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Photo ©: Schaaf

 UCI codes explained

43rd Tour de Bretagne Cycliste - Trophée des Granitiers - 2.2

France, April 25-May 1, 2009

Main Page    Results   Overall standings    Previous Stage   Next Stage

Stage 2 - April 26: Treffieux - Fougères, 153.3km

Fouchard & Metlushenko surprise and stay away

By Jean-François Quénet in Fougères, France

Julien Fouchard (Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques)
Photo ©: JF Quenet
(Click for larger image)

Despite amateur teams comprising only one-third of the peloton, one of them is sporting the leader's jersey two days into the Tour de Bretagne. Julien Fouchard (Côtes d'Armor-Maître Jacques) wasn't confident he'd be given so much freedom when he attacked with Ukrainian sprinter Yuriy Metlushenko (Amore e Vita) with 70 kilometres to go, but a big crash in the bunch and the flat tyre of race leader Dennis Van Winden - who waited for more than one minute for assistance - helped them stay away and contest a win in the stage that included the gruelling climb of La Pinterie in Fougères.

"This is unexpected," said Fouchard about the advantage he kept over the favourites - more than three minutes. His amateur team will have its work cut out for it as it tries to control the race for the remaining five days. Everyone knows that Fouchard, an engineering student from Normandy, is a good time triallist. He was the winner of the U23 Chrono des Nations at the end of last season.

The Breton continental teams of Besson Chaussures and Bretagne-Schuller have already promised to challenge their local rivals after the events of stage two. "What happened is sad," stage 1 winner Van Winden said. "I felt very good."

However, every stage of the Tour de Bretagne features small hills where riding offensively is a common strategy. Until the time trial on stage six, many scenarios remain possible.

How it unfolded

Stage two of the Tour de Bretagne started at a high pace, with the bunch covering 48 kilometres in the first hour.

No break managed to get a significant gap until Julien Fouchard (Côtes d'Armor-Maître Jacques) and Yuriy Metlushenko (Amore e Vita) tried with 70km to go. Initially, they struggled to put distance on the peloton, but when they were allowed to go, their advantage went up to eight minutes.

That deficit remained as the bunch approached 20 kilometres until the final circuit in Fougères. A crash at 114km took down about 40 riders and caused too much disorganisation in the peloton for an effective chase to take place.

Race leader Dennis Van Winden (Rabobank) didn't go down in the spill but had a flat tyre during the first of the final five laps.

All that helped Fouchard and Metlushenko to stay away despite the charge led from the bunch by Norway's Alexander Kristoff (Joker-Bianchi). With two kilometres to go, Fouchard, who was fresher than Metlushenko, accelerated and went for a solo win. He also became the new leader of the Tour de Bretagne.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Jean-Francois Quenet

