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Giro finale
Photo ©: Bettini

 UCI codes explained

52nd Circuit de la Sarthe - 2.3

France, April 6-9, 2004

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Stage 4 - April 9: Evron - Le Mans, 181 km

A champion is born: Thomas Lövkvist

By Jean-François Quénet in Le Mans

Thomas Lövkvist (FDJeux.com)
Photo ©: AFP

Until today, two riders had won the Circuit de la Sarthe aged 20: Bernard Hinault in 1975 and Greg LeMond in 1980. Now, the world of cycling welcomes Thomas Lövkvist! The Swede turned 20 last Sunday and celebrated his birthday in a typical bowls players society of the Loire valley, writing in the golden book: "I'm happy to discover another side of France."

Since he joined French outfit Fdjeux.com, his life has been full of new experiences: he discovered the big cycling pro world in Australia at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, set himself with Australian stars Brad McGee, Baden Cooke, Matt Wilson and Mark Renshaw in Nice and made his debut in Paris-Nice, something unusual for neo-professionals.

Marc Madiot is already fond of him. "Physically and mentally, this guy has all the qualities to become a super champion", he said. The boss of Fdjeux.com got to know him at the Tour de l'Avenir last year where he finished 6th overall after wearing the yellow jersey. Before that, with Team Bianchi Scandinavia directed by Tommy Prim, he had won the Circuit des Ardennes, which was almost his first race after the junior category! Later he came 4th at the U23 world championship time trial.

Lövkvist won the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire in a 171 km breakaway, covering 150 alone after getting rid of his companion, the first attacker of the day who was no less but Christophe Moreau. "He wasn't going fast enough", Lövkvist commented. The tall Swede hailing from the island of Gotland had a maximum lead of 13 minutes and still had 5'30 advantage on the bunch when he reached the final circuit of Le Mans, where he had to climb the gruelling côte de Gazonfier four times.

Thomas Lövkvist (FDJeux.com)
Photo ©: Jean-François Quénet

"The last time, I almost fell, I was so tired," he explained. "I went backwards I think. Then I looked in direction to the top and I said to myself: 'yes, you can do it'." Everyone was impressed by his courage. He was also very clever not to put his hands up before he crossed the line because he was able to win the overall as well as the stage. He knew it would be tight.

Strangely there was a lot of misunderstanding in the chasing group with La Boulangère not getting much of help from the other teams. "I'll remember it in the future, a bitter former race leader Franck Bouyer commented. But I pass on my congratulations to the winner, what he did was great."

It's a huge breath of fresh air for French cycling to see a pure young talent winning in a great manner when the headlines are only made of doping affairs. "With all the tests we have to do now, I hope the sport will be clean very soon," Lövkvist declared. "From my side, the only thing I can do is to keep riding drug free."

If the future is based around athletes like Lövkvist, cycling has a few fabulous years coming up.

Photography

Images by AFP Photo

Images by Jean-François Quénet

Results

1 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Fdjeux.Com                    4.34.06
2 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo    0.27
3 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Lotto Domo                         0.32
4 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team                             
5 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo         
6 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans            
7 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros                          
8 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze                          
9 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                    
10 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                    
11 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                   
12 Francesco Failli (Ita) Domina Vacanze                     
13 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere                
14 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi              
15 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner                           
16 Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago         
17 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole                   
18 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                           
19 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                      
20 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto Domo                          
21 Andrea Noe (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi                        
22 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance                      
23 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com                         
24 Sandy Casar (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                              
25 Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) Liberty Seguros                  
26 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim               
27 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans         
28 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto Domo                           
29 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim           
30 Paolo Salvodelli (Ita) T-Mobile Team                      
31 Sergiy Adyeyev (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago            
32 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole                    
33 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole                 
34 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover            
35 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole                     
36 Jef Peeters (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim                  
37 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                         
38 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                 1.27
39 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                          
40 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago         1.30
41 Rafael Diaz (Spa) Liberty Seguros                     2.18
42 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim       2.48
43 Mikhail Timochine (Rus) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago     2.54
44 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                        4.38
45 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance                 5.13
46 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                   
47 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                   
48 Klaus Mutschler (Ger) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover           
49 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros                      
50 René Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros                         
DNF Frédéric Finot (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover
DNF Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance
DNF Eddy Seigneur (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover
DNF Bruno Thibout (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover
DNF Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole
DNF Jacky Durand (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
DNF Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
DNF Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team
DNF Tomas Konecny (Cze) T-Mobile Team
DNF Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto Domo
DNF Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner
DNF Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T-Mobile Team
DNF Marcel Straus (Swi) Gerolsteiner
DNF Fred Rodriguez (Usa) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
DNF Piotr Wadecki (Pol) Lotto Domo
DNF Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere
DNF Mickaël Pichon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere
DNF Franck Renier (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere
DNF Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere
DNF Maryan Hary (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere
DNF Murilo Fischer (Bra) Domina Vacanze
DNF Gert Vanderaerden (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans
DNF Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto Domo
DNF Andrea Tafi (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi
DNF Dmitri Muravyev (Kaz) Credit Agricole
DNF Björn Leukemans (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans
DNF Crescenzo D'amore (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
DNF Denis Bertoloni (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo
DNF Martin Derganc (Slo) Domina Vacanze
DNF Pieter Mertens (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim
DNF Nicolas Reynaud (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover
DNF Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi

