Voeckler takes his second French title
BBox rider beats Le Mevel in sprint
Thomas Voeckler of local team Bbox Bouygues Telecom got his revenge over the loss of the French championship four years ago by winning this year's title on the same circuit of Chantonnay. He passed the profound disappointment of 2006 onto Christophe Le Mével (Française des Jeux), who was in tears on the finishing line after finishing second.
With 34 kilometres to go, Voeckler attacked, and while David Moncoutié (Cofidis) and Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) tried to bridge the gap they couldn't make it. Only Le Mével went across to the man who spent ten days in yellow jersey at the Tour de France the last year he won the French championship in 2004.
It went down to a duel for the last three laps despite the efforts of the Cofidis team to ride behind. "I remained focused from start to finish because I deeply wanted to cancel my disappointment of 2006," Voeckler said.
"We know each other very well," he said of Le Mevel. "We've done the 2000 Under 23 world championship in Plouay together in the French national team, and last year as pros as well. In a three weeks race, Christophe is largely superior to me but in a one-day race, I'm confident in my speed. I admit that I've been afraid that he'd drop me off in the climb. At the beginning of his career, he was much faster than now.
"I pay tribute to him because he has played the game until the end. In the final kilometre, I saw that he couldn't pass me, so I occupied the right side of the road, so he would try and pass me against the wind."
Le Mével was not able to pass. "Tactically, I can't reproach myself ", the Breton rider noted. "We both have produced the same efforts. I've tried to go solo in the climb but Thomas resisted. I'm disappointed to be so close to the jersey and miss it. I would have liked so much to ride the Tour de France with this jersey. It could have put me even higher in the overall classification."
Le Mével was tenth last year at the Tour de France. He was in tears after losing the French championship. "I'm an emotional person", he admitted. "I was in a trance on the finishing line. As athletes, we're allowed to have emotions, I think, whether it's good or bad emotions."
Voeckler shared his joy with the people of the Vendée province where he's been living for fourteen years. His Bbox Bouygues Telecom team is based in Les Essarts just a few miles away from Chantonnay. His team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau was also in tears at the finish but it was a different emotion from Le Mével's. He hadn't won the French championship in the past five years after making this race his team's speciality with Didier Rous (2001 and 2003), Voeckler (2004) and Pierrick Fedrigo (2005).
Cofidis and Ag2r-La Mondiale were the main losers of this year's race while Mickaël Delage who was riding for Omega Pharma-Lotto with the technical support of rival Belgian team Quick Step won the sprint for the bronze medal.
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | 5:53:15 |
2 | Christophe Le Mevel (Francaise des Jeux) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Mickaël Delage (Omega Pharma Lotto) | 0:00:10 |
4 | Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Benoît Vaugrenard (Francaise des Jeux) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Julien El Fares (Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne) | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Cyril Gautier (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
10 | Rémi Pauriol (Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Jérémy Roy (Francaise des Jeux) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Laszlo Bodrogi (Team Katusha) | 0:00:15 |
13 | Anthony Delaplace (Saur Sojasun) | 0:00:16 |
14 | David Moncoutie (Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne) | 0:00:21 |
15 | David Le Lay (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Francaise des Jeux) | 0:01:44 |
17 | Alexandre Geniez (Skil-Shimano) | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Sébastien Minard (Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne) | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Sébastien Duret (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Romain Lemarchand (Bigmat - Auber93) | 0:01:47 |
21 | Alexandre Blain (Endura-Racing) | 0:02:01 |
22 | Cédric Pineau (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Saïd Haddou (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
24 | Geoffroy Lequatre (Team Radioshack) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Jean-Marc Bideau (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Romain Sicard (Euskaltel-Euskadi) | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
29 | Matthieu Sprick (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Vincent Jerome (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Christophe Kern (Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne) | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Eric Berthou (Carmiooro - NGC) | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
33 | Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
34 | Nicolas Baldo (Team Atlas Personal) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | Stephane Rossetto (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Julien Mazet (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
37 | Rémy Digregorio (Francaise des Jeux) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Frédéric Guesdon (Francaise des Jeux) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Mathieu Claude (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | Johan Mombaerts (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
41 | Arnold Jeannesson (Caisse d'Epargne) | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
42 | Thibaut Pinot (Francaise des Jeux) | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
43 | Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
44 | Yohann Gene (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | Sylvain Calzati (Team Sky) | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
46 | Guillaume Levarlet (Saur Sojasun) | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
47 | Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne) | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
48 | Jérémie Galland (Saur Sojasun) | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
49 | Sébastien Turgot (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
50 | Dimitri Champion (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
51 | Maxime Mederel (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
52 | Franck Bouyer (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
53 | Laurent Lefevre (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Anthony Geslin (Francaise des Jeux) | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
55 | Pierre Rolland (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
56 | Morgan Kneisky (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
57 | Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
58 | Amaël Moinard (Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
59 | Nicolas Vogondy (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
60 | Damien Monier (Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne) | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
61 | Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux) | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
62 | Cyril Bessy (Saur Sojasun) | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Jérôme Coppel (Saur Sojasun) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
64 | Jérôme Pineau (Quickstep) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Francis Mourey (Francaise des Jeux) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
67 | Laurent Pichon (Bretagne Schuller) | 0:05:46 |
68 | Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale) | 0:09:07 |
DNF | Giovanni Bernaudeau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Julien Berard (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Cyril Dessel (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Hubert Dupont (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Sébastien Hinault (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Julien Loubet (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Anthony Ravard (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Florian Vachon (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Nicolas Rousseau (AG2R La Mondiale) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jocelyn Bar (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jonathan Thire (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Florian Morizot (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Dimitri Le Boulch (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Nadir Haddou (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Guillaume Faucon (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Benoît Daeninck (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Fabien Bacquet (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Renaud Dion (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 86 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Gaël Malacarne (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 87 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Noan Lelarge (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Johan Le Bon (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 89 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Nicolas Jouanno (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 90 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Lilian Jegou (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 91 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Romain Hardy (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 92 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mathieu Halleguen (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 93 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Niels Brouzes (Bigmat - Auber93) | Row 94 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Brice Feillu (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) | Row 95 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jean Zen (Palmans-Cras) | Row 96 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Bastien Delrot (Team Netapp) | Row 97 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Romain Fondard (Lotto-Bodysol) | Row 98 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Sébastien Harbonnier (Continental Team Differdange) | Row 99 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Sébastien Fournet Fayard (Carmiooro - NGC) | Row 100 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jean-Christophe Peraud (Omega Pharma Lotto) | Row 101 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Nicolas Portal (Team Sky) | Row 102 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Matthieu Boulo (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | Row 103 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mathieu Drouilly (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) | Row 104 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Stéphane Bonsergent (Bretagne Schuller) | Row 105 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mathieu Drujon (Caisse d'Epargne) | Row 106 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Steve Houanard (Skil-Shimano) | Row 107 - Cell 2 |
DNF | David Deroo (Skil-Shimano) | Row 108 - Cell 2 |
Row 109 - Cell 0 | Row 109 - Cell 1 | Row 109 - Cell 2 |
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