thing called "un accident de course", which means they have the right to stop the race and restart it with the proper time differences.
"It depends on which point of view you have: On one side, there's Davitamon, Discovery, and me. On the other is Rabobank and Liberty. For me it was double sided: a) I've got someone in front for the stage win, and b) I've got Frank Schleck, Bobby Julich, and Michael Blaudzun trying to open it up for the overall classement.
"I was talking to the commissaire, who said that if they [the breakaways] don't stop he'll disqualify them and cancel the whole stage. So I said, 'OK, we'll go ahead and we'll discuss this later.'"
"For me, I wanted to make a decision and do it quickly. When they stopped them, they didn't give them the full 6'30. If they could have had that extra minute, then maybe it would have been different. Also, all the other teams regrouped; Rabobank and Liberty gained some extra men. At the end of it, it was a completely bad situation. It was very bad for the riders, the race, everything.
"But we had to keep racing. I'm frustrated with how it was, with everyone being inconvenienced. You're there to race, not sit around discussing it. We had to go on."
"I'm very happy with how the team rode. We have the mountain jersey, and we've been animating the race. We'll see what happens - maybe we can still do something. It's going to be harder but not impossible."
How it unfolded
159 riders started in the Dutch town of Landgraaf at 10:50 am, ready for the 232 km queen stage of the Eneco Tour. If yesterday was a mini-Amstel Gold Race, today was a mini-Liege-Bastogne-Liege, featuring several of the Ardennes climbs used in La Doyenne and finishing in Verviers. The weather was cool, with temperatures between 10 and 18 degrees, and storms predicted during the day. Non-starters today were Thomas Ziegler and Manuele Mori.
The peloton stayed together until the first intermediate sprint after 36 km, where Erik Dekker won ahead of Allan Davis and Rik Verbrugghe. That effectively put Davis on equal time with Verbrugghe on the general classification, although there was still a lot of racing to come. 45.8 km were covered in the first hour, and when the bunch hit the Côte d'Halembaye, a group of four riders had got clear: Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel) was first over, followed by Bart Dockx (Davitamon-Lotto), Christian Vandevelde (CSC), and Finnish champion Jussi Veikkanen (FDJ).
The quartet gained ground fairly quickly, as Vandevelde was the best placed on GC at 6'30 down, so presented no great threat to the overall lead. However, once the gap got to nine minutes, Rabobank started to control the situation and didn't let the four get much further ahead. In the meantime, Giosue Bonomi (Lampre), Brian Vandborg (CSC), and Frank Vandenbroucke (MrBookmaker) all pulled out, while up front, Vandevelde began to take the maximum points on the climbs, eventually capturing the mountains jersey at the end of the day.
Quick.Step joined Rabobank in the chase and with 95 km to go, the gap was 9'21 but falling. The chase was solid, and the two strong teams were doing enough to pull back the four leaders at about one minute every 10 kilometres. On the Côte de la Haute Levée with 64 km to go, Veikkanen couldn't follow any more and left the other three in front with a lead of around 6'30. In the peloton, Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo) attacked with Matej Mugerli (Liquigas) over the top of the Côte de Wanne, but Bruseghin was too strong for the Slovenian and continued on his own in pursuit of the break. He was only 2'39 down on GC, and presented a bigger threat.
Then the disaster struck the peloton at the bottom of the descent after the Côte de Wanne, when an absent race marshal caused the peloton to go straight ahead rather than left [Bruseghin and Mugerli went the correct way]. By the time the riders realised, it was too late to go back down and it was race leader and local boy Rik Verbrugghe who led the bunch over an extra climb and back onto the parcours. The bunch was now 15 minutes behind the break, and had little chance of catching it with just 55 km to go. Meanwhile, Bruseghin had closed to within 5'00.
The commissaires decided in favour of the peloton and asked Vandevelde, McCartney and Dockx to stop at the top of the Rosier and wait for the bunch, so that the gap could be reduced to what it was before the shenanigans at the Côte de Wanne. But the three leaders refused to stop, and it was only the intervention of the police with 43 km to go that halted their progress. Bart Dockx immediately sat on the ground in protest and argued with race director Rob Discart, calling the whole situation "laughable" as he and his two companions had done nothing wrong. Vandevelde accepted it philosophically, while McCartney used the break to commune with nature. But the organisers had made their decision and the break was forced to wait while Bruseghin, Mugerli, Veikkanen, Muravyev (who had also attacked the bunch), and finally the peloton caught up.
The restart saw the three leaders go with around four minutes (taking into account the extra 20 km they rode) of their gap intact. Bruseghin was allowed to go about 2'00 behind, then the peloton set off, led by Liberty Seguros and Rabobank, who had gained a few more riders in the meantime. Bruseghin now had no chance, and was caught with 26 km to go as the race hit a hailstorm. The front three were fading and had only 2'00 of their gap intact, and when Kevin de Weert took over on the Côte Annete, it dropped to a minute.
