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Tour of Britain - 2.1
Great Britain, September 9-15, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage
Stage 6 - September 15: Dumfries - Glasgow, 156.5 km
Manning takes the stage, as Feillu wins the race (just)
By Gerry McManus
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Frenchman Romain Feillu (Agritubel) became the winner of the Tour of Britain on Saturday in Glasgow by the slenderest margin in the race's history. The commisaires had to look back to the prologue results from Crystal Palace last Sunday and check into the hundredths of a second that split Feillu with yesterday's yellow jersey holder Adrian Palomares (Fuerteventura - Canarias) to decide who the overall winner. Feillu was confirmed as the yellow jersey winner by a mere 0.49 seconds.
Birmingham's Paul Manning (Great Britain) won the stage by breaking away from the race leading break in the final run towards the city centre and Time Trialled his way to the finish line. Salvatore Commesso (Tinkoff Credit Systems) led in the remainder of the original breakaway group.
"It was just hard racing today," said Manning: "I can't believe how fast it was through the park to the first sprint (Drumlanrig Castle). It was unbelievable. I was just trying to read the race and be in the right splits. The bunch just gave us a little bit too much going into the wind then once we got into the tail wind section we were able to get up some speed. Every one was working well. No one was attacking until we got to three kilometres from the finish. I wasn't feeling good at 40 kilometres to go and I just waited for as long as I could to do anything. Fortunately I only had to do one thing and I got away with 1km to go."
Manning announced that he will be retiring after the Beijing Olympics this week and was happy to win the stage. "I am getting married next week and now I won't have to buy the missus any flowers," joked Manning: "But it is really satisfying. It's the last day of my road season this year and this is my last Tour of Britain. So it is pretty cool."
Feillu's Tour victory was not a surprise for him or the team. "With three second on general classification anything is possible," said Feillu: "When I took the first sprint the team worked hard and we controlled the race. It's never easy but we have some good roulers on the team so that made life easier for me. This is my first GC victory. Originally I was not sure if I was going to ride the world championships but this victory might change things for me."
How it unfolded
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Feillu had started the stage in Dumfries three seconds behind race leader Palomares and when the peloton reached the end of the neutralised zone the racing was some of the fiercest seen on British roads. Riders were attacking at every opportunity which saw the main field lined out over the Scottish countryside. There were people in trouble at the back of the field with a number of riders shelled out of the back towards the broom wagon. The average speed of the stage was 44.49 kph with tough winds and undulating roads - not the normal speed of the last day in a stage race.
The Agritubel team knew exactly what they needed to do to win the race and the team worked hard to ensure that Feillu was in the right place to win the sprint at Drumlanrig Castle where he picked up three seconds bonus. Luke Roberts (Team CSC) was second with team-mate Martin Pedersen in third to deny Martin Garrido (Duja Tavira) a bonus second and effectively remove him from the list of possible winners. Feillu was now equal on time with Palomares but the team management had done its homework and knew that the Frenchman would win if the times didn't change.
Fortunately for Feillu, a group of five riders went clear at around the 70 kilometre mark. Paul Manning (Great Britain), Salvatore Commesso (Tinkoff Credit Systems), Kurt Hovelinjck (Chocolade Jacques - Top Sport), Lars Bak (Team CSC) and Martijn Maaskant (Rabobank) slipped away, as the main field had a moment of hesitation and all looked to each other to chase.
The five had built up a lead of over two and half minutes when the bunch started to react. Manning was the highest on general classification some 6.39 minutes back but was no danger to the overall classification if the leaders stayed at a reasonable distance. The leaders mopped up all the bonus seconds at the Glespin and Strathaven sprint primes. The only way that Feillu would lose now was if the break was caught and time bonuses were awarded to his challengers.
Manning attacked on the run in through the city and took Britain's second stage victory in the tour by seven seconds. Commesso won the group sprint behind and Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) showed his sprinting talent again by leading home the main field 17 seconds later to win both the points and the sprints jerseys. Ben Swift (Barloworld) finished safely in the bunch and will take the King of the Mountains jersey back to his home town of Rotherham.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Gerry McManus/www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk
- The Police play traditional Scottish music for the riders at the start.
- The main field pass Greyfriars Church in Dumfries.
- The race passes the Robert the Bruce pub in Dumfries.
- Martijn Maaskant (Rabobank) leads the race winning break.
- The thistle - National emblem of Scotland.
- Paul Manning (Great Britain) leads the break through the beautiful Scottish countryside.
- T-Mobile and Agritubel on the front of the bunch.
- T-Mobile drive the bunch along to Glasgow in pursuit of an 11th season victory for Cavendish.
- Ian Stannard (T-Mobile) drives the bunch in pursuit of the five leaders.
- Stannard working hard for the T-Mobile team.
- Stage winner Paul Manning (Great Britain) attacks his breakaway companions to win the mountains prime.
- Paul Manning (Great Britain) time trialled his way to victory in the closing stages.
- Paul Manning (Great Britain) attacked the break to arrive alone at the finish in Glasgow Green.
- Sprint king Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile).
- Cavendish took the sprinter's jersey.
- Kisses for Cavendish.
