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39th Etoile de Bessèges - 2.1
France, February 4-8, 2009
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Stage 1 - February 4: Bellegarde - Le Grau du Roi, 128km
Casper by a nose
Frenchman Jimmy Casper won a close sprint in the opening stage of the 39th Etoile de Bessèges, giving his Besson Chaussures-Sojasun its first win of the season in Le Grau du Roi. Casper bested Sébastien Chavanel (Française des Jeux) and Klaas Lodewyck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) in the photo finish on the stage from Bellegarde.
The day was marked by a breakaway of three men who escaped 40 km into the stage: Frenchman Jonathan Thira (Auber 93) and Belgians Tom Stubbe (Silence Lotto) and Jef Peeters (An Post - Sean Kelly Team). The trio gained up to 7:25 on the field, but were brought back into the fold on the closing circuits with less than 10km to go. In the bunch sprint, Casper managed to win by millimetres, taking the overall lead by four seconds ahead of Chavanel on time bonuses.
Photography
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Images by AFP Photo
- Jimmy Casper (Besson Chaussures-Sojasun) was sure he had it but the judges had to look at the photos to determine the winner.
- Jimmy Casper (Besson Chaussures-Sojasun) takes the win
- Jimmy Casper took the stage ahead of Sebastian Chavanel.
- Casper also got the leader's jersey thanks to the bonus seconds for the stage win.
- Jimmy Casper starts his season off with a trophy.
Results
1 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Besson - Sojasun 2.52.21 (44.56 km/h) 2 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux 3 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 4 Denis Flahaut (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 5 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 6 Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 7 William Bonnet (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 8 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Verandas Willems 9 Daniele Colli (Ita) Carmiooro - A Style 10 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 11 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto 12 Geert Steurs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 13 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 14 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Skil-Shimano 15 Bert De Backer (Bel) Skil-Shimano 16 Fabien Bacquet (Fra) Auber 93 17 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 18 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 19 Florian Vachon (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 20 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 21 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Verandas Willems 22 Gil Suray (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole 23 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Agritubel 24 Nadir Haddou (Fra) Auber 93 25 David Boucher (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 26 Reinier Honig (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 27 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 28 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 29 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 30 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 31 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 32 Steven Van Vooren (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 33 Steve Houanard (Fra) Skil-Shimano 34 Jure Kocjan (Slo) Carmiooro - A Style 35 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 36 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française des Jeux 37 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 38 Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano 39 Romain Matheou (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 40 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 41 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 42 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Cycling Club Bourgas 43 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 44 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 45 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 46 Simon Geschke (Ger) Skil-Shimano 47 Michiel Elijzen (Ned) Silence - Lotto 48 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 49 Gael Malacarne (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 50 Rene Mandri (Est) AG2R La Mondiale 51 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 52 Julien Simon (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 53 Florian Guillou (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 54 Benoît Sinner (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 55 Bart Vanheule (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 56 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 57 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 58 Jens Mouris (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 59 Alexandre Lemair (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 60 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Silence - Lotto 61 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 62 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 63 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 64 Stefan Histrov (Bul) Cycling Club Bourgas 65 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 66 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 67 Albert Timmer (Ned) Skil-Shimano 68 Koen Barbe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 69 Matthew Brammeier (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 70 Mickael Delage (Fra) Silence - Lotto 71 Nicolas Jouanno (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 72 Ben Hermans (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 73 Eric Berthou (Fra) Carmiooro - A Style 74 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) Carmiooro - A Style 75 Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 76 Jan Bakelandts (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 77 Morgan Chedhomme (Fra) Auber 93 78 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 79 Romain Lebreton (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 80 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Verandas Willems 81 Jean-Marie Bideau (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 82 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 83 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 84 Rob Woestenborghs (Bel) Cycling Club Bourgas 85 Jonathan Thire (Fra) Auber 93 86 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 87 Sven Van Den Houte (Bel) Verandas Willems 88 Johan Mombaerts (Fra) Auber 93 89 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 90 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 91 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Agritubel 92 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 93 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 94 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 95 Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 96 Bastien Delrot (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 97 Ronan Mc Laughlin (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 98 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 99 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 100 Glenn D'hollander (Bel) Silence - Lotto 101 Janek Tombak (Est) Cycling Club Bourgas 102 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 103 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 104 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 105 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93 106 Mart Ojavee (Est) Cycling Club Bourgas 107 Jean-Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 108 Florian Morizot (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 109 Philippe Pratte (Bel) Verandas Willems 110 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Agritubel 111 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 112 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux 113 Yohan Cauquil (Fra) Cycling Club Bourgas 114 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 115 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 116 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Auber 93 117 Jef Peeters (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 118 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 119 Mathieu Criquielion (Bel) Verandas Willems 120 Vladimir Koev (Bul) Cycling Club Bourgas 121 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Silence - Lotto 122 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 123 Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 124 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Carmiooro - A Style 125 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 126 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) Cycling Club Bourgas 127 Sebastien Fournet Fayard (Fra) Carmiooro - A Style 128 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Silence - Lotto 129 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Silence - Lotto 130 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) Carmiooro - A Style 131 Nicolas Baïolet (Bel) Verandas Willems 132 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 133 Paidi O'brien (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 134 Cedric Coutouly (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 135 Olivier Pardini (Bel) Verandas Willems 136 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Auber 93 137 Cyril Bessy (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 138 Paul Brousse (Fra) Carmiooro - A Style 139 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 140 Rémi Cusin (Fra) Agritubel Sprints 1 1 Jonathan Thire (Fra) Auber 93 3 2 Jef Peeters (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 2 3 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Silence - Lotto 1 General classification after stage 1 1 