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Tour of Belgium - 2.3
Belgium, May 21-25, 2003
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Stage 2 - May 22: Oostende-Knokke-Heist, 172,5 km
Merckx takes the lead as Koerts wins the stage
By Jeff Jones
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A last lap attack by Axel Merckx (Lotto-Domo) has earned him the leader's jersey in the Tour of Belgium, after the second stage finished in the seaside town of Knokke/Heist today. Merckx was joined by Dutch sprinter Jans Koerts during his move, and the pair worked to hold off the bunch by 13 seconds. Koerts had no problems winning the sprint, while Merckx was happy with taking the lead.
The 177.5 km second stage started from Oostende with 110 riders, after US Postal's Guennadi Mikhailov and David Zabriskie did not take the start. An tentative attack was made almost immediately by Jan Kuyckx (Vlaanderen), then Yuriy Krivtsov (Jean Delatour) had a try. Neither was successful as the wind made any solo moves hard to pull off.
The peloton broke into two parts at Pittem (41km) but came back together again by Tielt (km 48). From then on it was a case of holding a steady tempo until the four 10 km finishing circuits approached. Tom Steels' Landbouwkrediet team was responsible for much of the work in front, trying to keep their sprinter in the leader's jersey.
With 40 km to go, around 40 riders split off the front of the bunch, with Quick.Step-Davitamon mainly responsible. However the group was too big and it came back together with three laps (30 km) to go in Knokke-Heist.
The first time bonus sprint was taken by Servais Knaven (Quick.Step) in front of Leon van Bon (Lotto-Domo) and Bart Voskamp (BankGiroLoterij). The latter was part of a nine man breakaway during this first lap, which included Van Bon, Boonen, Van Heeswijk, Facci, Tessier, Vandewalle and De Weert.
The second sprint was taken by Van Heeswijk in front of Van Bon and De Weert, but after that the leaders were caught by the peloton. On the third lap, Johan Museeuw attacked to take the third sprint in front of Rik Reinerink and Frank Vandenbroucke. After he was caught, Tom Boonen countered, then Axel Merckx, who went just before the bell lap.
Merckx started the lap with a small gap, but managed to increase it gradually through the streets of Knokke-Heist. When he was caught by Jans Koerts, the pair worked well together to increase their lead to 20" on the bunch, which wasn't well organised for a chase.
Quick.Step's Laszlo Bodrogi attacked in the closing kilometres to try and bridge the gap, but he didn't make it and finished third. As Merckx was really only interested in the time gain, Jans Koerts had no problem in beating him in the sprint to take his second win of the season.
Tomorrow, the riders will race from Knokke-Heist to Haacht, over 224 km.
Results
1 Jans Koerts (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 4.15.12 (41.73 km/h) 2 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 3 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Quick Step-Davitamon 0.13 4 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 0.14 5 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 6 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Domo 7 Roger Hammond (GBr) Palmans-Collstrop 8 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 9 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 10 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 11 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 12 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 13 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 14 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 15 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 16 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 17 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 18 Robert Bartko (Ger) Rabobank 19 Bert Roesems (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 20 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 21 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 22 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 23 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 24 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal-Berry Floor 25 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 26 Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 27 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 28 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 29 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step-Davitamon 30 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick Step-Davitamon 31 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 32 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 33 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 34 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 35 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 36 Marc Streel (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 37 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 38 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 39 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 40 Bram Schmitz (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 41 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 42 Fabian De Waele (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 43 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 44 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 45 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 46 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 47 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 48 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 49 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Fassa Bortolo 50 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 51 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 52 Jan Van Velzen (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 53 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 54 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank 55 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 56 Leif Hoste (Bel) Lotto-Domo 57 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 58 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 59 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Domo 60 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 61 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 62 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 63 Juan De Los Angeles Segui (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 64 Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 65 Geert Omloop (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 66 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 67 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 68 Robert Hayles (GBr) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 69 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 70 Mario Aerts (Bel) Team Telekom 71 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 72 Stephan Schreck (Ger) Team Telekom 73 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 74 Johan Dekkers (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 75 Thierry De Groote (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 76 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 0.34 77 Bjorn Cornelissen (Ned) Flanders-Iteamnova 1.18 78 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 10.04 79 Bruno Thibout (Fra) Jean Delatour 80 Manuel Toldo (Ita) Flanders-Iteamnova 81 Jurgen Landrie (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 82 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 83 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Jean Delatour 84 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 85 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal-Berry Floor 86 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 87 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 88 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo 89 Glenn D'hollander (Bel) Lotto-Domo 90 Thierry Masschelein (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 91 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 92 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 93 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 94 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 95 Scott Guyton (NZl) Flanders-Iteamnova 96 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 97 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 98 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Jean Delatour 14.12 99 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour 100 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 101 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 14.15 102 David Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour 103 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Team Telekom 104 Claudio Lucchini (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 105 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour 106 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova Sprints Knokkestraat - km 145 1 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick Step-Davitamon 8 pts 2 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 5 3 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 3 Knokkestraat - km 155 1 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 8 pts 2 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 5 3 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 3 Knokkestraat - km 165 1 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 8 pts 2 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 5 3 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 3 Teams 1 Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 