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77th Critérium International - 2.HC
France, March 29-30, 2008
2007 results Schedule Preview Start List Past winners
The Stages
- Stage 1 - March 29: Signy-le-Petit - Charleville-Mézières, 193km
- Stage 2 - March 30: Les Vieilles Forges (Les Mazures) - Monthermé, 98.5km
- Stage 3 - March 30: Charleville-Mézières - Charleville-Mézières, ITT, 8.3km
"Short, but sharp" – another victory for Voigt?
By Hedwig Kröner
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Germany's Jens Voigt has the opportunity to win a fourth edition of the French Criterium International stage race this year and get once step closer to matching the record of Raymond Poulidor, who won the event five times.s
The 77th edition of the two-day, three-stage event will once again see the riders tackle the hilly countryside of France's northeast, towards the Belgian border. "I really like Critérium International, it's short but sharp, exactly my kind of thing," the CSC rider told Cyclingnews at Paris-Nice, where he tested his form in a breakaway towards the famous Mont Ventoux.
The 2007 winner of the event will thus be the man to beat in the hills north of Charleville-Mézières, where the second stage will take place on Sunday morning, and at the race's final time trial on Sunday afternoon. Traditionally, the first stage on Saturday is decided in a bunch sprint, and the general classification players take over the action on the second day of the race.
Team CSC, with Voigt and two-time winner Bobby Julich, will have to battle it out against fierce competition. Notably from Spain, as Caisse d'Epargne is lining up its assets Alejandro Valverde and Luis León Sánchez, who will be out to make up his lost chances in Paris-Nice. Another "Race to the Sun" key protagonist in Critérium International will be Rabobank's young prodigy Robert Gesink, an excellent climber who at 20 years of age placed second behind Cadel Evans on the aforementioned Mont Ventoux.
Other mountain men include Italian Damiano Cunego, Colombian Mauricio Soler and Paris-Nice polka dot jersey Clément Lhotellerie. But the first stage of the event taking place on rather flat terrain, sprinters like Gerald Ciolek (High Road), Jimmy Casper (Agritubel) or Julian Dean (Slipstream Chipotle - H30) could have the last word.
Speaking of Team Slipstream – the final time trial on Sunday afternoon, at over 8.3 kilometres, just might be something for the squad's David Millar or Dave Zabriskie, both specialists in the race against the clock. In any case, the "short, but sharp" stage race promises some good cycling action over the weekend.
Start list
Team CSC Française des Jeux
1 Jens Voigt (Ger) 11 Sandy Casar (Fra)
2 Michael Blaudzun (Den) 12 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra)
3 Bobby Julich (USA) 13 Jérôme Coppel (Fra)
4 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) 14 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr)
5 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) 15 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra)
6 Andy Schleck (Lux) 16 Jérémy Roy (Fra)
7 Fränk Schleck (Lux) 17 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra)
8 Nicki Sørensen (Den) 18 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin)
Caisse d'Epargne Crédit Agricole
21 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) 31 Pierre Rolland (Fra)
22 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) 32 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun)
23 Imanol Erviti (Spa) 33 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus)
24 Alberto Losada (Spa) 34 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita)
25 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) 35 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz)
26 Mathieu Perget (Fra) 36 Angelo Furlan (Ita)
27 Nicolas Portal (Fra) 37 Simon Gerrans (Aus)
28 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) 38 Rémi Pauriol (Fra)
High Road Rabobank
41 Kim Kirchen (Lux) 51 Robert Gesink (Ned)
42 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) 52 Theo Eltink (Ned)
43 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) 53 Rick Flens (Ned)
44 Bert Grabsch (Ger) 54 Tom Leezer (Ned)
45 Adam Hansen (Aus) 55 Paul Martens (Ger)
46 Craig Lewis (USA) 56 Grischa Niermann (Ger)
47 Tony Martin (Ger) 57 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned)
48 Frantisek Rabon (Cze)
Lampre Bouygues Telecom
61 Damiano Cunego (Ita) 71 Jérôme Pineau (Fra)
62 Matteo Bono (Ita) 72 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra)
63 Roberto Longo (Ita) 73 Dimitri Champion (Fra)
64 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) 74 Stef Clement (Ned)
65 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) 75 Vincent Jérôme (Fra)
66 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) 76 Matthieu Sprick (Fra)
77 Iouri Trofimov (Rus)
78 Johann Tschopp (Swi)
Euskaltel-Euskadi Cofidis
81 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) 91 Maxime Monfort (Bel)
82 Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa) 92 Florent Brard (Fra)
83 Jorge Azanza (Spa) 93 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra)
84 Aitor Hernández (Spa) 94 Leonardo Duque (Col)
85 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) 95 Julien El Farès (Fra)
86 Antton Luengo (Spa) 96 Maryan Hary (Fra)
87 Egoi Martínez (Spa) 97 Yann Huguet (Fra)
88 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) 98 Damien Monier (Fra)
