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36th Tour du Limousin - 2.3
France, August 19-22, 2003
Stage 1 - August 19: Limoges - Saint-Junien, 157 km
National champion Rous takes first jersey
French national champion Didier Rous (Brioches La Boulangère) carried the good form he showed Sunday in Zurich into the Tour du Limousin, grabbing the opening stage win and taking the first leader's jersey of the four day tour. Rous arrived in Saint-Junien as part of a four man leading group which dangled out front of a splintered main field. Not waiting to test his legs in a sprint, Rous attacked and won alone, 39" ahead of Cofidis' Italian veteran Massimiliano Lelli and Jean Delatour's Laurent Lefèvre.
The undulating terrain of the Limousin region caused plenty of pain on the first day of racing, with time gaps opening throughout the field by the end of the first stage. Sixteen riders finished outside the time delay, while a further six did not complete the stage. The Japanese Bridgestone squad was decimated, as six of its riders finished outside the delay. A notable casualty was Tour de France stage winner Juan Antonio Flecha (iBanesto.com), who took an early exit on the road to Saint-Junien.
With race favourites and previous winners Patrice Halgand and Laurent Brochard declaring forfeit before the Tour began, Rous could prove a likely candidate for victory, though his lead is far from secure.
Results
1 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 3.45.44 (41.917 km/h) 2 Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 0.39 3 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour 4 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 1.20 5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 6 Médéric Clain (Fra) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 7 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 8 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Jean Delatour 1.25 9 David George (RSA) Team Barloworld 10 Mickael Pichon (Fra) fdjeux.com 11 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2.29 12 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Jean Delatour 13 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.15 14 Julien Laidoun (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 15 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) fdjeux.com 3.24 16 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz) MBK - Oktos 3.26 17 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Jean Delatour 3.27 18 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Jean Delatour 19 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 20 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) fdjeux.com 21 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) MBK - Oktos 22 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 23 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Rabobank (TT III) 24 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Credit Agricole 25 Christian Poos (Lux) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 3.35 26 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 27 Inigo Chaurreau Bernar (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance 3.38 28 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 7.03 29 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance 7.55 30 Johan Coenen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 31 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank (TT III) 32 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) fdjeux.com 12.07 33 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) iBanesto.com 13.55 34 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) French National Team 17.43 35 Christopher Jenner (Fra) Credit Agricole 36 David Breard (Fra) French National Team 37 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank (TT III) 38 Jacobus Odendaal (RSA) Team Barloworld 39 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 40 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 41 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole 42 Gilles Canouet (Fra) French National Team 43 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 44 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 45 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour 46 Sébastien Duret (Fra) French National Team 47 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Team Barloworld 48 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Team Barloworld 49 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 50 Sébastien Talabardon (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 51 Guillaume Auger (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 52 Christophe Mengin (Fra) fdjeux.com 53 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld 54 Nicolas Meunier (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 55 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Team Barloworld 56 Régis Lhuiller (Fra) fdjeux.com 57 Maxime Mederel (Fra) French National Team 58 Anthony Morin (Fra) Credit Agricole 59 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank (TT III) 60 Alexei Sivakov (Rus) Bigmat.Auber 93 61 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank (TT III) 62 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 63 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MBK - Oktos 64 Vincent Templier (Fra) MBK - Oktos 65 Julen Fernandez Bijandi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 66 Palmen Stoyanov (Bul) Bigmat.Auber 93 67 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 68 Josu Silloniz Aresti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 69 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 70 Camille Bouquet (Fra) French National Team 71 Joseba Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 72 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 73 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) iBanesto.com 74 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) iBanesto.com 75 Ruben Diaz De Cerio (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 76 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) fdjeux.com 77 Thierry Loder (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 78 Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi) Jean Delatour 79 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 80 Jean Michel Tessier (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 81 Christophe Oriol (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 82 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 83 Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Jean Delatour 84 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) French National Team 85 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole 86 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 87 Manu l'Hoir (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 88 Angelo Lopeboselli (Ita) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 89 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 90 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 91 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 92 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 93 Eric Berthou (Fra) Team Barloworld 94 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) MBK - Oktos 95 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) fdjeux.com 96 Christophe Kern (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere Eliminated HD Sergeï Krushevskiy (Uzb) MBK - Oktos 28.06 HD Keisuke Miyazaki (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor HD José Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) iBanesto.com HD Guillaume Girout (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf HD Hans Dekkers (Ned) Rabobank (TT III) HD David Lelay (Fra) French