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Tour of Britain - 2.1

Great Britain, August 29-September 3, 2006

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Stage 6 - September 3: Greenwich to The Mall, 82km

Boonen triumphs in London finale

Tom Boonen (Quick step-Innergetic)
Photo ©: Gerry McManus
(Click for larger image)

If the queen was watching from her balcony at Buckingham Palace on Sunday afternoon she would had seen Tom Boonen win the prestigious last stage in the Tour of Britain and Martin Pedersen (CSC) crowned the overall victor and rightful owner of the yellow jersey. The weather was an almost perfect at 23c and sunny but the blustery winds were causing havoc with the Italian style aluminium chairs that lined many of the cafes by the river Thames.

The race provided a colourful spectacle as it left Greenwich Park taking the riders north of the Thames via Tower Bridge and passing the Tower of London. LLjio Keisse (Chocolade Jacques-Topsport) won the only sprint of the day just beyond Tower Bridge as he escaped the clutches of the peloton with Kristian House (Recycling.co.uk), Maarten Tjallingii (Skil Shimano) and Franceso Chicchi (QuickStep-Innergetic). But they were quickly reabsorbed into the main field after they divided the sprint points between them.

They took in a small loop along the Embankment by the river Thames to run down to the Houses of Parliament before turning back for a view of the London Eye and on to the leafy suburbs of Hampstead Heath. Britain's Ben Greenwood again proved his climbing prowess when took the only KOM of the day at the top of the Highgate's West Hill before the peloton descended back into town through Regents Park, Baker Street, Oxford Street and Hyde Park before they hit The Mall circuit for the first time. The crowds had turned out to see their cycling heroes in England's capital city.

T-Mobile worked hard
Photo ©: Peter Bentley
(Click for larger image)

They were altogether on the St James Park circuit down the Mall for the first of 20 passes of the Palace. During the early laps a motorcycle race marshal and a police motorcyclist collided with one bike skidding into the barriers and injuring four spectators. Five people were taken to hospital with their injuries which we understand are not thought to be life-threatening.

Back in the race and as the laps left counted down the crowd were treated to a breakaway when Rob Sharman (Recycling.co.uk) went clear with James Meadley (South Australia.com - AIS) and Casper Jorgensen (Denmark). The prime at The Mall was uncontested as the trio tried to hold their advantage. Their lead hovered at around 30 seconds but it came down after a number of laps and they were eventually caught. Sharman won the combativity award for his efforts.

There was a tangle of bikes with only a few laps left but thankfully everyone remounted and there were no injuries but the race was over for some. The young GB team took up the challenge with two laps to go and three riders hit the front taking on the might of CSC and T-Mobile for their team leader and sprinter Roger Hammond. As the bell sounded for the last lap the bumping and jostling for position had already begun.

Tom, you're not supposed to kiss her
Photo ©: Ben Atkins
(Click for larger image)

Boonen powered down the finishing straight and took the victory sprint from Roger Hammond (GB) and Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) who ensured he won the points competition with that effort. Andy Schleck (CSC) won the KOM competition and Johan Van Summeren (Davitamon-Lotto) was king of the sprints.

Cavendish was able to confirm that he has already signed a two year contract with T-Mobile.

Boonen thought riding through London was fantastic. "It was something else," he said: "I enjoyed it. It was a good route for a change. It was a good race today."

The current world road race spoke a little about the traffic and safety issues encountered during the six day tour. "It's not easy to have something perfect. We as riders know it and organisers know it. There were a few problems this week but sh*t happens." A BBC radio journalist asked if he thought that the problems with the race were not serious then? "It was pretty serious," he answered and then made a more general statement about race safety: "The problem is it only gets serious when someone gets injured and all the situations were there to get injured. We were really lucky that nothing happened. They have promised us to change it but they had already promised us three years ago."

Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic)
Photo ©: Peter Bentley
(Click for larger image)

"The problem is that it is very difficult to change anything because it's a mental thing. I know the organisation probably does everything possible to guarantee the safety of the riders but they can't cope with every rider who gets dropped. When I crashed (in the stage to Liverpool) I was behind and taking it easy sitting in the traffic. They almost ran me over five times. When Pozzato won the stage he was thirty seconds in front and there were two or three cars riding between him and the chasers. Stuff like that shouldn't be possible."

He was then asked if he was looking forward to returning to England for the Tour de France next year: "I don't look forward to the Tour," he laughed: "It was a nice stage today and it's nice to see London by bike and know that it's possible to got to one of the biggest cities in the world, jam all the traffic and just have a bike race. It was fun. Today we didn't make any mistakes in the sprint and I won."

Martin Pederson was all smiles when he went to the press conference after the race: "I only can here (to Britain) to win a stage. Today is probably the best ever day on a bike for me. It was special for me to see all the spectators. It's my first time in London and it was great to go over Tower Bridge."

Ben Greenwood (recycling.co.uk)
Photo ©: Peter Bentley
(Click for larger image)

"The race organisation is great but it's hard to control the traffic sometimes, continued the Danish professional: "It's my first year with CSC and the first stage victory was my first win. We had a very strong team and I think everyone could have won the Tour. I think the team was so strong that a lot of the teams were afraid to attack."

CSC director sportif Bjarne Riis was on the Tour for the last two stages and Pedersen was pleased he was there to see the victory: "For sure," he said: "It's nice for the team to do well in Britain. It was good for Bjarne to see us ride so well."

"If I get selected for the world championships it will be the next goal for me. It would be nice to come back to London for the Tour de France next year but it's hard to get on the team."

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Gerry McManus/www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk

Images by Peter Bentley

Images by Ben Atkins/Cylingnews.com

Images by Richard O'Brien

Results

1 Tom Boonen (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic                 2.00.41 (40.77 km/h)
2 Roger Hammond (GBr) Great Britain                            
3 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile                                
4 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport                 
5 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon Lotto                           
6 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano                           
7 Russell Downing (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed             
8 Luke Roberts (Aus) CSC                                       
9 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic                   
10 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano                       
11 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare             
12 Michael Morkov (Den) Denmark                                
13 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld                                
14 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com                            
15 Martin Pedersen (Den) CSC                                   
16 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Unibet.com                            
17 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare               
18 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                         
19 Karsten Kroon (Ned) CSC                                     
20 Dean Downing (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed               
21 Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak iShares                            
22 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile                               
23 Mirko Allegrini (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare             
24 Edward Clancy (GBr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                 
25 Ben Greenwood (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         
26 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Phonak iShares                         
27 Christian Vandevelde (USA) CSC                              
28 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Unibet.com                                
29 Andy Schleck (Lux) CSC                                      
30 Cameron Jennings (Aus) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed           
31 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic                
32 Nick Nuyens (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic                      
33 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Davitamon Lotto                    
34 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon Lotto                          
35 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic               
36 James Meadley (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                 
37 Ryan Cox (RSA) Barloworld                                   
38 Kristan House (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         
39 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile                             
40 Koen Barbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport                 
41 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport           
42 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) QuickStep-Innergetic               
43 Jonathon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS               
44 Shaun Higgerson (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS               
45 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon Lotto                           
46 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                 
47 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago           
48 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         
49 Casper Jorgensen (Den) Denmark                              
50 Tom Barras (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed                 
51 Frederik Veuchulen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport         
52 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport             
53 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Great Britain                          
54 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile                             
55 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain                          
56 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                  
57 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld                              
58 Mathew Lloyd (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                  
59 Mads Christensen (Den) Barloworld                           
60 Rob Partridge (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         
61 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com                            
62 Ross Sander (GBr) Great Britain                             
62 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain                            
62 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain                               
62 Nick Gates (Aus) Davitamon Lotto                            
62 Christopher Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                    
62 Robin Sharman (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         
62 Patrick McCarty (USA) Phonak iShares                        
62 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Denmark                                
62 Andre Steensen (Den) Denmark                                
62 Rene Weissinger (Ger) Skil-Shimano                          
72 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC                                        
72 Paul Manning (GBr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                  
74 Alex Coutts (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed            2.44
DNS Igor Astarloa (Spa) Barloworld                             
 
