12th L'Open des Nations - IM

France, November 15-17, 2002

Main Page Results Next Stage

Day 1 - November 15

France bleu on top after night 1

Jean Nuttli
Photo: © Yuzuru Sunada

The first day of the three day long Open des Nations started with an attempt by Swiss rider Jean Nuttli (St Quentin-Oktos) to break the World Hour record, held by Chris Boardman at 49.441 km/h. Riding a UCI approved 'standard' track bike, Nuttli gave up his attempt after only 21 minutes. However, he vowed to return to the track on Saturday for another go.

The action resumed several hours later with a number of stars of international track cycling coming out to do battle against each other in teams of four riders. Favourites for the event are France, which has three teams (France bleu, France rouge, France espoirs) and has won the OdN title 10 times in the 11 years that it has been held. The top French riders such as Florian Rousseau, Arnaud Tournant, Jérôme Neuville, Franck Perque and Laurent Gané. Challengers include the Australians, with World Champions Sean Eadie, Jobie Dajka and Luke Roberts, Great Britain (Craig Maclean, Bradley Wiggins) and Germany (Jens Fiedler).

Japanese keirin riders
Photo: © AFP

At the end of the night France did end up on top, with the France bleu team amassing the most points. Arnaud Tournant, who finished 3rd in the Sprint behind Gane and Fiedler, started the ball rolling for France bleu. Then World Champions Franck Perque/Jérôme Neuville combined to finish second in the Madison behind Austrians Roland Garber/Franz Stocher. Neuville followed that with a win in the Elimination Race which put his team clearly in the lead.

Other competitions on night 1 included the Flying Lap (250m), won by French espoir Hervé Gané in 12.800, the Keirin, won by Mickaël Bourgain (France Rouge) and the Points Race, won by Franz Stocher.

Photography

Images by AFP Photo/Derrick Ceyrac

Swiss rider Jean Nuttli (St Quentin-Oktos) gets dressed in preparation for his hour record attempt
Jean Nuttli during his hour record attempt in the Bordeaux velodrome
Jean Nuttli has to use a standard track bike to break the hour record. No aerodynamic equipment allowed
Jean Nuttli shows the strain as he tries to break the hour record
Jean Nuttli has his helmet removed after his unsuccessful hour record attempt
Jens Fiedler (Germany) leads Arnaud Tournant (France) in their sprint match during night 1 of the Open des Nations in Bordeaux
Laurent Gane (France rouge) leads Jens Fiedler in the final of the sprint
Action from night 1 of the Open des Nations in Bordeaux
The Japanese Keirin riders give a demonstration ride during the Open des Nations in Bordeaux
Japanese rider Shin-Ichi Ota (Jpn) salutes the crowd in Bordeaux after winning the Keirin demonstration race

Images by Yuzuru Sunada/www.yuzurusunada.com

Swiss rider Jean Nuttli (St Quentin-Oktos) ready to start his hour record attempt in the Bordeaux velodrome
Jean Nuttli pedaling his 57x15
Jean Nuttli in full flight during his hour record attempt in the Bordeaux velodrome
Jean Nuttli looking a little tired after his effort, which was unsuccessful

Results

Sprint

1 Laurent Gane (Fra) France Rouge
2 Jens Fiedler (Ger) Germany
3 Arnaud Tournant (Fra) France Bleu
4 Matthieu Mandard (Fra) France Espoirs

Madison
 
1 Roland Garber/Franz Stocher (Aut) Latvia-Austria        17 pts
2 Franck Perque/Jérôme Neuville (Fra) France Bleu         14
3 Franco Marvulli/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Switzerland   11
 
Elimination
 
1 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Denmark
2 Mickaël Bourgain (Fra) France Rouge
3 Jobie Dajka (Aus) Australia
4 Florian Rousseau (Fra) France Bleu
 
Team Elimination
 
1 Jérôme Neuville (Fra) France Bleu
2 Franco Marvulli (Swi) Switzerland
3 Guido Fulst (Ger) Germany
 
Flying Lap Time Trial
 
1 Hervé Gane (Fra) France Espoirs                 12.800 (70.312 km/h)
2 Jens Fiedler (Ger) Germany                      12.930
3 Florian Rousseau (Fra) France Bleu              12.954
 
Points race
 
1 Franz Stocher (Aut) Latvia-Austria
2 Franck Perque (Fra) France Bleu
3 Vasyl Yakovlev (Ukr) Ukraine
 
Keirin
 
1 Mickaël Bourgain (Fra) France Rouge
2 José Antonio Escuredo (Spa) Spain
3 Jobie Dajka (Aus) Australia

Standings after night 1

1 France Bleu                                        126 pts
2 France Blanc                                       108
3 Germany                                             94
4 Latvia-Austria                                      83
5 France Espoirs                                      82
6 Australia                                           78
7 Netherlands                                         75
8 Switzerland                                         75
9 Slovakia                                            69
10 Czech Republic                                     66
11 Great Britain                                      60
12 Spain                                              57
13 Ukraine                                            54
14 Denmark                                            49
15 Germany Espoirs                                    44
16 Canada                                             24