 
Final general classification
 
1 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Fdjeux.Com                   18.03.33
2 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere             0.19
3 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner                        0.23
4 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Lotto Domo                         0.33
5 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                 0.35
6 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros                      0.39
7 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo        
8 Sandy Casar (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                               
9 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                   0.40
10 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros               0.41
11 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi              
12 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                       0.42
13 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance                  0.44
14 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team                        0.50
15 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo        
16 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze                         
17 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                   
18 Francesco Failli (Ita) Domina Vacanze                     
19 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com                         
20 Andrea Noe (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi                        
21 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole                     
22 Sergiy Adyeyev (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago            
23 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover            
24 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole                   
25 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole                    
26 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans         
27 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto Domo                           
28 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                         
29 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim               
30 Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) Liberty Seguros                  
31 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole                 
32 Paolo Salvodelli (Ita) T-Mobile Team                      
33 Rafael Diaz (Spa) Liberty Seguros                     2.36
34 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                      2.45
35 Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago     2.49
36 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim           
37 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim       3.05
38 Mikhail Timochine (Rus) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago     3.12
39 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                 3.44
40 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans       4.46
41 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                        4.56
42 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans             5.31
43 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                   
44 René Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros                         
45 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago         6.19
46 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi               7.30
47 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros                  7.53
48 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto Domo                     11.49
49 Jef Peeters (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim             12.12
50 Klaus Mutschler (Ger) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover      16.30
51 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance                19.51
 
Points classification
 
1 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Lotto Domo                           71 pts
2 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros                        57
3 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                   40
4 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Fdjeux.Com                         38
5 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team                           32
6 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                          31
7 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere               28
8 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance                     26
9 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                  22
10 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner                         21
11 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo     20
12 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance                    20
13 Sandy Casar (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                            17
14 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo      17
15 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi            16
16 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze                       15
17 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim         15
18 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                 13
19 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans         10
20 Francesco Failli (Ita) Domina Vacanze                    7
21 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                           7
22 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com                        5
23 Andrea Noe (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi                       5
24 Mikhail Timochine (Rus) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago        2
25 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago            1
 
Mountains classification
 
1 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance                     35 pts
2 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Fdjeux.Com                         26
3 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi             22
4 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo      22
5 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com                        12
6 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                  11
7 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                          10
8 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner                           9
9 Sandy Casar (Fra) Fdjeux.Com                              8
10 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo       6
11 Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) Liberty Seguros                 6
12 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago            4
13 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere               4
14 Andrea Noe (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi                       4
15 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze                        1
 
U23 classification
 
1 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Fdjeux.Com                   18.03.33
2 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros                      0.39
3 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros                0.41
4 Francesco Failli (Ita) Domina Vacanze                  0.50
5 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com                          
6 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole                    
7 Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago      2.49
8 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim        3.05
9 Mikhail Timochine (Rus) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago      3.12
10 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                 3.44
11 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans             5.31
12 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi               7.30
13 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros                  7.53