Erik Dekker and Sergey Ivanov started to stir things up on the small climb, but were unable to shake Verbrugghe and co. At 20 km to go, Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Illes Balears) got a gap, and caught the three leaders on the last climb of the day, the Côte de Surister. Ivanov countered behind, taking Julich (CSC) and Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) with him, and when the three caught Gutierrez, a dangerous 10 second gap opened with 15 km to go.
Julich was the strongest in the break and kept the Liberty and Rabobank-led peloton at bay, but with 5 km to go, it was all together again with a group of 36 riders coming to the finish to contest the sprint. Rene Andrle kept the pace up for Allan Davis in the last 1.5 km, before Thomas Dekker took over at 800m to go. Then it was Ivanov moving up past Dekker to reach the final corner in first place, with Alessandro Ballan on his wheel. Dekker left a small gap behind and that was enough security for Ballan to claim the stage win ahead of Verbrugghe, Hoste, and Davis.
At the end of the day, Verbrugghe leads Davis by 6 seconds and Blaudzun by 14, but with 16 riders still within a minute of each other, it's quite possible for things to change before Wednesday's final time trial. The next two stages are flat, and Verbrugghe will be counting on help from the sprinters' teams to keep it together.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by AFP Photo
- Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Caffita) wins Stage 4 of the ENECO Tour in Verviers, Belgium.
- Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Caffita) grins with delight.
- Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Caffita) on the podium.
- Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step-Innergetic) puts on another maroon tunic as race leader.
Results
1 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 6.06.05 (38.024km/h) 2 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 3 Leif Hoste (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 4 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 6 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 7 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 8 Johan Coenen (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 9 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile Team 10 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile Team 11 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 12 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 13 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 14 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 15 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 16 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi 17 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 18 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 19 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 20 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 21 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 22 Luca Solari (Ita) Domina Vacanze 23 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 24 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner 25 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 26 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 27 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 28 Serge Baguet (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 29 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 30 Gorka Gonzalez Larranaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 31 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 32 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 33 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 34 Jan Hruska (Cze) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 35 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 36 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC 0.07 37 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 0.51 38 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.53 39 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 40 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Domina Vacanze 0.55 41 Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 42 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 43 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 44 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 1.25 45 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 3.54 46 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 47 Frderic Guesdon (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 48 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 49 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4.07 50 Unai Yus Kerejeta (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 4.08 51 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Credit Agricole 6.28 52 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 53 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 54 Mikel Pradera Rodriguez (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 55 Frderik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 56 Angel Edo Alsina (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 57 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 58 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 59 Roger Hammond (GBr) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 60 Christian Werner (Ger) T-Mobile Team 61 Bram Schmitz (Ned) T-Mobile Team 62 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 63 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 64 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 65 René Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 66 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 9.03 67 Viktor Rapinsky (Blr) Phonak Hearing Systems 10.25 68 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 69 Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 70 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 10.28 71 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 10.29 72 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 73 Anton Luengo Celaya (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 74 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 75 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 76 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 14.56 77 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 78 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team 79 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 80 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 81 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 82 Nicola Loda (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 83 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 84 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas-Bianchi 85 Gianluca Sironi (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 87 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 88 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Francaise des Jeux 89 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 90 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Gerolsteiner 91 Aketza Pena Iza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 92 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 93 Julian Dean (NZl) Credit Agricole 94 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole 95 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic 96 Sascha Urweider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 97 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 98 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 99 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 100 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 101 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 102 Jose Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 103 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 104 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team CSC 19.54 105 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team 106 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp 107 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 108 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 109 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 110 Frank Hoj (Den) Gerolsteiner 111 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Francaise des Jeux 112 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic 113 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 114 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 115 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 116 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner 117 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner 118 Geert Omloop (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 119 David Boucher (Fra) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 24.01 120 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 24.05 121 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 122 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 123 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Credit Agricole 124 Marco Righetto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 125 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Domina Vacanze 126 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 127 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Domina Vacanze 128 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 129 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 130 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 131 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 132 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 133 Enrico Grigoli (Ita) Domina Vacanze 134 Ruggero Borghi (Ita) Domina Vacanze 135 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 136 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 137 Rudie Kemna (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 138 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp 139 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 140 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 141 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise des Jeux 142 Benoit Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 143 Alain Van Katwijk (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 144 Marco Bos (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 145 Julien Smink (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 146 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 147 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 148 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 149 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 150 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 151 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 152 Yohann Gene (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 