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5th Tour of Britain - 2.1

Great Britain, September 7-14, 2008

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Stage 8 - September 14: Blackpool - Liverpool, 110km

Lequatre wins as Petacchi triple treats

By Gerry McManus in Liverpool

Alessandro Petacchi (Team LPR)
Photo ©: Gerry McManus
(Click for larger image)

Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes - Ballan) sprinted to victory in Liverpool on Sunday’s final stage of the Tour of Britain and Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel) finished safely in the bunch to secure the biggest victory of his injury-plagued career.

Lequatre and his French Agritubel team remained vigilant throughout the short final stage from Blackpool to Liverpool as Team Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle kept proceedings together for their sprinters. It played into the hands of the Frenchman, who had led the race by just six seconds when the race left the popular seaside resort of Blackpool. Magnus Backstedt (Garmin Chipotle), Dean Downing (Rapha Condor/Recyling.co.uk) and Malcolm Elliott (Pinarello CandiTV) had been away for most of the stage but were caught as the big sprinters' teams brought the whole race back together on the finishing circuit in Liverpool.

Petacchi powered his way to the stage victory, holding off the challenge from Julian Dean (Garmin-Chipotle) and Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) in a big bunch gallop to bring his tour tally to three stage wins.

There was no change in the king of the mountains competition with Danilo Di Luca (Team LPR Brakes) taking that prize back to Italy. Edvald Boasson Hagen won the sprinters' jersey and Matt Goss managed to wrestle the green points jersey from Di Luca after finishing third in Liverpool.

"It’s been a great week," said the Australian. "I hadn’t done too much racing in the last month before the race. I knew the form was coming along so it was good to get a stage win and the jersey is a bonus."

Danilo Di Luca was happy with his tour. "I came here to train and prepare for the world championships, which is my big objective of the year," said the 2007 Giro champ. "I wanted to push myself and test myself every day. This is the first time I have ridden the Tour of Britain and it has been a good, hard race and perfect preparation for the worlds. The national coach is going to announce the team for the world championships tomorrow and I hope to be in the eleven selected for the squad and in the nine who will be selected to race. It is always difficult to get in the Italian team but I am optimistic I will be there."

Evan Oliphant and Tom Barras (Plowman Craven) drive the bunch
Photo ©: Gerry McManus
(Click for larger image)

Lequarte was pleased with both his team and the result of the eight-day race. "It was not easy today," said Lequarte. "It was very tense right up the finish line. I know Steve Cummings was looking for the time bonuses so we had to close the gap for sure. This is the second year our team has taken victory in the race. I think I won the title on Tuesday when I attacked on my own. Maybe some people thought that was crazy but I felt strong. It was a great day because we won the stage and I was second and took some time bonuses. I would like to say thank you to my team and my friends. I hope now that I will be selected for the team for the world championships; we have a lot of good riders in the French team with Christophe Moreau, Nicolas Vogondy and Romain Feillu."

"This is the best result of my season," he explained, adding that, "My last victory was four years ago. I had a big crash in 2005 and it took a whole year to recover. I had 20 fractures and had nine plates put into my face. I think I am now back to my best and the future is looking good."

How it unfolded

Lequatre started the stage with a slim six-second lead over Steve Cummings (Barloworld); three bonus seconds were on offer at the sprint at Southport and the fourth passage through the finish, with the stage winner receiving a 10-second bonification. The Agritubel team had marked all the serious moves all week and would need to do it one more time today.

Champagne time for Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel)
Photo ©: Gerry McManus
(Click for larger image)

Magnus Backstedt (Garmin-Chipotle) attacked early in the stage and went clear with Dean Downing (Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) and Malcolm Elliott (Pinarello CandiTV). The trio managed to gain a maximum advantage of two minutes as they headed towards the 2008 European City of Culture. The break mopped up the bonus seconds through the first sprint of the day at Southport, with Backstedt gaining the points by default - this was the perfect result for the yellow jersey. All three riders were taking turns but Backstedt was looking the strongest.

The break still had a useful lead of 36 seconds as they reached the finishing circuit by the Liverpool docks and the river Mersey, with the large crowd lending its support to the leaders as the experienced trio tried to evade capture on the tight circuit. They held out for three laps, and Backstedt took his chance when the brave group was about to be reeled in by the Barloworld-led bunch. Barloworld needed to bring the leaders back so that Cummings could attempt to win the three bonus seconds on offer. Backstedt had designs on a stage win and he grimaced in pain as he went into overdrive, mouth wide open for maximum oxygen intake.

