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34th Etoile des Bessèges - 2.3
France, February 4-8, 2004
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Stage 4 - February 7: GP du pays Grand Combien, Branoux-les-Taillades - Les-Salles-du-Gardon, 150 km
Brochard gets ahead of himself
Despite a winter marked by more rest and time off the bike than usual, Laurent Brochard showed better than expected form to take the fourth stage of the Etoile de Bessèges Saturday, outsprinting three breakaway companions after four hours of racing. The former world champion and leader of Ag2r-Prévoyance became the fourth race leader in four days, deposing Thor Hushovd of rival French team Crédit Agricole in the first stage not to finish in a bunch sprint.
"I'm very happy to have won this stage," Brochard said. "It confirms my results from the end of last season when I finished in the top five in every stage race I did after the Tour de France."
With a break clear mid-stage, and no teammates represented, Brochard took responsibility to represent Ag2r in the move, even if he didn't feel prepared to fight for stage wins this early in the season. After a considerable effort, he bridged the gap between the peloton and the seven escapees: Sylvain Calzati (Oktos-Saint Quentin), Jérôme Pineau (Brioches La Boulangère), Pieter Mertens (Vlaanderen-T Interim), Pierrick Fédrigo (Crédit Agricole), Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis), David Etxebarria and Joseba Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi).
Up front and driving the pace, Brochard helped narrow the selection to just four in the lead, as Scheirlinckx, Etxebarria and Fédrigo fell off the pace. The peloton, resigned to having missed a chance for another bunch sprint, lingered more than ten minutes behind. Although the gap narrowed by the finish, the chances of final victory coming from today's leaders are fairly strong. Nonetheless, Brochard insisted after his win that the race is not over.
Results
1 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 4.01.24 2 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Oktos - Saint Quentin 3 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 1.16 5 David Extebarria (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6 Staf Schierlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 7 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 8 Jerome Pineau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 1.19 9 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Oktos - Saint Quentin 10.05 10 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 11 Freddy Bichot (Fra) fdjeux.com 12 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 13 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Lotto-Domo 14 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre 15 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre 16 Carlos Dacruz (Fra) fdjeux.com 17 And De Smet (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 18 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 19 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93 20 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2r-Prevoyance 21 Chris Peers (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 22 Josu Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 23 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 24 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 25 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Domo 26 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole 27 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 28 Klaus Mutschler (Ger) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 29 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 30 Roger Hammond (GBr) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 31 Johan Coenen (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 32 Franck Renier (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 33 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 34 Janek Tombak (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 35 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 36 Guillaume Auger (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 37 Win Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 38 Frederic Guesdon (Fra) fdjeux.com 39 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 40 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Domo 41 Christophe Laurent (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 42 Kristof Trouve (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 43 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Lampre 44 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Auber 93 45 Lenaic Olivier (Fra) Auber 93 46 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Auber 93 47 Frederik Willems (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 48 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2r-Prevoyance 49 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 50 Rene Jorgensen (Den) Alessio-Bianchi 51 Benoit Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 52 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz) Oktos - Saint Quentin 53 Dioniso Galparsoro (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 54 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 55 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole 56 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 57 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 58 Geert Omloop (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 59 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 60 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 61 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 62 Jeremy Roy (Fra) fdjeux.com 63 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 64 Maxim Gurov (Kaz) Oktos - Saint Quentin 65 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio-Bianchi 66 Jef Peters (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 67 David Breard (Fra) Auber 93 68 Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Lotto-Domo 69 Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Lampre 70 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 71 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 72 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 73 Benoit Salmon (Fra) Credit Agricole 74 Iker Camano (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 75 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 76 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 77 Mickael Pichon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 78 Laurent Paumier (Fra) Auber 93 79 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 80 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2r-Prevoyance 81 Geert Omloop (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 82 Loic Lamouller (Fra) Auber 93 83 Eric Berthou (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 84 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 85 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Lotto-Domo 86 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre 10.30 87 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Alessio-Bianchi 10.39 88 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93 10.42 89 Mariano Picoli (Ita) Lampre 10.55 90 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 91 Nicola Fritsch (Fra) fdjeux.com 11.02 92 Franck Pencole (Fra) Oktos - Saint Quentin 11.10 93 Bruno Thibout (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 11.55 94 Christophe Roodhooft (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 13.01 95 Gerben Lowik (Ned) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 14.42 96 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 97 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 15.10 98 Jimmy Caspar (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 99 Scott Sunderland (Aus) Alessio-Bianchi 100 Marcus Ljungkvist (Swe) Alessio-Bianchi 