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52nd Circuit de la Sarthe - 2.3
France, April 6-9, 2004
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Stage 2 - April 7: Vallet - Montreuil-Juigné, 198.9 km
Ludovic Turpin becomes another local winner
Big shot Bouyer still in the lead
By Jean-François Quénet in Montreuil-Juigné
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Who would imagine Ludovic Turpin being able to beat Robbie McEwen in a bunch sprint? That's what happened in stage 2 of the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire. Or not exactly. It looked like a bunch sprint on the finish line, but Turpin actually anticipated the sprint just after passing the 'red flame' of 1 km to go.
"I knew there was a hill before the finish," Turpin explained. "Freddy Bichot attacked just before I did it, then there was a short moment of hesitation in the bunch and that's when I decided to take my chance. The last curve was dangerous but I gave it all there. I looked behind with 200 metres to go and I realised I was going to win. But don't get me wrong: I didn't beat McEwen in a sprint!"
Turpin was delighted. Nonetheless this is only his third win as a professional, aged 29. But just like Franck Bouyer the day before, he is a local, hailing from Laval, 80km away from the finishing town of Montreuil-Juigné near Angers. His parents were there as spectators watching an unexpected action. Turpin was a very late entry to the race indeed. "I wasn't sure of participating in the Circuit de la Sarthe," he said. "I was struggling with a knee problem for a while and it's just going a little bit better since I've put my saddle up a bit more."
It's a well deserved win for his Ag2r team who were away all day with Yuriy Krivtsov, who attacked after only 20km. After doing most of the work and having a maximum lead of 8 min 35 sec, he dropped his only companion Luis Sanchez of Liberty Seguros with 45km to the finish, then he saw the peloton coming across to him only 13km from the line.
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"We never got help from anyone all day," yellow jersey Bouyer commented. "Only at the end, when there was some crosswind, teams started accelerating because they were afraid of crashes and splits in the bunch. They did it when I took my responsibilities with 43km to go: at the top of a hill we were just three of us in front of the bunch with Bichot and Allan Davis and I insisted."
That was like a wake up call for everyone. The sprinters entered into the fray but they missed the opportunity at the end. "Tomorrow is their last chance to win a stage in a bunch sprint," Bouyer added. "Stage 3 is harder than what we have experienced so far but less hard than the last one. As for myself, I'm now obliged to start thinking of the final victory, if not for myself I have to do it for my team who did a tremendous job today."
Bouyer himself is more known as a gregario. He had a fantastic future when he turned professional with Castorama in 1995 after a 3rd place overall at the Tour de l'Avenir, aged only 20. "But I never had much luck since and I've quickly considered myself as a domestique", he said. He now has the nicer role of a team leader. Also known as a passionate hunter during the off-season, he's close to a big shot.
Photography
Images by AFP Photo
- Didier Rous drives La Boulangere's buns along
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile Team) during stage 2 of the Circuit de la Sarthe
- Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) during stage 2 of the Circuit de la Sarthe
- Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r) wins stage 2
- Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r) with his trophy
- Franck Bouyer (Brioches La Boulangère) with his son Matteo for a second day in a row on the podium
Images by Jean-François Quénet
- Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r) was happy to finally get a win close to home
- Andrea Tafi (Alessio-Bianchi) is getting much better prior to Paris-Roubaix and he was awarded with the fair play trophy today
- Franck Bouyer (Brioches La Boulangère) with his son Matteo for a second day in a row on the podium
Results
1 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 4.46.35 2 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Lotto Domo 3 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros 4 Fred Rodriguez (Usa) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 5 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 6 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 7 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 8 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 9 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 10 Andrus Aug (Est) Domina Vacanze 11 Andrea Noe (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 12 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 13 Gert Vanderaerden (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 14 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 15 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com 16 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 17 Crescenzo D'amore (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 18 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 19 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 20 Bruno Thibout (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 21 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 22 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 23 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 24 Sergiy Adyeyev (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 25 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole 26 Francesco Failli (Ita) Domina Vacanze 27 Martin Derganc (Slo) Domina Vacanze 28 Sandy Casar (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 29 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 30 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 31 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 32 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 33 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 34 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 35 Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 36 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto Domo 37 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 38 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto Domo 39 Piotr Wadecki (Pol) Lotto Domo 40 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 41 Rafael Diaz (Spa) Liberty Seguros 42 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 43 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Fdjeux.Com 44 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 45 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 46 Marcel Straus (Swi) Gerolsteiner 47 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 48 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 49 Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) Liberty Seguros 50 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto Domo 51 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 52 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 53 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 54 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 55 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance 56 Klaus Mutschler (Ger) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 57 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile Team 58 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 59 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto Domo 60 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 61 Paolo Salvodelli (Ita) T-Mobile Team 62 Dmitri Muravyev (Kaz) Credit Agricole 63 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 64 Mickaël Pichon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 65 René Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros 66 Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 67 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Domina Vacanze 68 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner 69 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 70 Nicolas Reynaud (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 71 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T-Mobile Team 72 Jacky Durand (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 73 Mikhail Timochine (Rus) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 74 Frédéric Finot (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 75 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 76 Tomas Konecny (Cze) T-Mobile Team 77 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance 78 Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner 79 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 80 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 0.23 81 Jef Peeters (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 82 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros 83 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 