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Giro finale
Photo ©: Bettini

 UCI codes explained

20th Route Adélie - 1.1

Vitré, France, March 31, 2006

2005 Results    Results    Past winners

Dumoulin does the business for a solo win

By Jean-François Quénet in Vitré

Samuel Dumoulin wins (AG2R)
Photo ©: Régis Garnier
(Click for larger image)

Known as a decent sprinter, Samuel Dumoulin had previously never won a pro race on his own until today, when he attacked with 1.5km to go and won the 20th edition of the Route Adélie, held in Vitré

The rue de Brest was packed with cycling enthusiasts watching the world's smallest pro rider claiming his first win this year. Despite crowds gathering for anti-governmental protests, which delayed the start by half an hour, the mood was good among those present. The fourth leg of the French cup, Route Adelie was a chance for Chris Sutton (Cofidis), the winner of Cholet-Pays de Loire two weeks ago, to consolidate his lead in the series. He was up against young American Taylor Tolleson of TIAA-CREF, Hans Dekkers (Agritubel) and Sébastien Duret (Bretagne-Jean Floc'h) and Brian Vandborg (CSC), who all formed the early break of the race. Their lead reached a maximum of 4:55 and still maintained a 1:45 advantage at when the race started the finish laps in Vitré after 120km.

Duret was impressive as he kept counter-attacking, along with Alberto Martinez (Agritubel), Camille Bouquet (Unibet.com), Niels Brouzes (Auber 93), Aitor Galdos (Panaria) and his team-mate David Lelay of local team Bretagne-Jean Floc'h. The next breakaway comprised 2004 winner of the Route Adélie Anthony Geslin (Bouygues Telecom), Lilian Jégou (Française des Jeux) and Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r) in addition to Galdos, Martinez and Lelay, and also Laurens Ten Dam (Unibet.com) who came across before paying for his efforts at the end.

The escape
Photo ©: Régis Garnier
(Click for larger image)

The three French riders were fast finishers, a situation that didn't provide Dumoulin with any guarantees of winning. But he played his cards right and made the race his. "He has been very smart anticipating the sprint with 1.5km to go", said Geslin after the finish. "I knew Lilian and Anthony but I wasn't too sure about the other's sprinting abilities, Dumoulin explained after his win. That's why I preferred to attack. Since I never won solo as a pro, I wanted to see how it feels and it's great, although I didn't win by a big margin."

This win came as a relief for the AG2R team, who had a very successful start to the year with Dumoulin and Co helping Simon Gerrans win the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, but they have been quiet since Renaud Dion claimed the Samyn Memorial on March 1st. "I felt frustrated, maybe our ambitions were a bit too high at Paris-Nice, but we have raced very well as a team today", a very satisfied Dumoulin explained after the finish. "We have taken our responsibilities when it was time to chase."

Chris Sutton is now
Photo ©: JF Quenet
(Click for larger image)

Another notable performance came from Chris 'CJ; Sutton. Not only did he race for 140km in the front, he was still able to muster a sprint for 8th place at the finish. "When I got caught, I was close to being dropped, then I felt comfortable in the bunch again, said the Australian. "I got chopped on the pavés before the final sprint, unfortunately. I could have had a better result today but there are other races to come." He'll line up in Rennes on Sunday (if French roads finally get cleared by demonstrators), at the Circuit de la Sarthe and Paris-Roubaix next week, a race programme that shows a lot of confidence from his Cofidis team at an early stage. By finishing 15th at the Route Adélie, he scored three points that put him alone in first position on the French Cup standings, where he's also the best young rider. A very promising one, indeed!

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Régis Garnier/www.velofotopro.com

Images by Jean-Francois Quenet

Results - 191 km

1 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                               
2 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Esp) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare               
3 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                               
4 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Française Des Jeux                               
5 David Lelay (Fra) Bretagne-Jean Floc`H                              
6 Alberto Martinez Trinidad José (Esp) Agritubel                      
7 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.Com                                    
8 Mirko Allegrini (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare                   
9 Moises Duenas (Esp) Agritubel                                       
10 Erki Pütsep (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance                                  
11 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française Des Jeux                            
12 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                                
13 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Auber 93                                         
14 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Bretagne-Jean Floc`H                     
15 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Cofidis                                   
16 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                               
17 Camille Bouquet (Fra) Unibet.Com                                   
18 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                
19 Renaud Dion (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                                  
20 Cédric Herve (Fra) Bretagne-Jean Floc`H                            
21 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française Des Jeux                          
22 Cedric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel                                    
23 Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) Miche                                       
24 Freddy Gonzalez (Col) Selle Italia - Serramenti Diquigiovanni      
25 William Bonnet (Fra) Credit Agricole                               
26 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole                              
27 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Bretagne-Jean Floc`H                        
28 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                          
29 Bo Hamburger (Den) Miche                                           
30 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93                                        
31 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Unibet.Com                                  
32 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Credit Agricole                              
33 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel                                 
34 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française Des Jeux                         
35 Niels Brouzes (Fra) Auber 93                                       
36 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Cycle Racing Team Vang                       
37 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                            
38 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Agritubel                               
39 Florian Morizot (Fra) Auber 93                                     
40 Tyler Farrar (Usa) Cofidis                                         
41 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis                                       
42 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française Des Jeux                            
43 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Unibet.Com                                
44 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Cofidis                                        
45 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team Csc                                    
46 Paride Grillo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria - Navigare                    
47 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Selle Italia - Serramenti Diquigiovanni        
48 Martin Pedersen (Den) Team Csc                                     
49 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française Des Jeux                             
50 Marc Marino Jean (Fra) Credit Agricole                             
51 Matheus Pronk (Ned) Unibet.Com                                     
52 Noan Lelarge (Fra) Bretagne-Jean Floc`H                            
53 Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne-Jean Floc`H                         
54 Pasquale Muto (Ita) Miche                                          
55 Philippe Schnyder (Sui) Selle Italia - Serramenti Diquigiovanni    
56 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux                                
57 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) Agritubel                                   
58 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Auber 93                                      
59 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance
60 Tanaka So (Jpn) Cycle Racing Team Vang
French Cup standings

1 Chris Sutton (Aus) Cofidis             53pts
2 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2r Prévoyance  50
3 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Cofidis
4 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis
5 Lilian Jégou (Fra) Française des Jeux  45

Past winners

Route Adélie
 
2005 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team LPR
2004 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Brioches la Boulangère
2003 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Jean Delatour
2002 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team fakta
2001 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est)
2000 Laurent Brochard (Fra)
1999 Torsten Schmidt (Ger)
1998 Jann Kirsipuu (Est)
1997 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra)
 
Tour d'Armorique
 
1996 Marc Bouillon (Fra)
1994 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra)
1993 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra)
1992 Peter De Clercq (Bel)
1991 Jérôme Simon (Fra)
1990 Rober-to Torres (Spa)
1989 Laurent Jalabert (Fra)
1988 Sören Lilholt (Den)
1987 Thierry Marie (Fra)
1986 Jörg Müller (Swi)
 
Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com