153 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 154 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom DNF Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner DNF Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC DNF Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team CSC DNF Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo DNF Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita DNF Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech DNS Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Gerolsteiner DNS Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir Climbs Climb 1 1 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 10 pts 2 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 7 3 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 5 4 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise des Jeux 3 5 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1 Climb 2 1 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 10 pts 2 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 7 3 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 5 4 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise des Jeux 3 5 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1 Climb 3 1 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 10 pts 2 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 7 3 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 5 4 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise des Jeux 3 5 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1 Climb 4 1 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 10 pts 2 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 7 3 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 5 4 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3 5 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas-Bianchi 1 Climb 5 1 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 10 pts 2 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 7 3 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 5 4 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3 5 Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 1 Climb 6 1 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 10 pts 2 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 7 3 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 5 4 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile Team 3 5 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1 Climb 7 1 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 10 pts 2 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 7 3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 5 4 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile Team 3 5 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 1 Sprints Sprint 1 1 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 8 pts 2 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 5 3 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 3 Sprint 2 1 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 8 pts 2 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 5 3 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 3 Sprint 3 1 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 8 pts 2 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise des Jeux 5 3 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 3 Teams 1 Saunier Duval-Prodir 18.18.15 2 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3 T-Mobile Team 4 Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 5 Quick Step-Innergetic 6 Team CSC 0.07 7 Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.53 8 Rabobank 1.25 9 Lampre-Caffita 6.28 10 Credit Agricole 11 Davitamon-Lotto 12 Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 7.19 13 Gerolsteiner 14.56 14 Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 16.56 15 Phonak Hearing Systems 18.13 16 Domina Vacanze 25.00 17 Liquigas-Bianchi 29.52 18 Francaise des Jeux 33.46 19 Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 34.50 20 Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 21 Fassa Bortolo 36.20 22 Bouygues Telecom 43.09 23 Shimano- Memery Corp 1.08.04 General classification after stage 4 1 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 19.44.28 2 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.06 3 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 0.14 4 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.15 5 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.16 6 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 0.18 7 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.20 8 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.25 9 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile Team 0.36 10 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 11 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 12 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 13 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 14 Leif Hoste (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 0.40 15 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 0.49 16 Serge Baguet (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.54 17 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 1.26 18 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 1.34 19 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 2.06 20 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 2.43 21 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 22 Jan Hruska (Cze) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 2.44 23 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.46 24 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.50 25 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 2.56 26 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 2.57 27 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner 3.03 28 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3.04 29 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 3.05 30 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.47 31 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC 3.59 32 Johan Coenen (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 4.08 33 Frderic Guesdon (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 4.28 34 Unai Yus Kerejeta (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 4.38 35 Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 6.06 36 Bram Schmitz (Ned) T-Mobile Team 6.46 37 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 6.55 38 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 7.07 39 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 7.27 40 René Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 7.59 41 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 8.29 42 Roger Hammond (GBr) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 9.06 43 Luca Solari (Ita) Domina Vacanze 9.07 44 Gorka Gonzalez Larranaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9.08 45 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 46 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 9.13 47 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 9.20 48 Christian Werner (Ger) T-Mobile Team 9.26 49 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Credit Agricole 9.37 50 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Domina Vacanze 9.42 51 Frderik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 9.51 52 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 10.36 53 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 10.51 54 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 13.10 55 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 13.29 56 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 13.30 57 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi 13.34 58 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 14.03 59 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 15.18 60 Mikel Pradera Rodriguez (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 15.53 61 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 17.17 62 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 17.31 63 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 17.35 64 Sascha Urweider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 18.33 65 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 19.11 66 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 19.55 67 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 68 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 22.31 69 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner 22.33 70 Angel Edo Alsina (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 23.32 71 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team 23.35 72 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 23.48 73 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 24.03 74 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 24.04 75 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 24.14 76 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 25.24 77 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 25.51 78 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 26.11 79 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 26.16 80 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 26.42 81 David Boucher (Fra) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 27.40 82 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 28.16 83 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 28.27 84 Aketza Pena Iza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 28.28 85 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Gerolsteiner 28.36 86 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 28.38 87 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 28.47 88 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 28.50 89 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 28.58 90 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 91 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Francaise des Jeux 29.05 92 Gianluca Sironi (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 29.54 93 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 30.24 94 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 31.03 95 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 31.26 96 Nicola Loda (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 31.30 97 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team 32.19 98 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic 32.25 99 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 32.31 100 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic 32.45 101 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 33.29 102 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 103 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 33.49 104 Julien Smink (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 34.06 105 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 34.14 