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60th Tour de Romandie - PT
Switzerland, April 25-30, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Next Stage
Prologue - April 25: Geneva ITT, 3.4km
Savoldelli stands the test of time
By Anthony Tan in Geneva
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It was an unexpected victory, but one that gave hope to cycling's tifosi that there will be more than one serious contender at the upcoming Giro d'Italia.
Today in Geneva, defending Giro champion Paolo Savoldelli provided an almost flawless prologue performance to earn himself his first stage victory of the season and take the opening lead in 60th edition of the Tour de Romandie. Almost flawless, for the 32 year-old was going so fast coming out of the final hairpin on the Rue De-Candolle, he almost crashed into the barriers with 500 metres to go - but luckily for him, 'Il Falco' held his nerve, straightening his line and posting the fastest time of the day.
"I am content with this win today and it shows my preparations for the Giro are almost complete," said the quietly-spoken Savoldelli, who prefers to let his legs and bike handling skills - particularly when going downhill - do the talking.
Not unexpected was the third-place of Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux), who indicated before today he was looking for the win, although another surprise was last Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Alejandro Valverde. With his second place today, the ProTour leader from Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears showed he's still at the peak of his form, and will no doubt be looking for a stage victory or two as the terrain gets tougher towards the end of the week.
How it unfolded
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A light shower before the first of 165 riders left the starting gate outside Geneva's Parc des Bastion at a quarter-past four this afternoon initially made a tricky course even trickier. Just 3.4 kilometres long, but including three hairpin bends and six right-angled corners, this prologue wasn't one for the faint-hearted.
Such explosive efforts are not unlike the final kilometres of a road stage headed for a bunch gallop, so it wasn't too much of a surprise when the 31st rider to leave, Davitamon-Lotto's sprinter Robbie McEwen, took the provisional best spot with a time of 4 minutes 39.85 seconds. The Australian's time held for the best part of an hour, indicating the 33 year-old was reaching top form again after an early season plagued by illness, and is a likely candidate to take tomorrow's stage in Payerne.
A few minutes after half-past five, it turned out to be his team-mate Johan Van Summeren who bettered McEwen's mark, but only by a second. 20 minutes later, there was a huge commotion outside the T-Mobile truck as the massive thighs of 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich hauled themselves off his Giant TT machine and headed for the start gate on the Rue Saint-Léger. There was less fuss regarding his time, however: 4 minutes 53.48 seconds turned out to be 90th best on the classement, his report card indicating 'plenty of room for improvement'.
30 riders before the last was to leave at 19:10, that being Phonak's Alexandre Moos, his ex-teammate Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) Sset a very fast 4 minutes 34.68 seconds that turned out to be good enough for fourth by the day's end. Just after a quarter to seven, Chrono specialist Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux) went one better, chopping three seconds off Pereiro's time and clocking a 4'31.39.
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With 13 riders still left to finish, McGee was by no means home and hosed, but he probably wasn't expecting Liège-Bastogne-Liège champion Alejandro Valverde to knock him off his perch - although that's exactly what our new ProTour leader did, his 4 minutes 27.95 seconds almost four seconds faster than the Sydneysider's.
However, the day's surprises didn't end there. Out of the remaining 11, many believed the name of Bobby Julich could top the leaderboard, but the CSC rider fell almost 10 seconds short of Valverde and finished 10th. In the end, it turned out to be the rider who left three minutes before the American who stood the test of time: defending Giro d'Italia champion Paolo Savoldelli.
Stage 1 - April 26: Payerne-Payerne
Tomorrow, the tour moves northeast to Payerne for a relatively easy 169 kilometre road stage. Dotted with two Cat. 3 climbs at Chesalles (km 76.5) and Sassel (km 123.4) and two sprint primes along the way, one can expect the only bunch sprint of the week. With his solid performance today, it's got Robbie McEwen's name all over it, but the likes of Alejandro Valverde and Rubens Bertogliati will be taking the challenge to the pocket-rocket from Down Under.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) salutes after winning the prologue
Images by AFP Photo
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) starts his 2006 season, at last
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) would finish 90th, 26 seconds down, in what he says is primarily a training race for him.
- Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) on the way to his first stage win of the year.
- Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) gets encouragement from a young fan as he heads for the victory.
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears) was a surprising second place and must be counted as a favourite after his two recent Classics wins.
- Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux) made the podium, but not the hoped-for top step.
- Alexandre Moos (Phonak Hearing Systems) on the way to 24th place.
- Andreas Dietziker (LPR) finished ninth
- Laurent Lefevre (Bouygues Telecom) was eighth.
- Laszlo Bodrogi (Credit Agricole) deomonstrated his short course time trial abilities with a solid fifth 5th place.
- Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) pulls on the leader's yellow jersey.
- Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) on the podium.
Images by Anthony Tan/Cyclingnews.com
- "Now, what should I do today... "
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) focuses on the task at hand.
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) shares a laugh with countryman Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner).
- All eyes on Der Jan.
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) with his physiotherapist on standby.
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) checks his sunglasses.
- Focusing on form.
- Two seconds...
- Go!
- Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) powers his way to the line with 300 metres to go.
- Frédéric Bessy (Cofidis) with 100 metres to go.
- Bart Dockx (Davitamon-Lotto) finished 64th with a time of 4'48.10.
- Bram De Groot (Rabobank) puts his head down en route to 14th place.
- Guennadi Mikhailov (Discovery Channel) about to round the final hairpin turn at one of Geneva University's numerous buildings.
- Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner) grimaces coming out of the same turn.
- Danish TT champion Michael Blaudzun (Team CSC) finished in 16th place.
- Victor Hugo Peña (Phonak) finished 51st.
- Giuseppe Muraglia (LPR Guerciotti) was on fire. Well, his helmet was, at least.
- Pietro Caucchioli (Crédit Agricole) will be hoping for a good GC by the week's end.
- A picture of concentration on the final hairpin.
- David Loosli (Lampre-Fondital) not hangin' loose.
- Hubert Schwab (Quick.Step-Innergetic) in the hurt bag.
- Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) grimaces.
- Nicki Sorensen (Team CSC) in the zone. The red zone.
- Francisco Mancebo (AG2R-Prevoyance) in his new team colours.
- Bradley McGee (Francaise des Jeux) ended up on the podium in third place.
- Rabobank team manager Adri Van Houwelingen said this week in Switzerland will be an important test for their new Colombian signing Mauricio Ardila, who will assume an outright leadership role in the upcoming Giro d'Italia.
Results
1 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 4.27.32 (45.788 km/h)
