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64th Paris-Nice - ProTour

France, March 5-12, 2006

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Prologue - March 5: Issy-les-Moulineaux ITT, 4.8 km

Julich keeps it up for CSC

By Jean-François Quénet in Issy-les-Moulineaux

Bobby Julich (Team CSC)
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini
(Click for larger image)

Bobby Julich (Team CSC) rode a great time trial to win the opening stage of Paris-Nice, a 4.8 km prologue in Issy-les-Moulineaux. The American, starting last, beat long-time leader Andrey Kashechkin (Liberty Seguros-Würth) by one second, with Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux) finishing third at two seconds.

The main question in the lead up to Paris-Nice concerned Team CSC: would the Danish team be at the same level as in the previous years? They have won "the race to the sun" twice in a row with Jörg Jaksche in 2004 and Bobby Julich in 2005, but they kept a lower profile at the semi-classics in Belgium last week. They also made clear that their main goals for this year aren't for the month of March, but later on. Bjarne Riis dreams of winning the three Grand Tours: the Giro and the Tour de France with Ivan Basso, the Vuelta with Carlos Sastre.

"He told me, and Jens Voigt as well, that we didn't have to stress about the early part of the season, but only do some mountain biking and skiing in December," Julich said. "I was surprised that I almost won the time trial in California [Julich was second]. Maybe I did too well there, it looked too easy. Everything was great, the racing, accommodation, etc. It was hard to come back to France, but when I got back, I said to myself: 'Nice, this is my town!' I won Paris-Nice last year, so the pressure is off me, but I still wanted to honour the number.

"When I reconnoitred the course with Jens [Voigt] this morning, I realised it was much better for me. It was the same as last year but the other way round. It meant we didn't have to start with the climb. I used my experience and serenity. I was really calm."

Being the defending champion, Julich was the last man to start and the only one of the pre-race favourites to beat the time of Andrey Kashechkin, who had been the virtual leader for an hour and half. "I had good sensations today," Kashechkin said afterwards. "It was my first experience of riding a time trial with Manolo Saiz behind me. It's the first time a coach kept talking to me constantly during the race. I enjoyed it."

Andrey Kashechkin (Liberty Seguros)
Photo ©: Luc Claessen
(Click for larger image)

Bradley McGee rode six tenths of a second slower than the Kazakh, but he lost that all in the first 150 metres after the start when the road became wet for a little while. The Australian was forced to pull out of the Tour of Valencia last week due to a cyst on his elbow, but that didn't affect his time trialing. He wasn't too disappointed with missing out on a first win in 2006: "Having such a good form in March is quite good", he said. Française des Jeux was the French sensation of the day with Benoît Vaugrenard 8th and Sandy Casar 12th, although Cofidis was the team that loudly announced its ambitions with Bradley Wiggins (7th), Rik Verbrugghe (10th) and Sylvain Chavanel (91st).

Tom Boonen, the true star of Paris-Nice, was also focused for a positive result. He planned on a time of 6'05, which would have made him a winner, but a fifth place was a nice surprise for everyone but himself. "If I came fifth in a bunch sprint, you would have been surprised and asked me what happened," he answered. "But I'm not surprised today, no way. I've always done pretty well in prologues and it's the kind of race where you need good condition and I do have good condition now. The climb on the course wasn't anything too hard for me after all the training I've done, almost every day, on the Poggio, Cipressa and Capo Berta. Milan-San Remo and the other classics, that's what my mind is set on these days.

Tom Boonen
Photo ©: Luc Claessen
(Click for larger image)

"Today's result shows that I can target the yellow jersey at the Tour de France but Paris-Nice's yellow jersey isn't a goal for me this year. Of course if I win tomorrow I'll have it. I came to this race aiming at one stage win first. I'm worried that there aren't many sprinters, but fortunately Julich and Kashechkin came first and second today, they are two potential winners, and their teams will be our allies."

But Julich makes it clear: "We don't intend to keep the jersey. Well...we didn't. But we have a strong team here. We have to defend the lead, but we want to leave the pressure to another team."

Stage 1 in Paris-Nice is typically built for sprinters. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the world champion in yellow in St-Amand-Montrond.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti

