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5th Tour of Britain - 2.1
Great Britain, September 7-14, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Previous Stage
Stage 8 - September 14: Blackpool - Liverpool, 110km
Lequatre wins as Petacchi triple treats
By Gerry McManus in Liverpool
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Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes - Ballan) sprinted to victory in Liverpool on Sunday’s final stage of the Tour of Britain and Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel) finished safely in the bunch to secure the biggest victory of his injury-plagued career.
Lequatre and his French Agritubel team remained vigilant throughout the short final stage from Blackpool to Liverpool as Team Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle kept proceedings together for their sprinters. It played into the hands of the Frenchman, who had led the race by just six seconds when the race left the popular seaside resort of Blackpool. Magnus Backstedt (Garmin Chipotle), Dean Downing (Rapha Condor/Recyling.co.uk) and Malcolm Elliott (Pinarello CandiTV) had been away for most of the stage but were caught as the big sprinters' teams brought the whole race back together on the finishing circuit in Liverpool.
Petacchi powered his way to the stage victory, holding off the challenge from Julian Dean (Garmin-Chipotle) and Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) in a big bunch gallop to bring his tour tally to three stage wins.
There was no change in the king of the mountains competition with Danilo Di Luca (Team LPR Brakes) taking that prize back to Italy. Edvald Boasson Hagen won the sprinters' jersey and Matt Goss managed to wrestle the green points jersey from Di Luca after finishing third in Liverpool.
"It’s been a great week," said the Australian. "I hadn’t done too much racing in the last month before the race. I knew the form was coming along so it was good to get a stage win and the jersey is a bonus."
Danilo Di Luca was happy with his tour. "I came here to train and prepare for the world championships, which is my big objective of the year," said the 2007 Giro champ. "I wanted to push myself and test myself every day. This is the first time I have ridden the Tour of Britain and it has been a good, hard race and perfect preparation for the worlds. The national coach is going to announce the team for the world championships tomorrow and I hope to be in the eleven selected for the squad and in the nine who will be selected to race. It is always difficult to get in the Italian team but I am optimistic I will be there."
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Lequarte was pleased with both his team and the result of the eight-day race. "It was not easy today," said Lequarte. "It was very tense right up the finish line. I know Steve Cummings was looking for the time bonuses so we had to close the gap for sure. This is the second year our team has taken victory in the race. I think I won the title on Tuesday when I attacked on my own. Maybe some people thought that was crazy but I felt strong. It was a great day because we won the stage and I was second and took some time bonuses. I would like to say thank you to my team and my friends. I hope now that I will be selected for the team for the world championships; we have a lot of good riders in the French team with Christophe Moreau, Nicolas Vogondy and Romain Feillu."
"This is the best result of my season," he explained, adding that, "My last victory was four years ago. I had a big crash in 2005 and it took a whole year to recover. I had 20 fractures and had nine plates put into my face. I think I am now back to my best and the future is looking good."
How it unfolded
Lequatre started the stage with a slim six-second lead over Steve Cummings (Barloworld); three bonus seconds were on offer at the sprint at Southport and the fourth passage through the finish, with the stage winner receiving a 10-second bonification. The Agritubel team had marked all the serious moves all week and would need to do it one more time today.
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Magnus Backstedt (Garmin-Chipotle) attacked early in the stage and went clear with Dean Downing (Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk) and Malcolm Elliott (Pinarello CandiTV). The trio managed to gain a maximum advantage of two minutes as they headed towards the 2008 European City of Culture. The break mopped up the bonus seconds through the first sprint of the day at Southport, with Backstedt gaining the points by default - this was the perfect result for the yellow jersey. All three riders were taking turns but Backstedt was looking the strongest.
The break still had a useful lead of 36 seconds as they reached the finishing circuit by the Liverpool docks and the river Mersey, with the large crowd lending its support to the leaders as the experienced trio tried to evade capture on the tight circuit. They held out for three laps, and Backstedt took his chance when the brave group was about to be reeled in by the Barloworld-led bunch. Barloworld needed to bring the leaders back so that Cummings could attempt to win the three bonus seconds on offer. Backstedt had designs on a stage win and he grimaced in pain as he went into overdrive, mouth wide open for maximum oxygen intake.
Bradley Wiggins (Team Columbia) used some of the talent that won him two gold medals at the Olympics, going to the head of affairs to string out the bunch in pursuit of the former Paris-Roubaix winner. Backstedt was brought back and Ian Stannard (Team GB) took the intermediate sprint ahead of Cummings, who had Lequarte on his back wheel. It looked like game over - Cummings only gained one second on Lequarte who was going to win the tour, barring accidents. Stannard had leapfrogged Daniel Martin (Garmin-Chipotle) to move into third overall.
