French National Road Championships - CN

Briançon, June 27-30, 2002

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Day 3 - June 30: Elite Men's Road Race

Tricolore for Vogondy

24 year old Francaise des Jeux rider Nicolas Vogondy has won the 225.6 km French championship in Briancon. Vogondy won from a small group of riders with Nicolas Jalabert (CSC) in second and Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) in third.

The race was held on an 18.8 kilometre circuit that in spite of being located in the Alps, was devoid of any difficulties. The high average speed of 46.046 km/h reflected that, but the race did not come down to a bunch sprint. A number of breakaways were attempted, but none could get out to more than 2 minutes advantage. However the pace and the heat took its toll, with only 46 riders of 124 starters eventually finishing the race.

A group of seven riders: Vogondy, Nicolas Jalabert, Halgand, Bouyer (Bonjour), Vasseur (Cofidis), Paumier (St Quentin) and Casar (FDJeux.com) came into the last lap to contest the finish. Bouyer led out from 400 metres, fading to fourth as Vogondy beat Jalabert and a very disappointed Halgand.

"It is incredible", said Vogondy afterwards. "This is a sprint that was easy to ruin. I already had two second places Coupe de France races this year. I have turned in a big win. But I had a little luck for, whenever I was behind a little, the Bonjours always made the junction."

Photography

Images by AFP

Nicolas Vogondy (fdjeux.com) rides with a member of the Jean Delatour team
Nicolas Vogondy celebrates the moment of victory
Nicolas Vogondy claims victory as he outsprints Jalabert and Halgand
Nicolas Vogondy rolls across the line with his arms raised in victory
The top three on the podium: Nicolas Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali, 2nd), Nicolas Vogondy (fdjeux.com, 1st) and de Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour, 3rd)
Nicolas Vogondy beams at the crowd from the podium

Results - 225.3 km

1 Nicolas Vogondy (fdjeux.com)              4.53.38 (46.046 km/h)
2 Nicolas Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali)
3 Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour)
4 Franck Bouyer (Bonjour)
5 Cédric Vasseur (Cofidis)
6 Laurent Paumier (Oktos-St-Quentin)           0.03
7 Sandy Casar (fdjeux.com)                     0.04
8 Nicolas Inaudi (Ag2r Prévoyance)             0.20
9 Damien Nazon (Bonjour)                       0.30
10 Laurent Brochard (Jean Delatour)
11 Richard Virenque (Domo-Farm Frites)
12 Eddy Lembo (Oktos-St-Quentin)
13 Pierrick Fedrigo (Crédit Agricole)
14 Miguel Martinez (Mapei-Quickstep)
15 Vincent Templier (Oktos-St-Quentin)         1.02
16 Cédric Herve (Crédit Agricole)
17 Christophe Oriol (Ag2r Prévoyance)          1.08
18 Franck Renier (Bonjour)                     1.51
19 Cyril Saugrain (Big Mat-Auber 93)           2.00
20 Frédéric Guesdon (fdjeux.com)               2.44
21 Jimmy Casper (fdjeux.com)
22 Xavier Jan (Big Mat-Auber 93)               2.45
23 Christophe Mengin (fdjeux.com)              8.56
24 Frédéric Bessy (Crédit Agricole)
25 Laurent Lefevre (Jean Delatour)
26 Christophe Laurent (Jean Delatour)
27 Didier Rous (Bonjour)
28 Charles Guilbert (Bonjour)
29 Jean-Cyril Robin (fdjeux.com)
30 Thierry Loder (Ag2r Prévoyance)
31 Alexandre Grux (Ag2r Prévoyance)
32 David Moncoutie (Cofidis)
33 Olivier Asmaker (CSC-Tiscali)
34 Sylvain Chavanel (Bonjour)
35 David Derepas (Phonak)
36 Frédéric Finot (Jean Delatour)
37 Andy Flickinger (Ag2r Prévoyance)          15.52
38 Christophe Agnolutto (Ag2r Prévoyance)
39 Guillaume Auger (Big Mat-Auber 93)
40 Claude Lamour (Cofidis)
41 Nicolas Portal (Ag2r Prévoyance)
42 Nicolas Fritsch (fdjeux.com)
43 Jean-Patrick Nazon (fdjeux.com)
44 Alexandre Chouffe (Oktos-St-Quentin)       17.11
45 Raphaël Jeune (CSC-Tiscali)
46 Gilles Bouvard (Jean Delatour)

Courtesy of velomania.net

Past winners

2002 Nicolas Vogondy 
2001 Didier Rous 
2000 Christophe Capelle 
1999 François Simon 
1998 Laurent Jalabert
1997 Stephane Barthe