Bradley Wiggins (Team Columbia) used some of the talent that won him two gold medals at the Olympics, going to the head of affairs to string out the bunch in pursuit of the former Paris-Roubaix winner. Backstedt was brought back and Ian Stannard (Team GB) took the intermediate sprint ahead of Cummings, who had Lequarte on his back wheel. It looked like game over - Cummings only gained one second on Lequarte who was going to win the tour, barring accidents. Stannard had leapfrogged Daniel Martin (Garmin-Chipotle) to move into third overall.

Wiggins attacked through the finish on the bell lap but was unable to shake the bunch that quickly made contact with the Team Columbia rider. Petacchi led out from 200 metres to go, with Julian Dean and Robbie Hunter on the Italian’s wheel while Goss had found his own line and Rob Hayles sat on the Australian's tail. Petacchi moved over to the right hand side to close the door on anyone trying to take that narrow corridor and took the honours in a high speed finish.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Gerry McManus/www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk

Results

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                           2.19.25 (42.39 km/h)
2 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                         
3 Robbie Hunter (RSA) Barloworld                                                 
4 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                        
5 Rob Hayles (GBr) Great Britain                                                 
6 Chris Sutton (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                        
7 Roger Hammond (GBr) Team Columbia                                              
8 Juan Van Heerden (RSA) MTN Energade                                            
9 Russell Downing (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                   
10 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam            
11 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel                                                 
12 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                    
13 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Agritubel                                              
14 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia                                      
15 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing                                              
16 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Team Columbia                                            
17 Simon Gaywood (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                         
18 Andrew Roche (Irl) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                     
19 Johnnie Walker (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                                  
20 Simon Richardson (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                      
21 Steve Cummings (GBr) Barloworld                                               
22 Geoffroy Lequarte (Fra) Agritubel                                             
23 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain                                              
24 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                     
25 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                  
26 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia                                            
27 Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                      
28 Kristian House (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                             
29 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam        
30 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Great Britain                                           
31 Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                  
32 Dale Appleby (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                               
33 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing                                               
34 David George (RSA) MTN Energade                                               
35 Alejandro Marque Porto (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                        
36 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                    
37 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain                                                 
38 Kevin Evans (RSA) MTN Energade                                                
39 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                    
40 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                   0.06
41 Daniel Fleeman (GBr) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam            
42 Paul Sneeboer (Ned) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                                 
43 Peter Williams (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                   
44 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                       
45 Emilien Berges (Fra) Agritubel                                            0.09
46 Chris Newton (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                               
47 David Blanco Rodriguez (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                        
48 Tom Barras (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                            
49 Tom Murray (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                       
50 Rob Partridge (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                              
51 Trent Lowe (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                         
52 James Millard (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                         
53 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld                                               
54 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                               
55 Jay Thomson (RSA) MTN Energade                                                
56 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam         
57 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                   0.14
58 Daryl Impey (RSA) Barloworld                                              0.16
59 Claudio Cucinotta (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                               0.27
60 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                              0.29
61 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld                                                  
62 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                         
63 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel                                               
64 Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Rock Racing                                            
65 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing                                              
66 Lee Davis (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                        
67 Waylon Woolcock (RSA) MTN Energade                                            
68 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain                                        0.49
69 Tom Southam (GBr) Great Britain                                               
70 Santiago Botero (Col) Rock Racing                                             
71 Neil MacDonald (RSA) MTN Energade                                             
72 Tomas Swift-Metcalfe (GBr) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                      0.57
73 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30               1.00
74 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                            1.26
75 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                              
76 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel                                                 
77 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Columbia                                           
78 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                  1.33
79 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                           1.41
80 Cameron Meyer (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                               1.59
81 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                 2.18
82 Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                      
83 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                            7.18
DNF Diego Caccia (Ita) Barloworld                                                
DNS Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia                                              
 
Sprints
 
Southport
1 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                   5 pts
2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                  3
3 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                               2
4 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia                                      1
 
Finish line 1st Passage
1 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                   5 pts
2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                  3
3 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                               2
4 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain                                              1
 
Finish line lap 4
1 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain                                              5 pts
2 Steve Cummings (GBr) Barloworld                                               3
3 Geoffroy Lequarte (Fra) Agritubel                                             2
4 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                    1
 
Mountains
 
Cat 3: Lap 1
1 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                   4 pts
2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                  3
3 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                               2
4 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain                                                 1
 
Cat 3: Lap 3
1 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                   4 pts
2 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain                                                 3
3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                      2
4 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                     1
 
Cat 3: Lap 5
1 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                    4 pts
2 Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                      3
3 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                       2
4 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                      1
 
