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63rd Paris-Nice - ProTour

France, March 6-13, 2005

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Prologue - Sunday, March 6: Issy-les-Moulineaux, 4km

Voigt flies to historic Paris-Nice prologue victory

Lance Armstrong starts 2005 season on cold note

By Tim Maloney, European Editor in Issy-les-Moulineaux

Jens Voigt (CSC)
Photo ©: AFP
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It was perhaps fitting that today's Paris-Nice prologue started in front of a frozen food store in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux, as glacial temperatures and a strong northwest wind put a major chill on the first-ever UCI ProTour race. As Discovery Channel's Triki Beltran shivered near the start house today, his "Mucho frio" blurted out between chattering teeth summed up the conditions perfectly. But the sun was shining and the snow that had paralyzed the French capital just 48 hours previously didn't make a repeat appearance Sunday in Issy.

Despite the less than clement conditions for cycling, Bjarne Riis's Team CSC found a way to heat things up with a purely powerful performance that positioned them to once again dominate Paris-Nice as they did last year. This year, Riis played the card of 33 year old German Jens Voigt (Team CSC), who took the first ProTour event, beating '04 Tour De France prologue winner Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo) by 2 seconds and finishing 3 seconds ahead of hard-charging Rabobanker Erik Dekker, who completed today's first ProTour podium.

Riis knew that the clearly in-form Voigt would be his go to guy, as the German won the Tour de Med last month in the south of France and notched his fifth win of the '05 season today. CSC also placed two other riders in the top 10 (Gussev 4th and Zabriskie 8th), six riders in the top 17 overall and were on 1st team GC as they dominated today's short time test.

A delighted Voigt said post-race that, "I'm very proud and also very happy about this victory. Our team has had a great year so far, and it's great to be able to continue in this way. We have been working extremely hard during the winter, and it's paying off now. I've won a very prestigious leader's jersey here in Paris-Nice, and I really hope we're able to hold on to it for the rest of the race. We have a very strong line-up, and I know I'll get all the support I could possibly want from my teammates."

Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile)
Photo ©: AFP
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As in 2004, Riis has prepared his team well with three training camps so far this season and today all the work paid off big time for Bjarne. "We've had a fantastic start to this race, and I was very impressed that all our riders did well in the prologue," explained Riis after the race today. . "Jens is flying at the moment, and of course this heightens our expectations for a big result. We've been training so hard ahead of Paris-Nice, and now we have once again shown that we have done our homework. We have a lot to be proud of at the moment, and I 'd like to take this opportunity to thank the whole team and all our employees for their efforts, which make it possible for us to achieve results like this."

Two time Paris-Nice winner Alex Vinokourov (T-Mobile) was 17th in today's prologue, just 0'07 behind Voigt, while last year's race winner for CSC Jörg Jaksche (Liberty Seguros) was 0'08 behind in 20th. And Six time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, riding his first race of the 2005 season, finished well down in the standings, 0'26 behind Voigt in what he had called "purely a preparation race" prior to today. Armstrong rode in leg and arm warmers and full fingered gloves on the freezing day to what he later half-jokingly called "probably the worst time trial of my life", finishing 140th, 0'27 behind Voigt. Pedaling well on a low gear aboard his training TT bike, fitted with an SRM powermeter, Armstrong explained after the Paris-Nice prologue that, "I'm not disappointed; I felt pretty good today and my position on the bike was good."

Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel)
Photo ©: AFP
Click for larger image

The six time Tour winner, riding his first Paris-Nice since 1999, just returned to Europe on Friday and is now, "100 percent ready to go to work...everyone knows my objective this year (Tour de France) so for now (at Paris-Nice) I'm just here to get used the rhythm of racing and build my strength."

Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team's sports director Johan Bruyneel didn't mince words when he told Cyclingnews after the Paris-Nice prologue that, "Well the result wasn't great today but at the same time we came to Paris-Nice knowing that (Discovery Channel team) wouldn't be the determining factor in the race. Sure, it's a bit disappointing but the prologue really doesn't mean a lot. It's 4km and was very cold and frankly, no-one on the team was super motivated today with this weather. Maybe it's a good thing that once in a while this kind of thing happens and that people on the team see that they still have work to do. That said, we won't ride the rest of Paris-Nice like this; I want to see a more motivated team."