National Team HD Ken Hashikawa (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor HD Takehiro Mizutani (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor HD Rafael Mateos Perez (Spa) iBanesto.com HD Thijs Verhagen (Ned) Rabobank (TT III) HD Lorenzo Di Silvestro (Ita) MBK - Oktos HD Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor HD Taichi Suzuki (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor HD Jacques Le Roux (RSA) Team Barloworld HD Linas Balciunas (Ltu) MBK - Oktos HD Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 58.17 DNF Jens Mouris (Ned) Rabobank (TT III) DNF Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) iBanesto.com DNF Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere DNF Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere DNF Sébastien Mattozza (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf DNF Loïc Lamouller (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 General classification after stage 1 1 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 3.45.34 2 Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 0.43 3 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour 0.45 4 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 1.30 5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 6 Médéric Clain (Fra) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 7 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 8 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Jean Delatour 1.35 9 David George (RSA) Team Barloworld 10 Mickael Pichon (Fra) fdjeux.com 11 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2.39 12 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Jean Delatour 2.49 13 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.25 14 Julien Laidoun (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 15 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) fdjeux.com 3.34 16 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz) MBK - Oktos 3.36 17 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Jean Delatour 3.37 18 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Jean Delatour 19 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 20 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) fdjeux.com 21 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) MBK - Oktos 22 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 23 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Rabobank (TT III) 24 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Credit Agricole 25 Christian Poos (Lux) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 3.45 26 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 27 Inigo Chaurreau Bernar (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance 3.48 28 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 7.13 29 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance 8.05 30 Johan Coenen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 31 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank (TT III) 32 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) fdjeux.com 12.17 33 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) iBanesto.com 14.05 34 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) French National Team 17.53 35 Christopher Jenner (Fra) Credit Agricole 36 David Breard (Fra) French National Team 37 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank (TT III) 38 Jacobus Odendaal (RSA) Team Barloworld 39 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 40 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 41 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole 42 Gilles Canouet (Fra) French National Team 43 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 44 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 45 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour 46 Sébastien Duret (Fra) French National Team 47 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Team Barloworld 48 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Team Barloworld 49 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 50 Sébastien Talabardon (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 51 Guillaume Auger (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 52 Christophe Mengin (Fra) fdjeux.com 53 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld 54 Nicolas Meunier (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 55 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Team Barloworld 56 Régis Lhuiller (Fra) fdjeux.com 57 Maxime Mederel (Fra) French National Team 58 Anthony Morin (Fra) Credit Agricole 59 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank (TT III) 60 Alexei Sivakov (Rus) Bigmat.Auber 93 61 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank (TT III) 62 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 63 Laurent Paumier (Fra) MBK - Oktos 64 Vincent Templier (Fra) MBK - Oktos 65 Julen Fernandez Bijandi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 66 Palmen Stoyanov (Bul) Bigmat.Auber 93 67 Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 68 Josu Silloniz Aresti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 69 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 70 Camille Bouquet (Fra) French National Team 71 Joseba Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 72 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 73 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) iBanesto.com 74 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) iBanesto.com 75 Ruben Diaz De Cerio (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 76 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) fdjeux.com 77 Thierry Loder (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 78 Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi) Jean Delatour 79 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 80 Jean Michel Tessier (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 81 Christophe Oriol (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 82 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 83 Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Jean Delatour 84 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) French National Team 85 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole 86 Charles Guilbert (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 87 Manu l'Hoir (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 88 Angelo Lopeboselli (Ita) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 89 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 90 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 91 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 92 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 93 Eric Berthou (Fra) Team Barloworld 94 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) MBK - Oktos 95 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) fdjeux.com 96 Christophe Kern (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere Sprints classification 1 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Jean Delatour 2 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) fdjeux.Com 3 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) French National Team Mountains classification 1 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) fdjeux.Com 2 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) French National Team 3 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis-Le Credit par Telephone Young rider classification 1 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Jean Delatour 2 Julien Laidoun (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 3 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 Teams classification 1 Cofidis-Le Credit par Telephone 2 Jean Delatour 3 Ag2r Prevoyance