Teams
 
1 Garmin - Chipotle                                                       6.58.15
2 Team Columbia                                                                  
3 Agritubel                                                                      
4 Great Britain                                                                  
5 Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                                           
6 Topsport Vlaanderen                                                            
7 MTN Energade                                                                   
8 Pinarello RT - Candi TV                                                    0.06
9 An Post M.Donnelly                                                             
10 Barloworld                                                                0.09
11 Plowman Craven RT                                                             
12 Rapha - Condor - Recycling.co.                                                
13 LPR Brakes - Ballan                                                       0.14
14 Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                                                 0.15
15 Rock Racing                                                               0.29
16 SouthAustralia.com - AIS                                                  2.08
 
Final General classification
 
1 Geoffroy Lequarte (Fra) Agritubel                                      27.21.49
2 Steve Cummings (GBr) Barloworld                                            0.05
3 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain                                           0.14
4 Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                   0.15
5 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                 0.16
6 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam     0.20
7 Daniel Fleeman (GBr) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam         0.25
8 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                               0.29
9 Emilien Berges (Fra) Agritubel                                             0.50
10 Russell Downing (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                              1.25
11 Alejandro Marque Porto (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                    1.48
12 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                1.50
13 Kristian House (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                             
14 Roger Hammond (GBr) Team Columbia                                         1.53
15 David George (RSA) MTN Energade                                           1.55
16 Chris Sutton (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                   2.00
17 Simon Richardson (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                  2.05
18 Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                              2.49
19 Kevin Evans (RSA) MTN Energade                                            3.32
20 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld                                              5.05
21 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia                                  9.19
22 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                   9.50
23 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                   10.36
24 Tom Southam (GBr) Great Britain                                          11.56
25 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                            12.26
26 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain                                            12.52
27 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Team Columbia                                            
28 Johnnie Walker (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                             13.18
29 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                             13.39
30 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                               14.12
31 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                  15.10
32 Rob Partridge (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                         16.19
33 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing                                         16.20
34 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel                                            16.21
35 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                         
36 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Agritubel                                         17.51
37 Waylon Woolcock (RSA) MTN Energade                                       18.01
38 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Great Britain                                      18.03
39 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                  18.11
40 Tom Murray (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                  19.01
41 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                19.08
42 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                           19.09
43 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                 19.46
44 David Blanco Rodriguez (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                   20.02
45 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel                                            21.49
46 Paul Sneeboer (Ned) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                            22.51
47 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia                                       23.12
48 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                23.23
49 Santiago Botero (Col) Rock Racing                                        24.14
50 Daryl Impey (RSA) Barloworld                                             24.33
51 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing                                          24.44
52 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain                                       26.13
53 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                         26.24
54 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing                                         27.22
55 Lee Davis (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                                   27.36
56 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                          27.50
57 Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Rock Racing                                       28.39
58 Trent Lowe (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                    28.49
59 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30              29.47
60 Peter Williams (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv                              30.29
61 Tom Barras (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                       31.07
62 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam    31.44
63 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                           32.33
64 Juan Van Heerden (RSA) MTN Energade                                      33.43
65 Rob Hayles (GBr) Great Britain                                           34.34
66 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam       34.48
67 Dale Appleby (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                          34.53
68 Neil MacDonald (RSA) MTN Energade                                        34.58
69 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel                                          35.03
70 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                  35.56
71 Robbie Hunter (RSA) Barloworld                                           36.44
72 Cameron Meyer (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                              36.47
73 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld                                          37.00
74 Claudio Cucinotta (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                              37.51
75 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                          39.01
76 Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                 40.12
77 Tomas Swift-Metcalfe (GBr) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                     41.03
78 James Millard (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                    42.57
79 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Columbia                                      43.20
80 Chris Newton (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                          43.29
81 Jay Thomson (RSA) MTN Energade                                           45.18
82 Simon Gaywood (GBr) Plowman Craven RT                                    50.36
83 Andrew Roche (Irl) Pinarello RT - Canditv                              1.00.57
 
Points classification
 
1 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                      65 pts
2 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30                       62
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia                                     60
 
Sprint classification
 
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia                                     24 pts
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                     23
3 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                      15
 
Mountains classification
 
1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan                                     39 pts
2 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain                                                33
3 Kristian House (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk                            19
 
Teams classification
 
1 Agritubel                                                              82.09.19
2 Garmin - Chipotle                                                          8.53
3 Great Britain                                                             11.25
4 LPR Brakes - Ballan                                                       11.56
5 Topsport Vlaanderen                                                       12.50
6 Barloworld                                                                13.38
7 MTN Energade                                                              14.46
8 Team Columbia                                                             19.07
9 An Post M.Donnelly                                                        19.09
10 Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                                     21.09
11 Pinarello RT - Candi TV                                                  27.34
12 Rapha - Condor - Recycling.co.                                           34.49
13 SouthAustralia.com - AIS                                                 36.56
14 Palmeiras Resort - Tavira                                                38.34
15 Rock Racing                                                              39.32
16 Plowman Craven RT                                                        40.35

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