0.36 84 Denis Bertoloni (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 1.24 85 Franck Renier (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 1.43 86 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 2.33 87 Maryan Hary (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 10.25 DNF Claus Michael Moller (Den) Alessio - Bianchi DNF Olaf Pollack (Ger) Gerolsteiner DNF Josu Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi General classification after stage 2 1 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 8.44.57 2 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.04 3 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 0.21 4 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 0.22 5 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 0.23 6 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Lotto Domo 0.25 7 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros 8 Sandy Casar (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 9 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance 10 Andrus Aug (Est) Domina Vacanze 0.27 11 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 0.29 12 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 0.30 13 Fred Rodriguez (Usa) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 0.31 14 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 15 Gert Vanderaerden (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 16 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 17 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 18 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com 19 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 20 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 21 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 22 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 23 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 24 Andrea Noe (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 25 Francesco Failli (Ita) Domina Vacanze 26 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 27 Piotr Wadecki (Pol) Lotto Domo 28 Sergiy Adyeyev (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 29 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 30 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole 31 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 32 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 33 Rafael Diaz (Spa) Liberty Seguros 34 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 35 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 36 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 37 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile Team 38 Martin Derganc (Slo) Domina Vacanze 39 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 40 Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 41 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Fdjeux.Com 42 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 43 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto Domo 44 Mickaël Pichon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 45 Mikhail Timochine (Rus) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 46 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 47 Jacky Durand (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 48 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 49 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 50 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 51 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 52 Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) Liberty Seguros 53 Marcel Straus (Swi) Gerolsteiner 54 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 55 Paolo Salvodelli (Ita) T-Mobile Team 56 René Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros 57 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner 58 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Domina Vacanze 59 Tomas Konecny (Cze) T-Mobile Team 60 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 61 Frédéric Finot (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 62 Denis Bertoloni (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 1.55 63 Franck Renier (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2.14 64 Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.29 65 Bruno Thibout (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 2.30 66 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 67 Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 68 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto Domo 69 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 70 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 71 Dmitri Muravyev (Kaz) Credit Agricole 72 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto Domo 73 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 74 Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 75 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros 2.53 76 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 3.06 77 Crescenzo D'amore (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 3.27 78 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 4.27 79 Nicolas Reynaud (Fra) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 80 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 5.02 81 Maryan Hary (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 10.56 82 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto Domo 11.30 83 Klaus Mutschler (Ger) R.A.G.T.Semences-Mg Rover 84 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T-Mobile Team 85 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance 86 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 11.53 87 Jef Peeters (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim Points classification 1 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Lotto Domo 34 pts 2 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros 30 3 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 25 4 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 25 5 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 25 6 Fred Rodriguez (Usa) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 24 7 Andrus Aug (Est) Domina Vacanze 22 8 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 20 9 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 15 10 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 13 11 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance 11 12 Gert Vanderaerden (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 11 13 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 10 14 Sandy Casar (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 9 15 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 9 16 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 9 17 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 8 18 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 7 19 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 7 20 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com 5 21 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 5 22 Andrea Noe (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 5 23 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 3 24 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Fdjeux.Com 3 25 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 1 26 Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1 27 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 1 Mountains classification 1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com 12 pts 2 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prevoyance 12 3 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 11 4 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 6 5 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 4 6 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 4 7 Andrea Noe (Ita) Alessio - Bianchi 4 8 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 4 9 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2 10 Jacky Durand (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 1 U23 classification 1 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros 8.45.19 2 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros 0.03 3 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 0.08 4 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.09 5 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Fdjeux.Com 6 Francesco Failli (Ita) Domina Vacanze 7 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole 8 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Mr.Bookmaker.Com-Palmans 9 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Fdjeux.Com 10 Mikhail Timochine (Rus) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 11 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2.08 12 Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 13 Aketza Pena (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 14 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros 2.31 15 Maryan Hary (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 10.34 16 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 11.31