106 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole 34.50 107 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 35.12 108 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner 37.03 109 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Domina Vacanze 37.11 110 Geert Omloop (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 37.31 111 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 37.35 112 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Francaise des Jeux 37.43 113 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 37.53 114 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 38.10 115 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 38.38 116 Frank Hoj (Den) Gerolsteiner 39.00 117 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp 40.02 118 Benoit Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 40.18 119 Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 40.44 120 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team CSC 41.01 121 Anton Luengo Celaya (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 41.04 122 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 41.09 123 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 41.14 124 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 41.24 125 Viktor Rapinsky (Blr) Phonak Hearing Systems 41.25 126 Rudie Kemna (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 41.31 127 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 41.34 128 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise des Jeux 41.35 129 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Credit Agricole 41.43 130 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 41.57 131 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 41.58 132 Marco Righetto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 42.03 133 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 42.04 134 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas-Bianchi 42.27 135 Jose Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 43.15 136 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 43.24 137 Julian Dean (NZl) Credit Agricole 43.44 138 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 45.00 139 Yohann Gene (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 45.28 140 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp 45.53 141 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 46.48 142 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 49.00 143 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 49.21 144 Marco Bos (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 49.25 145 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 49.27 146 Alain Van Katwijk (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 51.00 147 Ruggero Borghi (Ita) Domina Vacanze 51.08 148 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 51.27 149 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 52.35 150 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 53.18 151 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Domina Vacanze 54.59 152 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 55.00 153 Enrico Grigoli (Ita) Domina Vacanze 58.36 Points classification 1 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 101 pts 2 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 50 3 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 46 4 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 41 5 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 37 6 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 35 7 Leif Hoste (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 33 8 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 32 9 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile Team 30 10 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 30 11 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Domina Vacanze 30 12 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 28 13 Rudie Kemna (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 24 14 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 22 15 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 22 16 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 17 17 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 17 18 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 17 19 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 17 20 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 16 21 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 15 22 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 15 23 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Credit Agricole 15 24 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 13 25 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner 13 26 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 12 27 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 12 28 Johan Coenen (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 12 29 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 11 30 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 11 31 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 11 32 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 11 33 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile Team 10 34 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 10 35 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 5 36 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise des Jeux 5 37 Frderic Guesdon (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 3 38 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 3 39 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp 3 Climbs classification 1 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 53 pts 2 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 48 3 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 32 4 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 31 5 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 27 6 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 17 7 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 12 8 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 11 9 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 10 10 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise des Jeux 9 11 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 8 12 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 7 13 David Boucher (Fra) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 6 14 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile Team 6 15 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 5 16 Leif Hoste (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 1 17 Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 1 18 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 1 19 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas-Bianchi 1 Young rider classification 1 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 19.44.34 2 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.10 3 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 0.12 4 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.19 5 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 0.30 6 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 7 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 1.20 8 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel ProCycling Team 2.37 9 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 2.50 10 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.58 11 Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 6.00 12 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 9.14 13 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 17.11 14 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 17.25 15 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 17.29 16 Sascha Urweider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 18.27 17 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 19.05 18 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 19.49 19 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 22.25 20 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 23.42 21 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 23.58 22 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 25.18 23 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 25.45 24 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 26.36 25 David Boucher (Fra) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 27.34 26 Aketza Pena Iza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 28.22 27 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 28.32 28 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 28.41 29 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 28.44 30 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Francaise des Jeux 28.59 31 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 30.57 32 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team 32.13 33 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 33.23 34 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 37.29 35 Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 40.38 36 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team CSC 40.55 37 Anton Luengo Celaya (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 40.58 38 Viktor Rapinsky (Blr) Phonak Hearing Systems 41.19 39 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise des Jeux 41.29 40 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 41.51 41 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 41.52 42 Marco Righetto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 41.57 43 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 41.58 44 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas-Bianchi 42.21 45 Jose Luis Carrasco Gamiz (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne 43.09 46 Yohann Gene (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 45.22 47 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp 45.47 48 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 46.42 49 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 49.21 50 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise des Jeux 54.54 Teams classification 1 Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 59.14.13 2 T-Mobile Team 0.16 3 Rabobank 1.28 4 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.09 5 Quick Step-Innergetic 2.28 6 Team CSC 2.47 7 Saunier Duval-Prodir 7.32 8 Euskaltel-Euskadi 8.41 9 Davitamon-Lotto 9.03 10 Lampre-Caffita 18.42 11 Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 12 Gerolsteiner 19.47 13 Credit Agricole 21.28 14 Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 22.19 15 Phonak Hearing Systems 26.43 16 Mr. Bookmaker-Sportstech 48.21 17 Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 51.04 18 Domina Vacanze 54.48 19 Francaise des Jeux 56.01 20 Liquigas-Bianchi 56.45 21 Fassa Bortolo 1.00.56 22 Bouygues Telecom 1.09.17 23 Shimano- Memery Corp 1.51.40
