The champion is... Champion!
By
France, Jean-François Quénet in Saint-Brieuc
published
Continental rider outsmarts ProTour rivals
Dimitri Champion of continental team Bretagne-Schuller created some surprise at the French championship where he proved himself to be stronger than the ProTour riders. He took a spectacular revenge over his previous team Bouygues Telecom, who didn't renew his contract at the end of last year.
The top four riders were former Bouygues Telecom riders. Bbox Bouygues Telecom's hot favourite Pierrick Fédrigo only took 11th.
The team recently has been affected by the departure of two directeurs sportifs, Philippe Mauduit and Christian Guiberteau. Both are rumoured to have disagreed with the management's decision of leaving Champion aside.
The ProTour team who seemed to have the race in its hands was Française des Jeux. Its riders Anthony Geslin and Anthony Roux could not follow a Champion on the final hill of a very selective circuit.
A crowd estimated at 80,000 spectators cheered the racers on. Although he is a Parisian, Champion defends the colours of the local team Bretagne-Schuller.
"He was definitely the strongest," said Geslin who was more disappointed to get a silver medal at the French championship behind Champion than when he got the bronze at the 2005 world championship in Madrid behind Tom Boonen and Alejandro Valverde.
Geslin and Roux who were both teammates of Champion at Bouygues Telecom and their feeder team Vendée U in the past were full of praise for Champion's exploit.
"I don't care about those who are not happy with my win," said Champion. He did not mention Bouygues' team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau and directeur sportif Didier Rous. Rumours of doping were spread about him but they were completely denied by French cycling federation anti-doping leader Dr. Armand Mégret, who is also involved in the running of the Bretagne-Schuller team.
It was Champion's third French title. He won the Under 23 time trial in 2005 and the amateur road race in 2006.
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| 1 | Dimitri Champion (Bretagne Schuller) | 6:05:55 |
| 2 | Anthony Geslin (Francaise Des Jeux) | 0:00:05 |
| 3 | Anthony Roux (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
| 4 | Anthony Charteau (Caisse D`Epargne Iles Baleares) | 0:01:03 |
| 5 | Hubert Dupont (AG2R La Mondiale) | 0:01:05 |
| 6 | Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel) | 0:01:14 |
| 7 | Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
| 8 | Stéphane Auge (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
| 9 | Julien Simon (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 10 | Nicolas Jalabert (Agritubel) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
| 11 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | 0:01:16 |
| 12 | Guillaume Levarlet (Francaise Des Jeux) | 0:01:42 |
| 13 | Christophe Moreau (Agritubel) | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
| 14 | Jean Marc Bideau (Bretagne Schuller) | 0:02:19 |
| 15 | Florian Guillou (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
| 16 | Olivier Bonnaire (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | 0:10:06 |
| 17 | Rémy Di Gregorio (Francaise Des Jeux) | 0:13:13 |
| 18 | Sébastien Minard (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | 0:13:15 |
| 19 | Julien Loubet (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
| 20 | Jean Marc Marino (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
| 21 | Amaël Moinard (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
| 22 | Antoine Dalibard (Bretagne Schuller) | 0:13:32 |
| 23 | Sébastien Duret (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
| 24 | Nicolas Hartmann (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
| 25 | Nicolas Baldo (Continental Team Differdange) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
| 26 | Blaise Sonnery (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
| 27 | Nadir Haddou (Auber93) | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
| 28 | Thierry Hupond (Skil-Shimano) | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
| 29 | Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
| 30 | Steven Tronet (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
| 31 | Maxime Bouet (Agritubel) | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
| 32 | Yoann Offredo (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
| 33 | Julien Mazet (Auber93) | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
| 34 | David Le Lay (Agritubel) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
| 35 | Arnaud Gerard (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
| 36 | Maxime Mederel (Auber93) | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
| 37 | Johan Mombaerts (Auber93) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
| 38 | Sandy Casar (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
| 39 | Laurent Lefevre (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
| 40 | Florian Morizot (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
| 41 | Christophe Laurent (Agritubel) | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
| 42 | Cyril Dessel (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
| 43 | Stéphane Goubert (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
| 44 | Nicolas Rousseau (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
| 45 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
| 46 | Jérôme Pineau (Quickstep) | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
| 47 | Mathieu Perget (Caisse D`Epargne Iles Baleares) | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
| 48 | Ludovic Turpin (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
| 49 | Damien Monier (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
| 50 | Benoît Vaugrenard (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
| 51 | Romain Sicard (Orbea) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
| 52 | Yann Huguet (Agritubel) | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
| 53 | Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel) | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
| 54 | Gaël Malacarne (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
| 55 | John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
| 56 | Jean Charles Senac (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
| 57 | Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
| 58 | Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
| 59 | Sébastien Joly (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
| 60 | Eric Berthou (Carmiooro - A Style) | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
| 61 | Cyril Gautier (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
| 62 | Yann Pivois (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
| 63 | Christophe Le Mevel (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
| 64 | Pierre Rolland (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
| 65 | Mickaël Larpe (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
| 66 | Mickaël Cherel (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
| 67 | Mickaël Delage (Silence - Lotto) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
| 68 | Arnold Jeannesson (Caisse D`Epargne Iles Baleares) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