- Cavendish in the points jersey.
- From magenta to green - Cavendish in the points jersey.
- Cavendish throws his bouquet into the crowd.
- Ben Swift (Barloworld) is the winner of the mountains competition.
- The jersey wearers (l-r): Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile, points), Romain Feillu (Agritubel, overall winner) and Ben Swift (Barloworld, mountains)
- Feillu happy in yellow.
- Fun and games with expensive champagne.
- A very happy Feillu.
- The race winning break.
- Dutch rider Martin Maaskant (Rabobank) in the break.
- Denmark's Lars Bak (Team CSC).
- Italian Salvarore Commesso (Tinkoff Credit Systems) took second place on the final stage.
- Belgian Kurt Hovelijnck (Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen) finished third on the last stage.
- Paul Manning (Great Britain) leads.
Results
1 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 3.31.04 (44.49 km/h) 2 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 0.07 3 Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 4 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 5 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Rabobank 6 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T- Mobile 0.17 7 Martin Garrido (Arg) Duja Tavira 8 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC 9 Tom Veelers (Ned) Rabobank 10 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 11 Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Team CSC 12 Gene Bates (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 13 Bert De Backer (Bel) Navigators Insurance 14 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank 15 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld 16 John Bellis (GBr) Great Britain 17 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 18 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano 19 Nikolai Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 20 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 21 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano 22 Mikel Artetxte Gezeuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 23 Christoff Van Heerden (RSA) Team Konica Minolta 24 David Munoz Banon (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 25 Adrian Palomares Vilaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 26 Bernardo Riccio (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 27 Evan Oliphant (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 28 Evert Verbist (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 29 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 30 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 31 Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano 32 Diego Caccia (Ita) Barloworld 33 Martin Pedersen (Den) Team CSC 34 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 35 Roger Hammond (GBr) T- Mobile 36 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Rabobank 37 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC 38 Russell Hampton (GBr) Great Britain 39 David Blanco (Spa) Duja Tavira 0.40 40 Servais Knaven (Ned) T- Mobile 41 Simon Richardson (GBr) Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles 0.43 42 Bernie Sulzberger (Aus) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 0.58 43 Vicente David Bernabeu Armengol (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 0.59 44 Daniel Fleeman (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 1.11 45 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 46 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 47 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain 48 Rob Partridge (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 49 Johnnie Walker (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 1.13 50 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 51 Ryan Bonser (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 52 David Deroo (Fra) Skil-Shimano 53 Coen Vermelfoort (Ned) Rabobank 54 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank 55 Manuel Lloret Zaragozi (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 56 Ben Swift (GBr) Barloworld 57 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 58 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 59 Matt Cooke (USA) Navigators Insurance 60 Cedrid Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 61 Anders Lund (Den) Team CSC 62 Emilien Berges (Fra) Agritubel 63 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T- Mobile 64 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld 1.32 65 Nelson Vitorino (Por) Duja Tavira 2.36 66 Samuel Caldeira (Por) Duja Tavira 67 Ricardo Mestre (Por) Duja Tavira 68 Ian Stannard (GBr) T- Mobile 69 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 6.17 70 Kristian House (GBr) Navigators Insurance 71 James Millard (GBr) Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles 72 Christopher Froome (Ken) Team Konica Minolta 73 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Great Britain 74 David Rodriguez (USA) Navigators Insurance 75 Paul Sneeboer (Ned) Duja Tavira 6.39 76 Jose Adrian Bonilla Bonilla (CRc) Fuerteventura-Canarias 7.53 77 Simon Gaywood (GBr) Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles 78 Rodney Green (RSA) Team Konica Minolta 79 Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA) Team Konica Minolta 80 Travis Allen (RSA) Team Konica Minolta 81 Elio Aggiano (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 7.58 82 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 83 Hamish Haynes (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 10.46 DNF Ed Clancy (GBr) Great Britain DNF Simon Holt (GBr) Recycling.co.uk DNF Tom Diggle (GBr) Recycling.co.uk DNF Tony Gibb (GBr) Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles DNF James McCallum (GBr) Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles DNF Roel Vanmuysen (Bel) Navigators Insurance DNS Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano Mountains KOM 1: Cat 3 - Clovehead 1 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain 4 pts 2 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 3 3 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 2 4 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 1 KOM 2: Cat 3 - Whiteside Hill 1 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 4 pts 2 Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 3 3 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 2 4 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 1 KOM 3: Cat 3 - Black Hill 1 Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 4 pts 2 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 3 3 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 2 4 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 1 Sprints Sprint 1: Drumlanrig Castle 1 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 5 pts 2 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC 3 3 Martin Pedersen (Den) Team CSC 2 4 Martin Garrido (Arg) Duja Tavira 1 Sprint 2: Glespin 1 Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 5 pts 2 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Rabobank 3 3 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 2 4 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 1 Sprint 3: Strathaven 1 