Wiggins attacked through the finish on the bell lap but was unable to shake the bunch that quickly made contact with the Team Columbia rider. Petacchi led out from 200 metres to go, with Julian Dean and Robbie Hunter on the Italian’s wheel while Goss had found his own line and Rob Hayles sat on the Australian's tail. Petacchi moved over to the right hand side to close the door on anyone trying to take that narrow corridor and took the honours in a high speed finish.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Gerry McManus/www.gerrymcmanus.co.uk
- Alessandro Petacchi (Team LPR) takes his third stage win when the race finished in Liverpool on Sunday
- Alessandro Petacchi (Team LPR) takes his third stage win when the race finished in Liverpool on Sunday
- Evan Oliphant and Tom Barras (Plowman Craven) drive the bunch along the sea front at Lytham St Annes on Sunday morning - chased by a local youngster on his bike
- The bunch goes through Liverpool on Sunday
- The bunch passes by the Liver Building in Liverpool on Sunday
- Alessandro Petacchi (Team LPR Brakes) beats Julian Dean (Garimin Chipotle) and Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) to the finish line in Liverpool
- Allesandro Petacchi (Team LPR Brakes) opens up the sprint in the final 200m battlking with L to R - Julian Dean (Garmin Chipotle), Matt Goss (CSC Saxobank) and Rob Hayles (Team GB) at the finish in LIverpool on Sunday
- Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel) gets kisses from the presentation hostesses Nicola and Sophie after he won the eight day race on Sunday
- Lequatre has the yellow jersey for keeps!
- Geoffroy Lequatre delighted to have won the Tour of Britain
- Champagne time for Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel) after he wins the final yellow jersey as winner of the Tour of Britain
- Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel) winner of the Tour of Britain
- The riders on the start line of the final stage from Blackpool to Liverpool
- The jersey winners line up in Liverpool on Sunday - Danilo Di Luca - Team LPR Brakes (Mountains), Geoffroy Lequatre - Agritubel (Race winner - yellow jersey), Edvald Boasson Hagen - Team Columbia (Sprints) and Matt Goss - CSC Saxobank (Points)
- Deigo Caccia (Barloworld) up at the Lucky Star Casino in Blackpool
- Dean Downing (Rapha Condor - Recycling) leads Magnus Backstedt (Garmin Chipotle) and Malcolm Elliott (Pinarello CandiTV) in the break in Liverpool
- Dean Downing (Rapha Condor - Recycling) leads Magnus Backstedt (Garmin Chipotle) and Malcolm Elliott (Pinarello CandiTV) in the break in Liverpool
- Geraint Thomas (Barloworld) drives on at the front of the bunch in pursuit of the breakaway group
- Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel) sits tight on his way to get the yellow jersey for keeps
- Magnus Backstedt (Garmin Chipotle) goes for broke and attacked on his own with three laps to go
- Bradley Wiggins leads the bunch around the finishing circuit in Liverpool
Results
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 2.19.25 (42.39 km/h) 2 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 3 Robbie Hunter (RSA) Barloworld 4 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 5 Rob Hayles (GBr) Great Britain 6 Chris Sutton (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 7 Roger Hammond (GBr) Team Columbia 8 Juan Van Heerden (RSA) MTN Energade 9 Russell Downing (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 10 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam 11 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 12 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 13 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Agritubel 14 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia 15 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing 16 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Team Columbia 17 Simon Gaywood (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 18 Andrew Roche (Irl) Pinarello RT - Canditv 19 Johnnie Walker (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 20 Simon Richardson (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 21 Steve Cummings (GBr) Barloworld 22 Geoffroy Lequarte (Fra) Agritubel 23 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain 24 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 25 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 26 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia 27 Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 28 Kristian House (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 29 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam 30 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Great Britain 31 Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 32 Dale Appleby (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 33 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing 34 David George (RSA) MTN Energade 35 Alejandro Marque Porto (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 36 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 37 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain 38 Kevin Evans (RSA) MTN Energade 39 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 40 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 0.06 41 Daniel Fleeman (GBr) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam 42 Paul Sneeboer (Ned) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 43 Peter Williams (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 44 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 45 Emilien Berges (Fra) Agritubel 0.09 46 Chris Newton (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 47 David Blanco Rodriguez (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 48 Tom Barras (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 49 Tom Murray (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 50 Rob Partridge (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 51 Trent Lowe (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 52 James Millard (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 53 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld 54 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 55 Jay Thomson (RSA) MTN Energade 56 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam 57 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 0.14 58 Daryl Impey (RSA) Barloworld 0.16 59 Claudio Cucinotta (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 0.27 60 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 0.29 61 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld 62 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 63 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 64 Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Rock Racing 65 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing 66 Lee Davis (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 67 Waylon Woolcock (RSA) MTN Energade 68 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain 0.49 69 Tom Southam (GBr) Great Britain 70 Santiago Botero (Col) Rock Racing 71 Neil MacDonald (RSA) MTN Energade 72 Tomas Swift-Metcalfe (GBr) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 0.57 73 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 1.00 74 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 1.26 75 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 76 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 77 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Columbia 78 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 1.33 79 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 1.41 80 Cameron Meyer (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 1.59 81 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 2.18 82 Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 83 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 7.18 DNF Diego Caccia (Ita) Barloworld DNS Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia Sprints Southport 1 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 5 pts 2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 3 3 