Floyd Landis (Phonak) had his first outing today in his new team colours and after a warm winter in Southern California, the lean Landis was not happy with the cold conditions. "This is ridiculous!" he joked as he warmed up with a cold wind whipping around the Phonak bus. Landis beat his ex-boss Armstrong and finished a respectable 0'14 behind Voigt in 58th place. Post-prologue, Landis told Cyclingnews that, "I'm looking forward to getting down south where the weather is warmer and there is some climbing. That's what I came here for!"

How it unfolded

Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo)
Photo ©: AFP
Click for larger image

Starting in front of Issy-les-Moulineaux city hall, the 4km prologue climbs steeply up the through the Paris suburb to the halfway point, then plunges back down to finish on the Boulevard Garibaldi in front of Bouin Stadium. CSC's Bjarne Riis sent one of his best riders, youngster Vladimir Gussev off early (19th rider out of 168 starters) and the rapid Russian set the best time standard of 5'18. Rider after rider tried to best the CSC man and some, like his teammate and top American on the day, US time trial champ Dave Zabriskie, got close but no cigar until his teammate Jensy Voigt blasted across the line 126 riders and two hours later.

Voigt's superb 5'15.41", at an average speed of 45.71km/hr would clearly be hard to beat, but that didn't stop the last 23 riders from trying. Runner up Cancellara got the closest, 2.39 seconds behind Voigt, while a motivated Erik Dekker, third in last year's Paris-Nice, was three watch ticks behind the CSC man. Top French rider on the day was Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) in 4th, while two time Issy-les-Moulineaux prologue winner Nico Mattan of Davitamon-Lotto hurled himself across the finish line for 6th. Voigt held off World TT champ Mick Rogers (Quick Step) who ended up 10th, 0'06 behind. Jensy's his best friend and Team CSC roommate, American Bobby Julich, had a respectable ride for 17th, but Julich is also thinking ahead later this week to Saturday's tough, hilly Stage 6 of Paris-Nice across the hinterlands of the Haut-Var region near Cannes.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by AFP Photo

Images by Luc Claessen/cyclingnews.com/actiefotos.be

Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti

Images by Régis Garnier /www.velofotopro.fr.st

Images by Tim Maloney/cyclingnews.com

Images by Alain Quenderf

Results

1 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC                                     5.15
2 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo                         0.02
3 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                    0.03
4 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team CSC                                     
5 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone       0.04
6 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                                 
7 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth                      
8 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC                                0.05
9 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems                0.06
10 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step                                  
11 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                     
12 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC                             0.07
13 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux                        
14 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                           
15 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC                                    
16 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team                         
17 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC                                      
18 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                           0.08
19 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner                               
20 Jorg Jaksche (Ger) Liberty Seguros-Würth                         
21 Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) Liberty Seguros-Würth                   
22 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux                         
23 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto                                
24 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone          
25 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth                         
26 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2r Prevoyance                            
27 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne          0.09
28 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Fassa Bortolo                          
29 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française Des Jeux                       
30 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto                               
31 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                       0.10
32 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                   
33 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne               
34 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi                         
35 Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth               
36 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick Step                                  
37 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                         0.11
38 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team        
39 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                     
40 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo                                  
41 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne          
42 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole                             
43 Dario Cioni (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi                               
44 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team       
45 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                            0.12
46 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                            
47 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                         
48 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux                          
49 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole                          
50 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                 
51 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team       0.13
52 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto                             
53 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank                                    
54 Luis Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth                         
55 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                                    
56 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                            
57 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick Step                                0.14
58 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems                        
59 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Credit Agricole                            
60 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step                                      
61 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                     
62 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Credit Agricole                            
63 David Navas (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne                 
64 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Gerolsteiner                            0.15
65 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems                    
66 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                       0.16
66 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                  
68 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Caffita                               
69 Axel Merckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                                
70 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                           
71 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak Hearing Systems                       
72 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi                         0.17
73 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank                                      
74 Bram Schmitz (Ned) T-Mobile Team                                 
75 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                          
76 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank                                  
77 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth                          
78 Antonio Tauler (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne              
79 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne                   
80 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone       0.18
81 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Credit Agricole                           
82 Marc Lotz (Ned) Quick Step                                       
83 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step                                  
84 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                                  
85 Iker Camano (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                          0.19
86 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC                                     
87 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                     
88 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone              
89 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems   
90 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Domina Vacanze                             
91 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo                             
92 Fabien Sanchez (Fra) Française Des Jeux                          
93 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Liquigas-Bianchi                        
94 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française Des Jeux                           
95 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                      0.20
96 Javier Ramirez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth                       
97 Matej Jurco (Svk) Domina Vacanze                                 
98 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                             
99 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                     0.21
100 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                            
101 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile Team                              
102 Luis Perez-Rodriguez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone     
103 Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems                   
104 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank                                    
105 Stephane Goubert (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                          
106 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                            
107 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step                                 
108 Jose Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                     
109 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                     0.22
110 Patxi Xabie Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre-Caffita                
111 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2r Prevoyance                           
112 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank                                  
113 Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team      
114 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Domina Vacanze                        0.23
115 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner                               
116 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Domina Vacanze                         
117 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems                     
118 Unai Yus (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                                 
119 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux                   
120 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Fassa Bortolo                         0.24
121 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                           
122 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas-Bianchi                          
123 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas-Bianchi                         
124 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                            
125 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                              
126 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone      0.25
127 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                              
128 Inigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                         
129 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                        
130 Guido Trenti (USA) Quick Step                               0.26
131 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                                 
132 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir                      
133 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             
134 Daniel Becke (Ger) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne               
135 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                             
136 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi                         
137 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Domina Vacanze                      
138 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team      
139 Benoit Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole                            
140 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team    0.27
141 Jorg Ludewig (Ger) Domina Vacanze                               
142 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole                       
143 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Caffita                           0.28
144 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone         
145 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                               
146 Jonathan Gonzalez Rios (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne     
147 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team     0.29
148 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                 
149 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team       0.30
150 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) T-Mobile Team                               
151 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Credit Agricole                             
152 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                          
153 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems                     
154 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Domina Vacanze                          0.31
155 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner                              
156 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner                           0.32
157 Nicola Loda (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi                              
158 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir                     
159 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Française Des Jeux                         0.33
160 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone           
161 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir                     0.34
162 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                          0.35
163 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Lampre-Caffita                             
164 Alberto Lopez Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                    
165 Rafael Nuritdinov (Uzb) Domina Vacanze                          
166 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Gerolsteiner                         0.37
167 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                       0.38
168 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) T-Mobile Team                        0.42
 