Barloworld AG2R La Mondiale
101 Mauricio Soler (Col) 111 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra)
102 John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) 112 Sylvain Calzati (Fra)
103 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) 113 Cyril Dessel (Fra)
104 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) 114 Hubert Dupont (Fra)
105 Félix Rafael Cárdenas (Col) 115 Christophe Edaleine (Fra)
106 Giampaolo Cheula (Ita) 116 John Gadret (Fra)
107 Chris Froome (Ken) 117 Stéphane Goubert (Fra)
108 Christian Pfannberger (Aut) 118 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr)
Team Milram Skil-Shimano
121 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) 131 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra)
122 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) 132 Fabien Bacquet (Fra)
123 Matej Jurco (Svk) 133 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)
124 Elia Rigotto (Ita) 134 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn)
125 Dominik Roels (Ger) 135 Thierry Huppond (Fra)
126 Brett Lancaster (Aus) 136 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned)
127 Sebastian Schwager (Ger) 137 Sebastian Siedler (Ger)
128 Peter Velits (Svk) 138 Albert Timmer (Ned)
Agritubel BMC Racing Team
141 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) 151 Steve Bovay (Swi)
142 Emilien-Benoît Berges (Fra) 152 Jonathan Garcia (USA)
143 Jimmy Casper (Fra) 153 Martin Kohler (Swi)
144 Mikel Gaztañaga Echeverria (Spa) 154 Darren Lill (RSA)
145 Kevin Ista (Bel) 155 Ian McKissick (USA)
146 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) 156 Alexandre Moos (Swi)
147 Christophe Rinero (Fra) 157 Mike Sayers (USA)
148 Benoît Salmon (Fra) 158 Danilo Wyss (Swi)
Slipstream Chipotle - H30 Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner
161 David Zabriskie (USA) 171 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel)
162 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) 172 Dirk Bellemakers (Ned)
163 Timothy Duggan (USA) 173 Sébastien Delfosse (Bel)
164 Christophe Laurent (Fra) 174 Benjamin Gourgue (Bel)
165 Trent Lowe (Aus) 175 Steven Kleynen (Bel)
166 David Millar (GBr) 176 Kevin Neirynck (Bel)
167 Kilian Patour (Fra) 177 Ian Stannard (GBr)
168 Thomas Peterson (USA)
Karpin Galicia
181 David Abal Diego (Spa)
182 Carlos Castaño (Spa)
183 Gustavo César Veloso (Spa)
184 Jesús Cobelo Fojo (Spa)
185 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa)
186 David Garcia (Spa)
187 David Herrero (Spa)
188 Serafín Martínez (Spa)
Past winners
2007 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 2006 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2005 Bobby Julich (USA) CSC 2004 Jens Voigt (Ger) CSC 2003 Laurent Brochard (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 2002 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2001 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2000 Abraham Olano (Spa) ONCE 1999 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole 1998 Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis 1997 Marcelino Garcia (Spa) 1996 Chris Boardman (GB) 1995 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 1994 Giorgio Furlan (Ita) 1993 Erik Breukink (Ned) 1992 Jean-Francois Bernard (Fra) 1991 Stephen Roche (Ire) 1990 Laurent Fignon (Fra) 1989 Miguel Indurain (Spa) 1988 Erik Breukink (Ned) 1987 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1986 Urs Zimmermann (Swi) 1985 Stephen Roche (Ire) 1984 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1983 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1982 Laurent Fignon (Fra) 1981 Bernard Hinault (Fra) 1980 Michel Laurent (Fra) 1979 Joop Zoetemelk (Ned) 1978 Bernard Hinault (Fra) 1977 Jean Chassang (Fra) 1976 Patrick Beon (Fra) 1975 Jacques Esclassan (Fra) 1974 Bernard Thevenet (Fra) 1973 Jean-Pierre Danguilaume (Fra) 1972 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1971 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1970 Georges Chappe (Fra) 1969 Gilbert Bellone (Fra) 1968 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1967 Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 1966 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1965 Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 1964 Raymond Poulidor (Fra) 1963 Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 1962 Joseph Groussard (Fra) 1961 Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 1960 Jean Graczyk (Fra) 1959 André Darrigade (Fra) 1958 Roger Hassenforder (Fra) 1957 Jean Forestier (Fra) 1956 Roger Hassenforder (Fra) 1955 René Privat (Fra) 1954 Roger Hassenforder (Fra) 1953 Robert Desbats (Fra) 1952 Louison Bobet (Fra) 1951 Louison Bobet (Fra) 1950 Pierre Barbotin (Fra) 1949 Emile Idee (Fra) 1948 Camille Danguilaume (Fra) 1947 Emile Idee (Fra) 1946 Kleber Piot (Fra), Camille Danguilaume (Fra) 1945 Joseph Goutorbe (Fra) 1944 Roger Piel (Fra) 1943 Louis Gauthier (Fra), Emile Idee (Fra) 1942 Aldo Bertocco (Fra), Emile Idee (Fra) 1941 Yvon Marie (Fra), Benoit Faure (Fra) 1940 Emile Idee (Fra) 1939 André Deforge (Fra) 1938 Pierre Jaminet (Fra) 1937 Roger Lapbie, René Le Greves (Fra) 1936 Paul Chocque (Fra) 1935 René Le Greves (Fra) 1934 Roger Lapbie (Fra) 1933 André Leducq (Fra) 1932 Leon Le Calvez (Fra) 1930 Robert Brugere (Fra) 1929 Paul Le Drogo (Fra) 1928 André Leducq (Fra) 1927 Julien Moineu (Fra) Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