Images by Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net

Images by Luc Claessen/www.ctm-images.com

Images by AFP Photo

Images by Alain Quenderf

Images by Régis Garnier/www.velofotopro.com

Results

1 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC                                      6.07 (47.084 km/h)
2 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team               0.01
3 Bradley Mc Gee (Aus) Française des Jeux                          0.02
4 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                0.03
5 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic                               
6 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                               
7 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone           0.05
8 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux                           
9 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                             0.07
10 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone               
11 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems                       0.08
12 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux                                
13 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas                                        
14 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                            0.09
15 Antonio Colom (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears                  
16 Vladimir Gussev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team            
17 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                        
18 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                              0.10
19 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank                                       
20 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC                             0.11
21 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance                               
22 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak Hearing Systems                        
23 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team               
24 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems                       
25 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance                           0.13
26 Aleixei Markov (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears                 
27 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC                                      
28 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             
29 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas                                     
30 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel                               
31 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems                     0.14
32 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak Hearing Systems                          
33 Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears          
34 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Team Milram                                  
35 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole                         0.15
36 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems                         
37 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team    
38 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux                            
39 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram                                     
40 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prevoyance                                 
41 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner                            0.16
41 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                                   
43 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                             
44 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Credit Agricole                              
45 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             
46 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                 
47 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team          
48 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                         0.17
49 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                
50 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC                                        
51 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears                 
52 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                        
53 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                              
54 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom                                 
55 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears          0.18
56 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC                                           
57 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic                             
58 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                             
59 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                                     
60 Juan Jose Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                           
61 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole                           
62 Michaël Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC                                     
63 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Française des Jeux                               
64 Eric Berthou (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears               0.19
65 Aitor Osa (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                          
66 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto                            
67 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance                             
68 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole                               
69 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                          
70 Francis Mourey (Fra) Française des Jeux                             
71 Iker Camano (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                                 
72 Benoit Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole                                
73 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu) Lampre-Fondital                           
74 Dario Cioni (Ita) Liquigas                                          
75 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance                             0.20
76 Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                      
77 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital                                  
78 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team          
79 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                
80 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                        
81 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas                                      
82 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                          0.21
83 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic                          
84 Patxi Xabier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre-Fondital                  
85 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank                                        
86 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                 
87 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                              
88 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone           0.22
89 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                    
90 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Team Milram                                
91 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone             
92 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Quick Step-Innergetic                          
93 Aivaras Baranauskas (Ltu) Agritubel                                 
94 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital                                 
95 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                
96 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank                                0.23
97 Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak Hearing Systems                            
98 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank                                         
99 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank                                     
100 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile Team                           0.24
101 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team                                0.25
102 Luis Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                      
103 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                              
104 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone            
105 Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance                        0.26
106 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Team Milram                                
107 Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                             
108 Ivan Ramiro Parra (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone           
109 Jorg Ludewig (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                   
110 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                         0.27
111 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                 
112 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram                                   
113 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                           
114 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir                       
115 Renaud Dion (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance                              0.28
116 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas                                     
117 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears                
118 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas                                    
119 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Credit Agricole                         0.29
120 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Team Milram                                     
121 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                                   
122 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone             
123 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Agritubel                                    
124 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Credit Agricole                       0.30
125 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance                                 
126 Roger Hammond (GBr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team             
127 Benoit Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team            
128 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile Team                                 
129 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic                         
130 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole                                 
131 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) Agritubel                            0.31
132 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                            
133 Benoit Salmon (Fra) Agritubel                                      
134 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner                              0.32
135 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic                    
136 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears           
137 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                            
138 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic                     
139 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française des Jeux                        0.33
140 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems                        
141 Guido Trenti (USA) Quick Step-Innergetic                       0.34
142 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                            
143 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone               
144 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                 
145 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                           
146 Ramos Fernandez De La Puebla (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir            
147 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Française des Jeux                            
148 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                  0.35
149 Javier Meijas (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                           
150 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Agritubel                                0.36
151 Hans Dekkers (Ned) Agritubel                                       
152 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                  
153 Daniele Colli (Ita) Liquigas                                       
154 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Team Milram                              0.37
155 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                            0.38
156 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                                  
157 Nicola Loda (Ita) Liquigas                                         
158 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel                                 
159 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Team Milram                              0.39
160 Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team                                 0.41
161 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                           0.42
162 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Rabobank                                        
163 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team       0.44
164 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner                                 
165 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                0.45
166 Jose Antonio Redondo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team          0.46
167 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC                                    0.59
168 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                1.01
 
Points
 
1 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC                                        25 pts
2 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                 22
3 Bradley Mc Gee (Aus) Française des Jeux                            20
4 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                  18
5 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic                             16
6 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             15
7 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone             14
8 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux                         13
9 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                               12
10 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone             11
11 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems                         10
12 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux                               9
13 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas                                       8
14 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                               7
15 Antonio Colom (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears                 6
16 Vladimir Gussev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team           5
17 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                                       4
18 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                 3
19 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank                                      2
20 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC                                1
 
Young rider
 
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                6.10
2 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux                       0.02
3 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas                                     0.05
4 Vladimir Guysev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team         0.06
5 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank                                    0.07
6 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas                                  0.10
7 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Team Milram                               0.11
8 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux                         0.12
9 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram                                      
10 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) AG2R Prevoyance                                 
11 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner                            0.13
12 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             
13 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears             0.14
14 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                        
15 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom                                 
16 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                         0.15
17 Juan Jose Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                           
18 Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                  0.17
19 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                                
20 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas                                      
21 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team                             0.18
22 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                              
23 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone           0.19
24 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                
25 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank                                0.20
26 Luis Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                   0.22
27 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Team Milram                                  0.26
28 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Credit Agricole                        0.27
29 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole                                  
30 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                         0.29
31 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                         0.31
32 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                            
33 Ramos Fernandez De La Puebla (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir             
34 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                   0.32
35 Javier Meijas (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                            
36 Hans Dekkers (Ned) Agritubel                                    0.33
37 Daniele Colli (Ita) Liquigas                                        
38 Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team                                  0.38
39 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                 0.42
40 Jose Antonio Redondo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team           0.43
 
Teams
 
1 Francaise Des Jeux                                              18.36
2 Team CSC                                                         0.05
3 Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                                       0.08
4 Phonak Hearing Systems                                           0.15
5 Euskaltel-Euskadi                                                0.17
6 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone                                     0.19
7 Discovery Channel Team                                           0.20
8 Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears                                   0.21
9 Bouygues Telecom                                                     
10 Ag2R Prevoyance                                                 0.24
11 Davitamon-Lotto                                                     
12 Liquigas                                                        0.25
13 Quick Step-Innergetic                                           0.27
14 Credit Agricole                                                 0.34
15 Gerolsteiner                                                    0.35
16 Rabobank                                                            
17 Team Milram                                                     0.36
18 Saunier Duval-Prodir                                            0.40
19 Lampre-Fondital                                                 0.41
20 Agritubel                                                       0.49
21 T-Mobile Team                                                   0.52

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