42nd Circuit des Mines - 2.5

France, April 26-May 1, 2003

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Stage 4 - April 29: Trieux - Manderen-Château de Malbrouck, 145.3 km

Cox takes Barloworld's first win in Europe

By Jean-François Quénet

Ryan Cox, 24, hailing from Kempton Park in South Africa, may not have had enough freedom to show his potential when he previously rode in Germany. Signed as a leader for Team Barloworld before the addition of David George, he has justified the high expectations of team manager John Robertson by winning stage 4 in the Circuit des Mines (2.5) in France.

It was the famous uphill stage finish to the Chateau de Malbroucq, a 1 km long climb at 20%. "Ryan was a part of a 25 man front group," directeur sportif Michel Gros said. "He rode everyone off his wheel. I was very impressed. Yesterday, he already showed how strong he was, today he was the strongest in the bunch."

The former Jean Delatour and Festina coach was delighted to see Team Barloworld's first win in Europe. The new South African pro squad was very successful in Africa to open his history book with Tiaan Kannemeyer taking the overall in the Tour of Egypt and George taking the Giro del Capo for the second time in a row.

It wasn't an easy start for the South African, Australian and French neo-pros who begun their European campaign in three French cup races: GP Denain, Tour de Vendée and Paris-Camembert, against the big pro teams, but they improved quickly until the Circuit des Mines where Eric Berthou came 4th in stage 1 and now Cox being a winner.

Results

1 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld
2 Anthony Testa (Fra)                                       0.04 
3 Emmanuel Granat (Fra)                                     0.06 
4 Yann Pivois (Fra)                                         0.07 
5 Klaus Mutschler (Ger)
6 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim             0.10
7 Jos Lucassen (Ned) Axa
8 Alex Qualandi                                             0.14 
9 Andrey Ptchelkin (Rus)
10 Frederik Willems (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim              
...
44 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim               2.25
46 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim             2.40
60 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim               5.16
63 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim           5.52

General classification after stage 4

1 Guillaume Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93                10.42.55 
2 Emilien Berges (Fra)                                      0.02 
3 Anthony Langella (Fra) AC Bressuire                       0.10 
4 Andrei Ptchelkin (Rus)                                    0.14 
5 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim             0.15 
6 Emmanuel Granat (Fra) CC Etupes                           0.21 
7 Yann Pivois (Fra) CHA                                     0.22 
8 Alain Van Katwijk (Fra) Axa                               0.36 
9 Antony Giuriato (Fra) SAR                                 1.17 
10 Yanto Barker (Fra) CC Etupes                             1.34 
...
24 Willems Frederik (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim              5.58 
31 Demeyere Geoffrey (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim             6.49 
41 Verstraeten Jan (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim               7.28 
50 Van Mechelen Wouter (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim           9.28 
60 Gilmore Matthew (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim              11.05