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 5 pts 2 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 3 3 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 2 4 Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 1 Teams 1 Great Britain 10.33.46 2 CSC 0.07 3 Rabobank 4 Tinkoff Credit Systems 5 Chocolade Jacques-Topsport 6 Skil-Shimano 0.17 7 Fuerteventura-Canarias 8 T- Mobile 0.40 9 South Australia.com-AIS 1.11 10 Barloworld 1.13 11 Agritubel 12 DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 1.52 13 Duja Tavira 2.59 14 Navigators Insurance 7.13 15 Team Konica Minolta 13.53 16 Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles 14.19 Final general classification 1 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 21.21.33 2 Adrian Palomares Vilaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 3 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC 0.06 4 Martin Garrido (Arg) Duja Tavira 0.12 5 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 0.13 6 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 0.17 7 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano 8 Gene Bates (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 0.18 9 David Munoz Banon (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 0.21 10 David Blanco (Spa) Duja Tavira 0.24 11 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Rabobank 0.42 12 Nikolai Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 13 Vicente David Bernabeu Armengol (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 1.08 14 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 15 Evert Verbist (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 1.10 16 Evan Oliphant (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 1.12 17 Martin Pedersen (Den) Team CSC 1.13 18 Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano 1.31 19 Manuel Lloret Zaragozi (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 1.32 20 Russell Hampton (GBr) Great Britain 1.35 21 Bernie Sulzberger (Aus) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 2.01 22 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 23 Matt Cooke (USA) Navigators Insurance 2.19 24 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 2.27 25 Diego Caccia (Ita) Barloworld 2.33 26 Daniel Fleeman (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 2.38 27 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 6.10 28 Nelson Vitorino (Por) Duja Tavira 6.13 29 Roger Hammond (GBr) T- Mobile 6.16 30 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC 6.40 31 Christopher Froome (Ken) Team Konica Minolta 7.15 32 Ben Swift (GBr) Barloworld 9.06 33 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 9.07 34 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 10.12 35 John Bellis (GBr) Great Britain 11.18 36 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T- Mobile 37 Tom Veelers (Ned) Rabobank 12.04 38 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T- Mobile 12.07 39 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank 12.18 40 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano 12.52 41 Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Team CSC 13.03 42 David Deroo (Fra) Skil-Shimano 13.07 43 Emilien Berges (Fra) Agritubel 13.12 44 Johnnie Walker (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 13.16 45 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 13.40 46 Ryan Bonser (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 13.42 47 Simon Richardson (GBr) Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles 13.44 48 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 14.00 49 Anders Lund (Den) Team CSC 14.04 50 Cedrid Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 51 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 14.57 52 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank 14.59 53 Samuel Caldeira (Por) Duja Tavira 15.03 54 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain 16.19 55 Mikel Artetxte Gezeuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 16.23 56 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Rabobank 17.25 57 Kristian House (GBr) Navigators Insurance 19.12 58 Bert De Backer (Bel) Navigators Insurance 21.57 59 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld 22.31 60 Servais Knaven (Ned) T- Mobile 22.41 61 Rob Partridge (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 22.58 62 Coen Vermelfoort (Ned) Rabobank 23.16 63 Jose Adrian Bonilla Bonilla (CRc) Fuerteventura-Canarias 24.05 64 Christoff Van Heerden (RSA) Team Konica Minolta 24.35 65 Ian Stannard (GBr) T- Mobile 24.41 66 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 26.28 67 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 29.04 68 David Rodriguez (USA) Navigators Insurance 29.35 69 Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 31.19 70 Ricardo Mestre (Por) Duja Tavira 31.36 71 Simon Gaywood (GBr) Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles 32.23 72 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 35.19 73 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 40.43 74 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Great Britain 40.53 75 Paul Sneeboer (Ned) Duja Tavira 41.03 76 Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA) Team Konica Minolta 41.28 77 Travis Allen (RSA) Team Konica Minolta 42.13 78 Bernardo Riccio (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 44.03 79 James Millard (GBr) Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles 44.50 80 Elio Aggiano (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 45.34 81 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld 46.52 82 Rodney Green (RSA) Team Konica Minolta 49.54 83 Hamish Haynes (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 52.10 Points classification 1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T- Mobile 46 pts 2 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 45 3 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC 38 4 Martin Garrido (Arg) Duja Tavira 38 5 Nikolai Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 32 6 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 32 Mountains classification 1 Ben Swift (GBr) Barloworld 32 pts 2 Paul Manning (GBr) Great Britain 28 3 Adrian Palomares Vilaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias 20 4 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 19 5 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T- Mobile 19 Sprints classification 1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T- Mobile 22 pts 2 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 20 3 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 16 4 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 10 5 Alexander Serov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems 10 6 Christoff Van Heerden (RSA) Team Konica Minolta 10 Teams classification 1 Fuerteventura-Canarias 64.05.34 2 Skil-Shimano 0.55 3 Chocolade Jacques-Topsport 1.29 4 Duja Tavira 3.29 5 DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed 4.11 6 CSC 6.35 7 South Australia.com-AIS 6.53 8 Agritubel 7.26 9 Barloworld 10.48 10 Rabobank 16.40 11 Great Britain 17.48 12 T- Mobile 28.04 13 Navigators Insurance 32.27 14 Tinkoff Credit Systems 33.06 15 Team Konica Minolta 1.04.14 16 Plowman Craven-Evans Cycles