Points
 
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic                      15 pts
2 Roger Hammond (GBr) Great Britain                          14
3 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile                              13
4 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport               12
5 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon Lotto                         11
6 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano                         10
7 Russell Downing (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed            9
8 Luke Roberts (Aus) CSC                                      8
9 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic                  7
10 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano                      6
11 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare            5
12 Michael Morkov (Den) Denmark                               4
13 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld                               3
14 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com                           2
15 Martin Pedersen (Den) CSC                                  1
 
Mountains
 
Highgate Hill - Cat. 3
 
1 Ben Greenwood (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         4 pts
2 Koen Barbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport                 3
3 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC                                        2
4 Luke Roberts (Aus) CSC                                      1
 
Sprints
 
Tower Bridge
 
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport                5 pts
2 Kristan House (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         3
3 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano                       2
4 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic                1
 
Sprint 2
 
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport                5 pts
2 Kristan House (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         3
3 Nick Nuyens (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic                      2
4 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport           1
 
Sprint 3
 
1 James Meadley (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                 5 pts
2 Casper Jorgensen (Den) Denmark                              3
3 Robin Sharman (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         2
4 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile                             1
 
Most combative
 
1 Robin Sharman (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                          
 
Teams
 
1 Skil-Shimano                                          6.02.03
2 QuickStep-Innergetic                                         
3 CSC                                                          
4 Ceramica Panaria-Navigare                                    
5 DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed                                   
6 Unibet.com                                                   
7 T-Mobile                                                     
8 Davitamon Lotto                                              
9 Chocolade Jacques-Topsport                                   
10 Barloworld                                                  
11 Phonak iShares                                              
12 Great Britain                                               
13 Recycling.co.uk                                             
14 Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                                     
15 Denmark                                                     
16 South Australia.com-AIS                                     
 
Final General classification
 
1 Martin Pedersen (Den) CSC                            21.51.24
2 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com                         0.51
3 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic               2.11
4 Nick Nuyens (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic                   2.46
5 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile                                
6 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport             3.06
7 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Phonak iShares                      3.07
8 Andy Schleck (Lux) CSC                                   3.14
9 Russell Downing (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed         3.16
10 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano                   3.18
11 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                     3.25
12 Mirko Allegrini (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare         3.27
13 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld                            3.34
14 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago             3.35
15 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Unibet.com                                
16 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com                        3.42
17 Kristan House (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                     3.44
18 Karsten Kroon (Ned) CSC                                 3.45
19 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile                         3.55
20 Roger Hammond (GBr) Great Britain                       4.07
21 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago       4.20
22 Luke Roberts (Aus) CSC                                  4.21
23 Michael Morkov (Den) Denmark                            4.39
24 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain                        5.35
25 Ryan Cox (RSA) Barloworld                               8.13
26 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile                          16.04
27 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC                                   16.19
28 Simon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS             18.28
29 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano                     21.31
30 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport        21.43
31 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic          22.06
32 Tom Boonen (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic                  22.36
33 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain                     23.09
34 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon Lotto                     26.18
35 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport      26.30
36 Cameron Jennings (Aus) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed      26.35
37 Paul Manning (GBr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago             26.58
38 Rob Partridge (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                    27.13
39 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Davitamon Lotto               27.17
40 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Great Britain                     27.18
41 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) QuickStep-Innergetic          30.41
42 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic           31.20
43 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Unibet.com                       31.31
44 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare        31.32
45 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld                         31.42
46 Dean Downing (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed          31.44
47 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon Lotto                      31.47
48 Andre Steensen (Den) Denmark                           31.49
49 Christian Vandevelde (USA) CSC                         31.56
50 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Denmark                           31.57
51 Koen Barbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport                 
52 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                    31.59
53 James Meadley (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS            32.04
54 Casper Jorgensen (Den) Denmark                              
55 Frederik Veuchulen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport    32.07
56 Ben Greenwood (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                         
57 Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak iShares                            
58 Mads Christensen (Den) Barloworld                           
59 Mathew Lloyd (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                  
60 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon Lotto                     32.17
61 Robin Sharman (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                    32.26
62 Nick Gates (Aus) Davitamon Lotto                       32.27
63 Patrick McCarty (USA) Phonak iShares                        
64 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile                             
65 Shaun Higgerson (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS          32.44
66 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain                          33.22
67 Tom Barras (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed            33.23
68 Matteo Priamo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare          33.38
69 Edward Clancy (GBr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago            33.40
70 Jonathon Clarke (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS          34.49
71 Alex Coutts (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed           34.51
72 Ross Sander (GBr) Great Britain                        35.10
73 Christopher Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk               37.41
74 Rene Weissinger (Ger) Skil-Shimano                     38.37
 