| 69 | Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Arnaud Labbe (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Guillaume Le Floch (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Rony Martias (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Vincent Jerome (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Alexandre Pichot (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Paul Brousse (Carmiooro - A Style) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Perrig Quemeneur (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Matthieu Sprick (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Alexandre Aulas (Carmiooro - A Style) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Sébastien Chavanel (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jérôme Coppel (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Aurélien Duval (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Sébastien Fournet-Fayard (Carmiooro - A Style) | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Frédéric Guesdon (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Mathieu Drujon (Caisse D`Epargne Iles Baleares) | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Sébastien Turgot (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Anthony Ravard (Agritubel) | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Freddy Bichot (Agritubel) | Row 86 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Romain Fondard (Lotto-Bodysol) | Row 87 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Sylvain Calzati (Agritubel) | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Rémi Cusin (Agritubel) | Row 89 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Brice Feillu (Agritubel) | Row 90 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Romain Feillu (Agritubel) | Row 91 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jean Zen (Palmans Cras) | Row 92 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Kilian Patour (Garmin Slipstream) | Row 93 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Yoann Le Boulanger (Agritubel) | Row 94 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Guillaume Pont (Eqa - Meitan Hompo - Graphite Design) | Row 95 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Saïd Haddou (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 96 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Mathieu Drouilly (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) | Row 97 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Yohann Gene (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 98 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Julien Belgy (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 99 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Giovanni Bernaudeau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 100 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Nicolas Bazin (Continental Team Differdange) | Row 101 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | William Bonnet (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 102 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Franck Bouyer (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 103 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Steve Chainel (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 104 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Mathieu Claude (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 105 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Sébastien Harbonnier (Continental Team Differdange) | Row 106 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Damien Gaudin (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 107 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | David Deroo (Skil-Shimano) | Row 108 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Martial Ricci Poggi (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) | Row 109 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Stéphane Bonsergent (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 110 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Dimitri Le Boulch (Auber93) | Row 111 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Morgan Chedhomme (Auber93) | Row 112 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Mickaël Damiens (Eqa - Meitan Hompo - Graphite Design) | Row 113 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 114 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Cédric Pineau (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 115 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Stéphane Poulhies (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 116 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Niels Brouzes (Auber93) | Row 117 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Yannick Talabardon (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 118 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Benoît Sinner (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 119 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Romain Matheou (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 120 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Arnaud Coyot (Caisse D`Epargne Iles Baleares) | Row 121 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Fabrice Jeandesboz (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 122 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Bastien Delrot (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 123 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jérémie Galland (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 124 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jimmy Engoulvent (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 125 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jean Luc Delpech (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 126 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Cédric Coutouly (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 127 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jimmy Casper (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 128 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Lilian Jegou (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 129 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Nicolas Jouanno (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 130 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Romain Lebreton (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 131 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Cyril Bessy (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 132 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Cyrille Monnerais (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 133 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Laurent Mangel (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) | Row 134 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 135 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Francis Mourey (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 136 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Yann Rault (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 137 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jonathan Hivert (Skil-Shimano) | Row 138 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jérémy Roy (Francaise Des Jeux) | Row 139 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Steve Houanard (Skil-Shimano) | Row 140 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Cyril Lemoine (Skil-Shimano) | Row 141 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Alexandre Blain (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 142 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Guillaume Blot (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 143 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Florent Brard (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 144 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 145 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jonathan Thire (Auber93) | Row 146 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Hervé Duclos Lassalle (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 147 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Pierre Cazaux (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 148 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Julien El Fares (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 149 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Maryan Hary (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 150 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Christophe Kern (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 151 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Florian Vachon (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 152 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Fabien Taillefer (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 153 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Alexandre Lemair (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 154 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Rémi Pauriol (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 155 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Sébastien Portal (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 156 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Romain Villa (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 157 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Renaud Dion (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 158 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Sébastien Hinault (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 159 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jean-Eudes Demaret (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne) | Row 160 - Cell 2 |
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