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 2.52.11 2 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.04 3 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 0.06 4 Jonathan Thire (Fra) Auber 93 0.07 5 Jef Peeters (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 0.08 6 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Silence - Lotto 0.09 7 Denis Flahaut (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 0.10 8 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 9 Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 10 William Bonnet (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 11 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Verandas Willems 12 Daniele Colli (Ita) Carmiooro - A Style 13 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 14 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto 15 Geert Steurs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 16 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 17 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Skil-Shimano 18 Bert De Backer (Bel) Skil-Shimano 19 Fabien Bacquet (Fra) Auber 93 20 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 21 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 22 Florian Vachon (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 23 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 24 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Verandas Willems 25 Gil Suray (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole 26 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Agritubel 27 Nadir Haddou (Fra) Auber 93 28 David Boucher (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 29 Reinier Honig (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 30 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 31 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 32 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 33 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 34 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 35 Steven Van Vooren (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 36 Steve Houanard (Fra) Skil-Shimano 37 Jure Kocjan (Slo) Carmiooro - A Style 38 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 39 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française des Jeux 40 Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 41 Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano 42 Romain Matheou (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 43 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 44 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 45 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Cycling Club Bourgas 46 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 47 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 48 Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 49 Simon Geschke (Ger) Skil-Shimano 50 Michiel Elijzen (Ned) Silence - Lotto 51 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 52 Gael Malacarne (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 53 Rene Mandri (Est) AG2R La Mondiale 54 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 55 Julien Simon (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 56 Florian Guillou (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 57 Benoît Sinner (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 58 Bart Vanheule (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 59 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 60 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux 61 Jens Mouris (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 62 Alexandre Lemair (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 63 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Silence - Lotto 64 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 65 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 66 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 67 Stefan Histrov (Bul) Cycling Club Bourgas 68 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 69 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 70 Albert Timmer (Ned) Skil-Shimano 71 Koen Barbe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 72 Matthew Brammeier (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 73 Mickael Delage (Fra) Silence - Lotto 74 Nicolas Jouanno (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 75 Ben Hermans (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 76 Eric Berthou (Fra) Carmiooro - A Style 77 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) Carmiooro - A Style 78 Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 79 Jan Bakelandts (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 80 Morgan Chedhomme (Fra) Auber 93 81 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 82 Romain Lebreton (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 83 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Verandas Willems 84 Jean-Marie Bideau (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 85 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 86 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 87 Rob Woestenborghs (Bel) Cycling Club Bourgas 88 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 89 Sven Van Den Houte (Bel) Verandas Willems 90 Johan Mombaerts (Fra) Auber 93 91 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 92 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 93 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Agritubel 94 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 95 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 96 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 97 Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 98 Bastien Delrot (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 99 Ronan Mc Laughlin (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 100 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 101 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 102 Glenn D'hollander (Bel) Silence - Lotto 103 Janek Tombak (Est) Cycling Club Bourgas 104 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 105 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 106 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 107 Julien Mazet (Fra) Auber 93 108 Mart Ojavee (Est) Cycling Club Bourgas 109 Jean-Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 110 Florian Morizot (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 111 Philippe Pratte (Bel) Verandas Willems 112 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Agritubel 113 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 114 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux 115 Yohan Cauquil (Fra) Cycling Club Bourgas 116 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 117 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 118 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Auber 93 119 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 120 Mathieu Criquielion (Bel) Verandas Willems 121 Vladimir Koev (Bul) Cycling Club Bourgas 122 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 123 Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 124 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Carmiooro - A Style 125 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 126 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) Cycling Club Bourgas 127 Sebastien Fournet Fayard (Fra) Carmiooro - A Style 128 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Silence - Lotto 129 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Silence - Lotto 130 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) Carmiooro - A Style 131 Nicolas Baïolet (Bel) Verandas Willems 132 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 133 Paidi O'brien (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 134 Cedric Coutouly (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 135 Olivier Pardini (Bel) Verandas Willems 136 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Auber 93 137 Cyril Bessy (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 138 Paul Brousse (Fra) Carmiooro - A Style 139 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 140 Rémi Cusin (Fra) Agritubel Points classification 1 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Besson - Sojasun 25 pts 2 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux 20 3 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 16 4 Denis Flahaut (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 14 5 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 12 6 Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 10 7 William Bonnet (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 9 8 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Verandas Willems 8 9 Daniele Colli (Ita) Carmiooro - A Style 7 10 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 6 11 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto 5 12 Geert Steurs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 4 13 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller 3 14 Jonathan Thire (Fra) Auber 93 3 15 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Skil-Shimano 2 16 Jef Peeters (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team 2 17 Bert De Backer (Bel) Skil-Shimano 1 18 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Silence - Lotto 1 Young rider classification 1 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen Teams classification 1 Skil-Shimano 14.21.45 2 An Post - Sean Kelly Team 3 Besson Chaussures - Sojasun 4 Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 5 Silence - Lotto 6 Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 7 Roubaix Lille Metropole 8 Bretagne - Schuller 9 Auber 93 10 Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator 11 Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne 12 Bbox Bouygues Telecom 13 Agritubel 14 Française des Jeux 15 Verandas Willems 16 Carmiooro - A Style 17 AG2R La Mondiale 18 Cycling Club Bourgas