Results

1 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques              3.37.31
2 Yuri Metlushenko (Ukr) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds                                0.06
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Joker Bianchi                                        2.49
4 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step                                     
5 Michel Kreder (Ned) Rabobank Continental                                      3.06
6 Gwenael Teillet (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique                                      
7 Maarten De Jonge (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step                                  
8 Julien Simon (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun                                  3.09
9 Florian Guillou (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole                                     
10 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Joker Bianchi                                         
11 Stian Remme (Nor) Joker Bianchi                                                  
12 Alexander Mironov (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team                                
13 Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step                                 
14 Philipp Mamos (Ger) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds                                      
15 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun                               
16 Romain Hardy (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques                       
17 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design                          
18 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne Schuller                                         
19 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Bretagne Schuller                                        
20 Sander Armee (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step                                     
21 Florian Vachon (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole                                     
22 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun                                 
23 Gaël Malacarne (Fra) Bretagne Schuller                                       3.15
24 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain National Team                                 
25 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole                                      
26 Klaas Sys (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step                                        
27 Volodymyr Starchyk (Ukr) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds                                 
28 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Great Britain National Team                                
29 Sven Vandousselacre (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes         
30 Bram Schmitz (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof                                          
31 Anthony Vignes (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique                                      
32 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Beveren 2000 / Quick Step                                   
33 Frederik Wilmann (Nor) Joker Bianchi                                             
34 Yohan Cauquil (Fra) C.C Bourgas                                                  
35 Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Bretagne Schuller                                     3.21
36 Julien Guay (Fra) Vendee U                                                       
37 Timofey Kritskiy (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team                                 
38 Thibault Mace (Fra) Vendee U                                                     
39 Clément Mahe (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000                                    
40 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise                                      
41 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun                                   
42 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Bretagne Schuller                                             
43 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bretagne Schuller                                     3.25
44 Tony Hurel (Fra) Vendee U                                                        
45 Ronan Van Zandbeek (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof                                    
46 Peter Brouzes (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise                                          
47 Rudy Lesschaeve (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise                                        
48 Olivier Grammaire (Fra) S.C.O Dijon                                              
49 Christophe Diguet (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique                                   
50 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Vendee U                                                 3.31
51 Matthieu Converset (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise                                     
52 Pierre-Luc Perrichon (Fra) S.C.O Dijon                                           
53 Vincent Rouxel (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000                              3.34
54 Cédric Herve (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques                       
55 Benoit Ebrard (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques                      
56 Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole                                  3.39
57 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) C.C Bourgas                                               
58 Lars Vierbergen (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof                                   3.44
59 Joost Van Leijen (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof                                  4.24
60 Romain Fondard (Fra) Lotto Bodysol Pcw                                       4.33
61 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank Continental                                 4.46
62 Steven De Neef (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes              
63 Joeri Calleeuw (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes          4.55
64 Laurent Le Gac (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000                                  
65 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun                           5.09
66 Fabian Schaar (Ger) German National Team                                     5.34
67 Thomas Riber Sellebjerg (Den) Team Capinordic                                5.44
68 Willy Roseau (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique                                    5.52
69 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Continental                                 5.58
70 Jetse Bol (Ned) Rabobank Continental                                         7.16
71 Benjamin Pascual (Fra) S.C.O Dijon                                               
72 Evgeny Popov (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team                                     
73 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Rabobank Continental                                       
74 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design                            
75 Morten Hoberg (Den) Team Capinordic                                              
76 Andrey Solomennikov (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team                              
77 Gregor Gazvoda (Slo) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design                            
78 Julien Gonnet (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique                                       
79 Tom Copeland (GBr) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000                                    
80 Mickael Damien (Fra) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design                            
81 Benjamin Gault (Fra) Vendee U                                                    
82 Arjen Pieter De Baat (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof                                  
83 Russell Hampton (GBr) Great Britain National Team                                
84 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design                           
85 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Great Britain National Team                                  
86 Svein Erik Vold (Nor) Joker Bianchi                                              
87 Phil Cortes (Can) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds                                        
88 Vladislas Borisov (Rus) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds                                  
89 Richard England (Aus) Amore & Vita Mc Donalds                                    
90 Kenny Terweduwe (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes             
91 Jérémie Galland (Fra) Besson Chaussures Sojasun                              7.37
92 Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Eqa-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design                     7.40
93 Ole Haavardsholm (Nor) Joker Bianchi                                         7.55
94 Alexander Pretovskiy (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team                         8.56
95 Thomas Berkhout (Ned) Rabobank Continental                                       
96 Frédérik Verkinderen (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes    8.59
97 Quentin Santy (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise                                      9.03
98 Romain Mary (Fra) S.C.O Dijon                                                9.16
99 Yann Le Queau (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000                               9.34
100 Jakob Steigmiller (Ger) German National Team                               10.00
101 Mathieu Halleguen (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques            10.27
102 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) C.C Bourgas                                        10.53
103 Frank Schulz (Ger) German National Team                                    11.38
104 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen Bauknecht Lotto- Museeuw Bikes        12.17
105 Rob Woestenborghs (Bel) C.C Bourgas                                        12.38
106 Ryan Wills (NZl) Lotto Bodysol Pcw                                         12.43
107 Martin Prazdnovsky (Svk) C.C Bourgas                                       12.45
108 Alexandre Lemair (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole                             12.59
109 Karl Christian Koenig (Ger) German National Team                           13.01
110 Joerg Lehmann (Ger) German National Team                                   13.02
111 Jeremy Honorez (Bel) Lotto Bodysol Pcw                                          
112 Nico Keinath (Ger) German National Team                                    13.06
113 Benoît Daeninck (Fra) C.C Nogent Sur Oise                                  13.12
114 Erwan Brenterch (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques                   
115 Matthieu Jeannes (Fra) Brest Iroise Cyclisme 2000                               
116 Stephen Collet (Bel) Lotto Bodysol Pcw                                          
117 Stefan Vreugdenhil (Ned) Van Vliet Ebh Elshof                                   
118 Mathieu Bernaudeau (Fra) Vendee U                                               
119 Mickael Renou (Fra) U.C. Nantes Atlantique                                      
120 François Roossens (Bel) Lotto Bodysol Pcw                                  13.21
121 Edward Clancy (GBr) Great Britain National Team                            13.26
122 Rudy Rouet (Bel) Lotto Bodysol Pcw                                         16.39
123 Paul Moucheraud (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole                              16.46
124 Nikola Aistrup (Den) Team Capinordic                                       17.18
125 Alexis Coulon (Fra) S.C.O Dijon                                            17.50
126 Geoffrey Febvay (Fra) S.C.O Dijon                                               
127 Casper Jorgensen (Den) Team Capinordic                                     17.59
128 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Team Capinordic                                     25.20
129 Robert Hayles (GBr) Great Britain National Team                            25.26
130 Daniel Kreutzfeldt (Den) Team Capinordic                                   25.32
DNF Stefan Histrov (Bul) C.C Bourgas                                                
DNF Dmitri Kosyakov (Rus) Katyusha Continental Team                                 
 
General classification after stage 2
 
1 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cotes D’Armor Cyclisme / Maitre Jacques