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 2 4 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia 1 Finish line 1st Passage 1 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 5 pts 2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 3 3 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 2 4 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain 1 Finish line lap 4 1 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain 5 pts 2 Steve Cummings (GBr) Barloworld 3 3 Geoffroy Lequarte (Fra) Agritubel 2 4 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 1 Mountains Cat 3: Lap 1 1 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 4 pts 2 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 3 3 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 2 4 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain 1 Cat 3: Lap 3 1 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 4 pts 2 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain 3 3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 2 4 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 1 Cat 3: Lap 5 1 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 4 pts 2 Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 3 3 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 2 4 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 1 Teams 1 Garmin - Chipotle 6.58.15 2 Team Columbia 3 Agritubel 4 Great Britain 5 Team CSC - Saxo Bank 6 Topsport Vlaanderen 7 MTN Energade 8 Pinarello RT - Candi TV 0.06 9 An Post M.Donnelly 10 Barloworld 0.09 11 Plowman Craven RT 12 Rapha - Condor - Recycling.co. 13 LPR Brakes - Ballan 0.14 14 Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 0.15 15 Rock Racing 0.29 16 SouthAustralia.com - AIS 2.08 Final General classification 1 Geoffroy Lequarte (Fra) Agritubel 27.21.49 2 Steve Cummings (GBr) Barloworld 0.05 3 Ian Stannard (GBr) Great Britain 0.14 4 Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 0.15 5 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 0.16 6 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam 0.20 7 Daniel Fleeman (GBr) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam 0.25 8 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 0.29 9 Emilien Berges (Fra) Agritubel 0.50 10 Russell Downing (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 1.25 11 Alejandro Marque Porto (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 1.48 12 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 1.50 13 Kristian House (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 14 Roger Hammond (GBr) Team Columbia 1.53 15 David George (RSA) MTN Energade 1.55 16 Chris Sutton (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 2.00 17 Simon Richardson (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 2.05 18 Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 2.49 19 Kevin Evans (RSA) MTN Energade 3.32 20 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld 5.05 21 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia 9.19 22 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 9.50 23 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 10.36 24 Tom Southam (GBr) Great Britain 11.56 25 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 12.26 26 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain 12.52 27 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Team Columbia 28 Johnnie Walker (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 13.18 29 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 13.39 30 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 14.12 31 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 15.10 32 Rob Partridge (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 16.19 33 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Rock Racing 16.20 34 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 16.21 35 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 36 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Agritubel 17.51 37 Waylon Woolcock (RSA) MTN Energade 18.01 38 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Great Britain 18.03 39 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 18.11 40 Tom Murray (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 19.01 41 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 19.08 42 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 19.09 43 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 19.46 44 David Blanco Rodriguez (Spa) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 20.02 45 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 21.49 46 Paul Sneeboer (Ned) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 22.51 47 Greg Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia 23.12 48 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 23.23 49 Santiago Botero (Col) Rock Racing 24.14 50 Daryl Impey (RSA) Barloworld 24.33 51 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Rock Racing 24.44 52 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Great Britain 26.13 53 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 26.24 54 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Rock Racing 27.22 55 Lee Davis (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 27.36 56 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 27.50 57 Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Rock Racing 28.39 58 Trent Lowe (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 28.49 59 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 29.47 60 Peter Williams (GBr) Pinarello RT - Canditv 30.29 61 Tom Barras (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 31.07 62 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam 31.44 63 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 32.33 64 Juan Van Heerden (RSA) MTN Energade 33.43 65 Rob Hayles (GBr) Great Britain 34.34 66 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) AnPost-M.Donnelly-GrantThornton-SeanKellyTeam 34.48 67 Dale Appleby (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 34.53 68 Neil MacDonald (RSA) MTN Energade 34.58 69 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel 35.03 70 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 35.56 71 Robbie Hunter (RSA) Barloworld 36.44 72 Cameron Meyer (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 36.47 73 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Barloworld 37.00 74 Claudio Cucinotta (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 37.51 75 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 39.01 76 Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 40.12 77 Tomas Swift-Metcalfe (GBr) Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 41.03 78 James Millard (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 42.57 79 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Columbia 43.20 80 Chris Newton (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 43.29 81 Jay Thomson (RSA) MTN Energade 45.18 82 Simon Gaywood (GBr) Plowman Craven RT 50.36 83 Andrew Roche (Irl) Pinarello RT - Canditv 1.00.57 Points classification 1 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 65 pts 2 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30 62 3 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia 60 Sprint classification 1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia 24 pts 2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 23 3 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 15 Mountains classification 1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 39 pts 2 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain 33 3 Kristian House (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk 19 Teams classification 1 Agritubel 82.09.19 2 Garmin - Chipotle 8.53 3 Great Britain 11.25 4 LPR Brakes - Ballan 11.56 5 Topsport Vlaanderen 12.50 6 Barloworld 13.38 7 MTN Energade 14.46 8 Team Columbia 19.07 9 An Post M.Donnelly 19.09 10 Team CSC - Saxo Bank 21.09 11 Pinarello RT - Candi TV 27.34 12 Rapha - Condor - Recycling.co. 34.49 13 SouthAustralia.com - AIS 36.56 14 Palmeiras Resort - Tavira 38.34 15 Rock Racing 39.32 16 Plowman Craven RT 40.35
