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33rd Etoile des Bessèges - 2.3
France, February 5-9, 2003
Stage 1 - February 5: Saint-Cannat - Sainte-Tulle, 153.5 km
Baldato takes early lead
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Fabio Baldato (Alessio) has won the first stage and taken the leader's jersey in the Etoile de Bessèges, the first French stage race on the calendar. Baldato outsprinted a group of five riders into Sainte-Tulle, with Franck Bouyer (Brioches La Boulangère) and Mickael Skelde (Team fakta) taking second and third respectively.
The crucial break in the 153.5 km opening stage from Saint-Cannat to Sainte-Tulle came on the Côte Pierrevert (km 127), where Baldato, Bouyer and Skelde together with Fabrice Salanson (Brioches La Boulangère) and Staf Scheirlinckx (Flanders-IteamNova) successfully broke clear of the peloton. The five wer chased by another nine riders, who were not able to bridge the gap, and the leaders rode out to a one minute plus advantage. Baldato had no problems accounting for the other four in the sprint, demonstrating that his off-season work has been solid.
Photography
Images by Nicolas Leroy
- Fabio Baldato (Alessio) on the podium
- Inigo Chaurreau Bernardez (Ag2r) before the race
- Jacky Durand keeping his head warm
- Jimmy Casper (Fdjeux.com)
- Robbie McEwen leads the peloton
- Nicolas Fritsch (Fdjeux.com)
- Nicolas Meunier (Big Mat-Auber 93)
- Riders on the Mirabeau bridge
- Régis Lhuiller (Fdjeux.com), best young rider
- The breakaway makes good their escape
- Tom Steels (Landbouwkrediet)
- Jurgen Van De Walle (Vlaanderen-T Interim), best climber
- A view of the peloton
- Riders await the start
- Fabio Baldato after the race
- Baldato is the winner of stage 1
- Baldato wearing the leader jersey
- Baldato crosses the line
Images by AFP Photo/Gerard Julien
- Fabio Baldato (Alessio) wins the first stage of the Etoile des Bessèges in St Tulle
- Fabio Baldato (Alessio) punches the air as he wins the first stage of the Etoile des Bessèges in St Tulle
- A happy Fabio Baldato on the podium with his victory bouquet
- Fabio Baldato (Alessio) kissed on the podium after winning the first stage of the Etoile des Bessèges in St Tulle
Results
1 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Alessio 3.47.06 (40.423 km/h) 2 Franck Bouyer (Fra) La Boulangère 3 Michael Skelde (Den) Team Fakta 4 Fabrice Salanson (Fra) La Boulangère 5 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-IteamNova 6 Régis Lhuiller (Fra) Fdjeux.com 1.04 7 Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Alessio 8 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) La Boulangère 9 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Crédit Agricole 10 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis 11 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 12 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Landbouwkrediet 13 Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Jean Delatour 14 Johan Coenen (Bel) Marlux 1.33 15 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 2.15 16 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) MBK-Oktos 17 Anthony Charteau (Fra) La Boulangère 18 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour 19 Olivier Trastour (Fra) Ag2r 20 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto-Domo 21 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 22 Frank Høj (Den) Team Fakta 23 Inigo Chaurreau Bernardez (Spa) Ag2r 24 Julien Laidoun (Fra) Ag2r 3.03 25 Mickael Pichon (Fra) Fdjeux.com 4.44 26 Franck Renier (Fra) La Boulangère 13.33 27 Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Marlux 28 Yuriy Metluschenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet 29 Cédric Fragniere (Swi) Crédit Agricole 30 Frederik Willems (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 31 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-IteamNova 32 Andrea Brognara (Ita) Alessio 33 Cédric Herve (Fra) Crédit Agricole 34 Maryan Hary (Fra) La Boulangère 35 Heiko Szonn (Ger) Flanders-IteamNova 36 Dominique Perras (Can) Flanders-IteamNova 37 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 38 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Jean Delatour 39 Martin Rittsel (Swe) Team Fakta 40 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Jean Delatour 41 Walter Bénéteau (Fra) La Boulangère 42 Andy Capelle (Bel) Marlux 43 Erki Putsepp (Est) Ag2r 44 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio 45 Michael Rheis (Den) Team Fakta 46 Alberto Vinale (Ita) Alessio 47 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Jean Delatour 48 Fabian De Waele (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 49 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis 50 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Fdjeux.com 51 Allan Johansen (Den) Team Fakta 52 Didier Rous (Fra) La Boulangère 53 Jens Voigt (Ger) Crédit Agricole 54 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 55 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis 56 Lénaïc Olivier (Fra) MBK-Oktos 57 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Fdjeux.com 58 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Marlux 59 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Crédit Agricole 60 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 61 Robert Hayles (GBr) Cofidis 62 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 63 Magnus Bäckstedt (Swe) Team Fakta 64 Roger Hammond (GBr) Collstrop-Palmans 65 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Crédit Agricole 66 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team Fakta 67 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 68 Jef Peeters (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 69 Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 70 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Marlux 71 Philippe Koehler (Fra) MBK-Oktos 72 Loïc Lamouller (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 73 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 74 Plamen Stoianov (Bul) Big Mat-Auber 93 75 Vincent Templier (Fra) MBK-Oktos 76 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Fdjeux.com 77 Werner Riebenbauer (Aut) Team Fakta 78 Nicolas Meunier (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 79 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Ag2r 80 Tom Stremersch (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 81 Christophe Rinero (Fra) MBK-Oktos 82 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 83 Bruno Thibout (Fra) Jean Delatour 84 Enrico Cassani (Ita) Alessio 85 Danny Daelman (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 86 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 87 Guillaume Auger (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 88 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis 89 Robert Sassone (Fra) Cofidis 90 Ivaïlo Gabrovski (Bul) MBK-Oktos 91 Stéphane Barthe (Fra) MBK-Oktos 92 Steve De Wolf (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 93 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Ag2r 94 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 95 Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi) Jean Delatour 96 Claudio Lucchini (Ita) Landbouwkrediet 97 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 98 Nicolas Liboreau (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 99 Geert Omloop (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 100 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Lotto-Domo 101 Christophe Stevens (Bel) Marlux 102 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Domo 103 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto-Domo 104 Niels Brouzes (Fra) Big Mat-Auber 93 105 Bert Roesems (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 106 Frederik Penne (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 107 Stefano Casagranda (Ita) Alessio 108 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2r 109 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 110 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto-Domo 111 Andy De Smet (Bel) Collstrop-Palmans 112 Manu L'Hoir (Bel) Marlux 113 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r 114 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo 115 Jacky Durand (Fra) Fdjeux.com 116 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Fdjeux.com 117 Alexei Sivakov (Rus) Big Mat-Auber 93 118 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto-Domo 119 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 120 Davide Casarotto (Ita) Alessio 121 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Fdjeux.com 122 Jérôme Lepron (Fra) Flanders-IteamNova 16.46 123 Lorenzo Di Silvestro (Ita) MBK-Oktos 19.15 124 Thierry Masschelein (Bel) Flanders-IteamNova 25.24 125 Youri Deliens (Bel) Flanders-IteamNova DNF Geoffrey Coupe (Bel) Marlux DNF Geoffrey Gremelpont (Bel) Flanders-IteamNova General classification after stage 1 1 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Alessio 3.46.56 2 Franck Bouyer (Fra) La Boulangère 0.03 3 Michael Skelde (Den) Team Fakta 0.04 4 Fabrice Salanson (Fra) La Boulangère 0.07 5 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-IteamNova 0.10 6 Régis Lhuiller (Fra) Fdjeux.com 1.13 7 Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Alessio 1.14 8 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) La Boulangère 9 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Crédit Agricole 10 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis 11 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 12 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Landbouwkrediet 13 Jérôme Bernard (Fra) Jean Delatour 14 Johan Coenen (Bel) Marlux 1.42 15 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 2.23 16 Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) MBK-Oktos 17 Anthony Charteau (Fra) La Boulangère 2.25 18 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour 19 Olivier Trastour (Fra) Ag2r 20 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto-Domo Courtesy of Velomania.net
