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51st Circuit de la Sarthe - 2.3
France, April 8-11, 2003
Stage 1 - April 8: Nantes - Fontenay-le-Comte, 188.4 km
Da Cruz finds the way out in Ullrich's impressive come back day
By Jean-François Quénet in Fontenay-le-Comte
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FDJeux.com's Carlos Da Cruz is the winner of stage 1 in the Circuit de la Sarthe et des Pays de la Loire. Together with Russian Alexei Sivakov from BigMat, he has almost 6 minutes advantage over the first part of the bunch that included superstars Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, Richard Virenque, Christophe Moreau and Bradley McGee.
A smiling Ullrich appeared on the start line in Nantes, more than a year after racing the Tour of Qatar. For different reasons, he couldn't compete since, and he's been close to return home very frustrated again. Only at 9:15am, the UCI allowed him to take part in the race. Initially, his team had put only five bikes on the racks. At the last minute, the Bianchi bicycle manufacturer paid for the bank guarantee covering the salaries of the 1997 Tour de France winner, his directeur sportif Rudy Pevenage, his mechanic and soigneur.
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Nonetheless Ullrich was smiling but he even looked very fit. He also took part in a photo session with his old rival Armstrong who wants him back in the Tour de France because of a lack opposition last year. The four time winner has a few memories in Nantes. That's the town where he celebrated his 21st birthday at the end of the 1992 Tour de l'Avenir that finished in Pontchateau, where the riders of the Circuit de la Sarthe are expected at the end of stage 2. For the fans of cycling who still think that Armstrong became a climber after recovering from cancer, he was the king of the mountains in this Tour de l'Avenir 11 years ago.
Johan Bruyneel explained that Lance still suffered from his stomach during the race today. He was still able to stay in the first bunch of 35 riders when it split in the forest of Mervent with with 37km to go, but he was not in his best shape. However, Bruyneel was impressed by Ullrich, and he wasn't the only one. The German didn't accept to make any comment until a press conference scheduled for later in the evening.
When the bunch entered in action, there was no more hope for a stage win. After cruising at 26km/h for a couple of hours, the attacks begun and Da Cruz found his way out. "Then I saw that Sivakov was 200 or 300 metres behind so I waited for him, I knew he would be a good companion." The pair had 13' lead and Sylvain Chavanel stayed in between for more than 50km because his DS Jean-René Bernaudeau "couldn't admit that the race would ride in the middle of the forest of Mervent at a senatorial rhythm." Chavanel got caught and no one else than La Boulangère chased really. This team isn't exactly expert in making friends, so there were a few opponents happier to actually see them lose at home than try and win themselves.
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In Fontenay-le-Comte, the place where Jacky Durand became the French national champion for the second time in 1994, Da Cruz outsprinted Sivakov, then kissed him as they were still on the bike. They're good friends after racing together for a few years at BigMat. "Last night at dinner table, I told Carlos: "a win is around the corner for you", Aussie teammate Bradley McGee said.
It's Da Cruz's second win in his pro career after stage 1 in the Settimana Lombarda in 1999. He's a true attacker. Recently, he rode for 240km in a breakaway in Milan-San Remo, then for 125km in the first day of the Criterium International. "With FDJ and BigMat controlling the race, I think the GC is done now, it'll be between Alexei and myself", a very confident Da Cruz said.
But a very bitter La Boulangère team doesn't see the race that way!
Photography
Images by AFP Photo/Franck Fife
- Jan Ullrich (Team Coast) was the center of attention as his comeback began
- Friendly rivals Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich shake hands
- Armstrong and Ullrich share a laugh before the start
- Armstrong rides in the pack with Ullrich close at hand
- Jan Ullrich showed his training has been going well
- Ullrich hasn't lost his race face
- While Armstrong had a glimmer in his eye
- The winning move came from Carlos Da Cruz (l) and Alexei Sivakov
- Carlos Da Cruz (FDJeux.com) concentrates on building a lead
- Carlos Da Cruz (FDJeux.com) celebrates his stage victory
Results
1 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) FDJeux.com 5.10.13 (36.439 km/h) 2 Alexei Sivakov (Rus) Big.Mat-Auber 93 3 Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems 5.52 4 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Quick.Step-Davitamon 5 Bradley McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com 6 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 7 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 8 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 9 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 10 Andrea Noe' (Ita) Alessio 11 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 12 Richard Virenque (Fra) Quick.Step-Davitamon 13 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Jean Delatour 14 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 15 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 16 Mikel Pradera Rodriguez (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 17 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 18 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Jean Delatour 19 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick.Step-Davitamon 20 Rafael Diaz Justo (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 21 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Alessio 22 Jan Ullrich (Ger) Team Coast 23 Thorsten Rund (Ger) Team Coast 24 Sébastien Talabardon (Fra) Big.Mat-Auber 93 25 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 26 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 27 Cyril Saugrain (Fra) Big.Mat-Auber 93 28 Alvaro Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 29 Stéphane Barthe (Fra) MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin 30 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 31 Guillaume Auger (Fra) Big.Mat-Auber 93 32 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 33 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 34 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 35 Kyrylo Poskyeyev (Ukr) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 36 Jean Cyril Robin (Fra) FDJeux.com 37 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 38 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour 39 Sergeï Krushevskiy (Uzb) MBK-Oktos-Saint-Quentin 9.15 40 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 12.57 41 Cédric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole 42 Gerhard Trampush (Aut) Gerolsteiner 43 Denis Bertolini (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems 44 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 45 Piotr Wadecki (Pol) Quick.Step-Davitamon 46 Omasz Brozyna (Pol) CCC-Polsat 47 Jimmy Casper (Fra) FDJeux.com 48 Uwe Hardter (Ger) Gerolsteiner 49 Bogdan Bondariew (Ukr) CCC-Polsat 50 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner 51 Olivier Perraudeau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 52 Lorenzo Cardellini (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 53 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 54 Allan Davis (Aus) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 55 Andris Naudusk (Lat) CCC-polsat 56 Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) CCC-Polsat 57 Gorka Beloki Dorronsoro (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 58 Cédric Fragniere (Swi) Credit Agricole 59 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Quick.Step-Davitamon 60 Dioni Galparsoro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi ... 69 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal presented by Berry Floor