101 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) fdjeux.com 102 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 103 Nico Siemens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 104 Maryan Hary (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 105 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 106 Jerome Bernard (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 17.28 107 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2r-Prevoyance 21.19 108 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 109 Roman Luhovyy (Ukr) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 26.49 DNF Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Domo DNF Geert Van Bondt (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago DNF Christophe mengin (Fra) fdjeux.com DNF Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance DNF Frederic Finot (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover DNF Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf DNF Rik Reinerink (Ned) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf DNS Jacky Durand (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago General classification after stage 4 1 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 14.58.10 2 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Oktos - Saint Quentin 0.08 3 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.10 4 Staf Schierlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 1.26 5 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole 6 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 7 David Extebarria (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.30 8 Jerome Pineau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 1.33 9 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 10.01 10 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 10.09 11 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 10.10 12 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 10.12 13 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 10.13 14 Frederik Willems (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 10.14 15 Carlos Dacruz (Fra) fdjeux.com 10.15 16 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Lampre 10.18 17 Janek Tombak (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 18 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Domo 10.19 19 Josu Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 20 Chris Peers (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 21 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 22 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Lotto-Domo 23 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93 24 Dioniso Galparsoro (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 25 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre 26 Freddy Bichot (Fra) fdjeux.com 27 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 28 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2r-Prevoyance 29 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Oktos - Saint Quentin 30 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 31 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 32 And De Smet (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 33 Lenaic Olivier (Fra) Auber 93 34 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 35 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Auber 93 36 Franck Renier (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 37 Johan Coenen (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 38 Frederic Guesdon (Fra) fdjeux.com 39 Rene Jorgensen (Den) Alessio-Bianchi 40 Christophe Laurent (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 41 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Domo 42 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole 43 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 44 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Lampre 45 David Breard (Fra) Auber 93 46 Roger Hammond (GBr) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 47 Jeremy Roy (Fra) fdjeux.com 48 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2r-Prevoyance 49 Jef Peters (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 50 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 51 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Lotto-Domo 52 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 53 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 54 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole 55 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 56 Win Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 57 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 58 Benoit Salmon (Fra) Credit Agricole 59 Maxim Gurov (Kaz) Oktos - Saint Quentin 60 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz) Oktos - Saint Quentin 61 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Auber 93 62 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 63 Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Lampre 64 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 65 Eric Berthou (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 66 Geert Omloop (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 67 Iker Camano (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 68 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 69 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 70 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio-Bianchi 71 Mickael Pichon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 72 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 73 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 74 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Alessio-Bianchi 10.47 75 Benoit Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 10.50 76 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Auber 93 10.56 77 Kristof Trouve (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 11.23 78 Franck Pencole (Fra) Oktos - Saint Quentin 11.24 79 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre 13.55 80 Loic Lamouller (Fra) Auber 93 14.39 81 Klaus Mutschler (Ger) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 82 Laurent Paumier (Fra) Auber 93 83 Gerben Lowik (Ned) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 14.56 84 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 85 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 15.23 86 Jimmy Caspar (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 87 Marcus Ljungkvist (Swe) Alessio-Bianchi 15.24 88 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen - T Interim 89 Guillaume Auger (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 15.36 90 Mariano Picoli (Ita) Lampre 15.49 91 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 16.28 92 Bruno Thibout (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 16.29 93 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 17.12 94 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 17.14 95 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 17.18 96 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Ag2r-Prevoyance 97 Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Lotto-Domo 98 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2r-Prevoyance 99 Jerome Bernard (Fra) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 17.42 100 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Chocolade Jacques Wincor - Nixdorf 18.03 101 Nicola Fritsch (Fra) fdjeux.com 18.15 102 Christophe Roodhooft (Bel) Mr Bookmaker-Palmans 20.14 103 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2r-Prevoyance 21.21 104 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) fdjeux.com 22.23 105 Maryan Hary (Fra) Brioches La Boulangère 106 Nico Siemens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 107 Scott Sunderland (Aus) Alessio-Bianchi 22.37 108 Roman Luhovyy (Ukr) R.A.G.T Semence - MG Rover 27.03 109 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 32.35