Points
 
1 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC                                       25 pts
2 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo                           22
3 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                      20
4 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team CSC                                   18
5 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone         16
6 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                               15
7 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth                    14
8 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC                                  13
9 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems                  12
10 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step                                11
11 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                   10
12 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC                                9
13 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux                       8
14 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                          7
15 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC                                   6
16 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team                        5
17 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC                                     4
18 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                              3
19 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner                              2
20 Jorg Jaksche (Ger) Liberty Seguros-Würth                        1
 
Young rider
 
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo                         5.17
2 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team CSC                                 0.01
3 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth                  0.02
4 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                  0.04
5 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux                     0.05
6 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux                      0.06
7 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth                          
8 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne           0.07
9 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française Des Jeux                        
10 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                         0.09
11 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                     
12 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne          
13 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team       
14 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                     0.10
15 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole                          
16 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank                                0.11
17 Luis Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth                         
18 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step                                  0.12
19 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                     
20 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Credit Agricole                            
21 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Gerolsteiner                            0.13
22 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                       0.14
23 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank                                  0.15
24 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth                          
25 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Domina Vacanze                         0.17
26 Fabien Sanchez (Fra) Française Des Jeux                          
27 Matej Jurco (Svk) Domina Vacanze                             0.18
28 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                         0.19
29 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step                                  
30 Jose Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                      
31 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                              0.24
32 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                              
33 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                              
34 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Caffita                            0.26
35 Jonathan Gonzalez Rios (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne      
36 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Française Des Jeux                          0.31
37 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                           0.33
 
Teams
 
1 Team CSC                                                     15.53
2 Liberty Seguros-Würth                                         0.12
3 Davitamon-Lotto                                               0.13
4 Rabobank                                                      0.14
5 Fassa Bortolo                                                     
6 Francaise Des Jeux                                            0.16
7 Bouygues Telecom                                              0.18
8 Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne                                0.22
9 Quick.Step                                                        
10 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                                     
11 Phonak Hearing Systems                                       0.27
12 Discovery Channel Team                                           
13 Gerolsteiner                                                 0.28
14 T-Mobile Team                                                    
15 Credit Agricole                                              0.29
16 Liquigas-Bianchi                                             0.30
17 Ag2R Prevoyance                                              0.32
18 Saunier Duval-Prodir                                         0.35
19 Lampre-Caffita                                               0.39
20 Euskaltel-Euskadi                                            0.48
21 Domina Vacanze                                               0.54

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