Points classification
 
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile                              62 pts
2 Russell Downing (GBr) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed           56
3 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic               44
4 Roger Hammond (GBr) Great Britain                          38
5 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano                         37
6 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago          35
7 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport               34
8 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic                 33
9 Martin Pedersen (Den) CSC                                  28
10 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano                     18
 
Mountains classification
 
1 Andy Schleck (Lux) CSC                                     50 pts
2 Ben Greenwood (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                        35
3 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon Lotto                         31
4 Martin Pedersen (Den) CSC                                  25
5 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Davitamon Lotto                   23
6 Luke Roberts (Aus) CSC                                     12
7 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC                                       12
8 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com                           10
9 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago           8
10 Christian Vandevelde (USA) CSC                             8
11 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic                 7
12 Nick Nuyens (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic                     6
13 Karsten Kroon (Ned) CSC                                    6
14 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld                               5
15 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) QuickStep-Innergetic              4
16 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com                           4
17 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic              4
 
Sprints classification
 
1 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Davitamon Lotto                   30 pts
2 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport               23
3 Martin Pedersen (Den) CSC                                  18
4 Nick Nuyens (Bel) QuickStep-Innergetic                      9
5 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport           8
6 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com                            8
7 Luke Roberts (Aus) CSC                                      7
8 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile                               6
9 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano                         6
10 Kristan House (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                        6
11 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon Lotto                         6
12 James Meadley (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS                5
13 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic               4
14 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano                      4
15 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) QuickStep-Innergetic                 3
16 Mirko Allegrini (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare            3
17 Rob Partridge (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                        3
18 Casper Jorgensen (Den) Denmark                             3
19 Paul Manning (GBr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                 3
20 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) QuickStep-Innergetic              3
21 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld                               2
22 Cameron Jennings (Aus) DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed          2
23 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Unibet.com                           2
24 Robin Sharman (GBr) Recycling.co.uk                        2
25 Karsten Kroon (Ned) CSC                                    2
26 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile                            1
27 Christian Vandevelde (USA) CSC                             1
 
Teams classification
 
1 CSC                                                  65.41.15
2 Unibet.com                                               1.00
3 QuickStep-Innergetic                                    14.49
4 T-Mobile                                                16.07
5 Great Britain                                           19.04
6 Skil-Shimano                                            21.23
7 Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                                 27.35
8 Barloworld                                              36.27
9 Phonak iShares                                          36.44
10 Chocolade Jacques-Topsport                             44.37
11 DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed                             54.37
12 Recycling.co.uk                                        55.59
13 Ceramica Panaria-Navigare                              59.57
14 Denmark                                              1.00.57
15 South Australia.com-AIS                              1.13.03
16 Davitamon Lotto                                      1.14.36

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