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.00.63
3 Bradley Mcgee (Aus) Française des Jeux 0.04.07
4 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.07.36
5 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole 0.07.39
6 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 0.08.70
7 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.08.75
8 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.09.14
9 Andreas Dietziker (Swi) Team L.P.R. 0.09.15
10 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 0.09.24
11 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.09.73
12 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 0.09.97
13 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.10.07
14 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0.10.11
15 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 0.10.22
16 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 0.10.76
17 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 0.10.92
18 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.11.08
19 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile Team 0.11.13
20 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.11.37
21 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 0.11.48
22 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.11.50
23 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital 0.11.56
24 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.11.65
25 Jurge Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.11.66
26 Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.12.00
27 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.12.09
28 Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 0.12.10
29 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.12.53
30 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.12.55
31 Jeremy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.12.76
32 Mauricio Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank 0.12.81
33 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas 0.12.83
34 Jorg Jaksche (Ger) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.13.03
35 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas 0.13.40
36 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.13.66
37 Jos Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 0.14.33
38 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.14.69
39 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.15.20
40 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Team Milram 0.15.24
41 Oscar Sevilla Ribera (Spa) T-Mobile Team 0.15.46
42 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Rabobank 0.15.63
43 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.16.54
44 Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.16.70
45 Yohann Gene (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.16.98
46 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.17.24
47 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 0.17.28
48 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.17.48
49 Alessandr Cortinovis (Ita) Team Milram 0.17.55
50 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Team L.P.R. 0.17.64
51 Victor Pena Grisales (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.17.65
52 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Team Milram 0.17.68
53 Frederic Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.17.98
54 Cedric Vasseur (Fra) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.17.99
55 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.18.10
56 Miguel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.18.88
57 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 0.19.17
58 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.19.34
59 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas 0.19.38
60 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.19.69
61 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.19.94
62 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.20.24
63 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.20.71
64 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.20.78
65 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.20.93
66 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Team Milram 0.21.12
67 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile Team 0.21.15
68 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team 0.21.20
69 Aketza Pena Iza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.21.25
70 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) T-Mobile Team 0.21.47
71 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.21.93
72 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.22.35
73 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.22.60
74 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 0.22.90
75 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 0.23.11
76 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Liquigas 0.23.20
77 Yuri Metlushenko (Ukr) Team L.P.R.
78 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.23.26
79 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner 0.23.27
80 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Credit Agricole 0.23.54
81 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 0.23.92
82 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 0.23.98
83 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.24.47
84 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 0.24.57
85 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 0.25.21
86 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Team Milram 0.25.44
87 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.25.47
88 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.25.79
89 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.25.80
90 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.26.16
91 Joseba Beloki (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.26.23
92 Peter Luttenberger (Aut) Team CSC 0.26.36
93 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.26.58
94 Andrea Noe (Ita) Liquigas 0.26.77
95 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 0.26.79
96 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
97 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Rabobank 0.26.86
98 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 0.27.02
99 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.27.19
100 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.27.72
101 Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.28.00
102 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.28.15
103 Roger Beuchat (Swi) Team L.P.R. 0.28.16
104 Jonathan Patrick Mccarty (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.28.78
105 Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.28.95
106 Leif Hoste (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.29.39
107 Ivan Ram Parra Pinto (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone
108 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.29.40
109 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 0.29.42
110 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC 0.29.62
111 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.29.89
112 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu) Lampre-Fondital 0.29.96
113 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.30.27
114 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 0.30.45
115 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.30.97
116 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Credit Agricole 0.31.16
117 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.31.17
118 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.31.42
119 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole 0.31.64
120 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.31.75
121 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.32.16
122 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.32.21
123 Carlos Jose Ochoa (Ven) Team L.P.R. 0.32.31
124 Benoit Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.32.40
125 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.32.65
126 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 0.32.89
127 Jose A Benitez Roman (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.32.98
128 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.33.07
129 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.33.11
130 Jose A Redondo Ramos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.33.32
131 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.33.71
132 Sebastien Chavanel (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.34.67
133 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Française des Jeux 0.35.73
134 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.35.83
135 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 0.36.13
136 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.36.50
137 Joseba Albizu Lizaso (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.36.92
138 David Etxebarria Alkorta (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.37.04
139 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.38.19
140 Roger Hammond (GBr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.38.79
141 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.38.84
142 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas 0.39.28
143 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.39.39
144 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram 0.39.79
145 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.39.95
146 Jorg Ludewig (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.40.04
147 Daniele De Paoli (Ita) Team L.P.R. 0.40.20
148 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.40.70
149 Remy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.41.58
150 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 0.41.92
151 Stephane Goubert (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 0.42.04
152 Pierre Drancourt (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.42.53
153 Amael Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.42.67
154 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.42.94
155 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.44.62
156 Niels Scheuneman (Ned) Rabobank 0.45.15
157 Guido Trentin (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.45.72
158 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile Team 0.46.41
159 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Team Milram 0.50.80
160 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Team CSC 0.52.33
161 Jose Angel Garrido Lima (Spa) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.53.36
162 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) Team L.P.R. 0.53.88
163 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.00.31
DNS Roy Sentjens (Bel) Rabobank
DNS Koldo Gil Perez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
Points
1 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 15 pts
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 12
3 Bradley Mcgee (Aus) Française des Jeux 10
4 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 9
5 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole 8
6 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 7
7 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6
8 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 5
9 Andreas Dietziker (Swi) Team L.P.R. 4
10 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 3
11 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 2
12 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 1
Teams
1 Caisse D'epargne-Illes Balears 13.46
2 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.02
3 Lampre-Fondital 0.06
4 Davitamon - Lotto 0.07
5 Liquigas 0.11
6 Rabobank 0.13
7 Team CSC 0.14
8 Francaise Des Jeux
9 Credit Agricole 0.15
10 Bouygues Telecom 0.16
11 Saunier Duval - Prodir
12 Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.18
13 Ag2R Prevoyance
14 Quick Step - Innergetic 0.21
15 T-Mobile Team 0.22
16 Phonak Hearing Systems
17 Cofidis Le Credit Par Telephone 0.23
18 Gerolsteiner
19 Liberty Seguros - Wurth Team
20 Team L.P.R. 0.24
21 Team Milram 0.25