12.46.04 2 Lotto-Domo 3 Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.13 4 US Postal Berry Floor 0.14 5 Palmans-Collstrop 6 Rabobank 7 Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 8 Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 9 Fassa Bortolo 10 Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 11 Vlaanderen-T Interim 12 Team Telekom 13 Jean Delatour 19.54 14 Flanders-Iteamnova 20.58 15 Brioches La Boulangere 29.44 General classification after stage 2 1 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 8.27.34 2 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 0.08 3 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 0.12 4 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Domo 0.14 5 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 6 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Quick Step-Davitamon 0.15 7 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 0.17 8 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 9 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 10 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick Step-Davitamon 11 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 0.18 12 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 13 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 0.19 14 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 15 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 16 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 17 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.20 18 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 19 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 20 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 21 Bert Roesems (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 22 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 23 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 24 Robert Bartko (Ger) Rabobank 25 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 26 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 27 Marc Streel (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 28 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 29 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 30 Bram Schmitz (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 31 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 32 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 33 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 34 Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 35 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step-Davitamon 36 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal-Berry Floor 37 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 38 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 39 Geert Omloop (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 40 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 41 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 42 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Fassa Bortolo 43 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 44 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 45 Leif Hoste (Bel) Lotto-Domo 46 Jan Van Velzen (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 47 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 48 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 49 Johan Dekkers (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 50 Bjorn Cornelissen (Ned) Flanders-Iteamnova 1.24 51 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 10.10 52 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal-Berry Floor 53 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 54 Bruno Thibout (Fra) Jean Delatour 13.09 55 Manuel Toldo (Ita) Flanders-Iteamnova 56 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour 14.21 57 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 24.50 58 Jans Koerts (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 25.01 59 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 25.25 60 Roger Hammond (GBr) Palmans-Collstrop 61 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 62 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 63 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 64 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 65 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 66 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank 67 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 68 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 69 Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 70 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 71 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 72 Juan De Los Angeles Segui (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 73 Fabian De Waele (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 74 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 75 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 76 Robert Hayles (GBr) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 77 Stephan Schreck (Ger) Team Telekom 78 Thierry De Groote (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 79 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 80 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 81 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Domo 82 Mario Aerts (Bel) Team Telekom 83 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 25.41 84 Glenn D'hollander (Bel) Lotto-Domo 34.40 85 Thierry Masschelein (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 35.15 86 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Jean Delatour 87 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 88 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 89 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 90 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 91 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 92 Jurgen Landrie (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 93 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 94 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 95 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo 96 Scott Guyton (NZl) Flanders-Iteamnova 97 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 98 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 99 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour 39.23 100 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Jean Delatour 101 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 102 Claudio Lucchini (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 39.26 103 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 104 David Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour 105 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Team Telekom 106 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova Points classification 1 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 54 pts 2 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Domo 40 3 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 32 4 Jans Koerts (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 30 5 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 26 6 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 25 7 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 25 8 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 23 9 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Quick Step-Davitamon 22 10 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 19 11 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 17 12 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 17 13 Roger Hammond (GBr) Palmans-Collstrop 13 14 Bjorn Cornelissen (Ned) Flanders-Iteamnova 12 15 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 11 16 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 11 17 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 10 18 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 10 19 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 8 20 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 8 21 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick Step-Davitamon 8 22 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 6 23 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 5 24 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 3 25 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 3 26 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 3 27 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 3 Sprints classification 1 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 16 pts 2 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 10 3 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 10 4 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 8 5 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 8 6 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 8 7 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick Step-Davitamon 8 8 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 6 9 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 5 10 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 5 11 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 3 12 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 3 13 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 3 14 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 3 Teams classification 1 Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 25.23.28 2 Lotto-Domo 3 Quick.Step-Davitamon 0.13 4 Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 0.14 5 US Postal Berry Floor 6 Palmans-Collstrop 7 Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 8 Vlaanderen-T Interim 9 Rabobank 10 Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 11 Fassa Bortolo 12 Jean Delatour 22.53 13 Flanders-Iteamnova 49.02 14 Team Telekom 50.24 15 Brioches La Boulangere 1.44.59
