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KBC Driedaagse van De Panne-Koksijde - 2.HC
Belgium, March 29-31, 2005
2004 results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners
The Stages
- Stage 1 - March 29: Middelkerke - Zottegem, 202 km
- Stage 2 - March 30: Zottegem - Koksijde (Sint-Idesbald), 231 km
- Stage 3 - March 31: De Panne - De Panne , 116 km
- Stage 4 - March 31: De Panne - De Panne ITT, 13.7 km
Can Hincapie do the double?
By Jeff Jones
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The KBC Driedaagse van De Panne-Koksijde, now in its 29th year this year, is one of the highlights of the Vlaamse Wielerweek that culminates in this Sunday's Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders). The race is held around West and East Flanders over a well established parcours, and usually the general classification is determined in the final 13.7 km time trial around De Panne.
The first stage from the coastal town of Middelkerke to Zottegem is also selective, with a total of 11 climbs, including three times up the Leberg and Berendries. The stage is just over 200 km and often a medium sized group can establish a half minute lead over the rest of the peloton here. Stage 2 from Zottegem to Koksijde (Sint-Idesbald) is a long one at 231 km and features the climbs of Kanarieberg, Taaienberg and Eikenberg early on. These may serve as a springboard for an early break, but the peloton will have plenty of time to regroup and chase everything down for a bunch sprint in Koksijde.
The third day includes two stages, both starting and finishing in De Panne. In the morning, the riders will do 116 km stage with the Monteberg, Rodeberg and Vidaigneberg in the first 50 km. The Kemmelberg has not been included this year. The rest of the stage is flat, and sometimes the wind can help to cause a selection, but more often than not, this stage finishes in a bunch sprint. The final stage is a flat 13.7 km time trial around the streets of De Panne, including a few cobbled sections and some fairly technical riding in other parts. The seconds gained here are nearly always enough to determine the final winner, unless someone has managed to establish a huge gap in the preceding stages.
Last year, George Hincapie (US Postal) finished third in the time trial, which was enough to give him the overall classification. Hincapie was very strong in Sunday's Brabantse Pijl, and should again be one of Discovery's main riders for this race. Belgian powerhouse Quick.Step will be bringing Tom Boonen and his merry men to De Panne, and Boonen will definitely be trying for a stage win or two, but will likely ease off before the end to save something for the Ronde on Sunday.
Davitamon-Lotto has two strong candidates for the overall win: Peter Van Petegem and Nico Mattan. Both are past winners (PVP twice) and will be wanting to give their legs a final test before the Ronde. T-Mobile, still looking for its first win this season, has Andreas Klier and Steffen Wesemann in its line up, and both riders should be in the action.
Fassa Bortolo has brought its time triallist Fabian Cancellara, along with classics specialist Juan Antonio Flecha, while Liquigas-Bianchi features the aging Lion King, Mario Cipollini on its roster, as well as Magnus Bäckstedt. Look out for Francaise des Jeux's Baden Cooke, who seems to be finding a little bit of form, Rabobank's Steven de Jongh, Liberty's Allan Davis and Phonak's Robert Hunter in the sprints.
Finally, Belgian Pro Continental teams Chocolade Jacques, MrBookmaker.com and Landbouwkrediet-Colnago will be looking to earn a few UCI points as this is not a ProTour race. Nico Eeckhout, Steven Caethoven, Kevin van Impe (Chocolade Jacques), Gorik Gardeyn, Jeremy Hunt (MrBookmaker), Ludo Dierckxsens and Bert de Waele (Landbouwkrediet) are the riders to look for there.
Start list
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team Davitamon-Lotto
1 George Hincapie (USA) 11 Wim De Vocht (Bel)
2 Stijn Devolder (Bel) 12 Nico Mattan (Bel)
3 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) 13 Bert Roesems (Bel)
4 Roger Hammond (GBr) 14 Gert Steegmans (Bel)
5 Antonio Cruz (USA) 15 Tom Steels (Bel)
6 Leif Hoste (Bel) 16 Johan Van Summeren (Bel)
7 Benoît Joachim (Lux) 17 Leon Van Bon (Ned)
8 Hayden Roulston (NZl) 18 Peter Van Petegem (Bel)
T-Mobile Team Quick Step
21 Eric Baumann (Ger) 31 Tom Boonen (Bel)
22 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) 32 Davide Bramati (Ita)
23 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) 33 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel)
24 Andreas Klier (Ger) 34 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel)
25 Olaf Pollack (Ger) 35 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel)
26 Bram Schmitz (Ned) 36 Guido Trenti (USA)
27 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) 37 Mads Christensen (Den)
38 Servais Knaven (Ned)
Domina Vacanze Lampre-Caffita
41 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) 51 Alessandro Ballan (Ita)
42 Alessandr Cortinovis (Ita) 52 Daniele Bennati (Ita)
43 Angelo Furlan (Ita) 53 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita)
44 Matej Jurco (Svk) 54 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita)
45 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) 55 Salvatore Commesso (Ita)
46 Mirko Celestino (Ita) 56 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita)
47 Rafael Nuritdinov (Uzb) 57 Enrico Franzoi (Ita)
48 Elia Rigotto (Ita) 58 Dario Pieri (Ita)
Fassa Bortolo Liquigas-Bianchi
61 Fabio Baldato (Ita) 71 Michael Albasini (Swi)
62 Andrus Aug (Est) 72 Magnus Backstedt (Swe)
63 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) 73 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe)
64 Claudio Corioni (Ita) 74 Nicola Loda (Ita)
65 Juan Flecha (Spa) 75 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra)
66 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) 76 Marco Righetto (Ita)
67 Roberto Petito (Ita) 77 Gianluca Sironi (Ita)
78 Marco Zanotti (Ita)
Française Des Jeux Rabobank
81 Ludovic Auger (Fra) 91 Jan Boven (Ned)
82 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) 92 Mathew Hayman (Aus)
83 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) 93 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa)
84 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) 94 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned)
85 Christophe Mengin (Fra) 95 Niels Scheuneman (Ned)
86 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) 96 Roy Sentjens (Bel)
87 Francis Mourey (Fra) 97 Marc Wauters (Bel)
88 Mark Renshaw (Aus) 98 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin)
Phonak Hearing Systems Bouygues Telecom
101 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) 111 Mathieu Claude (Fra)
102 Martin Elmiger (Swi) 112 Yohann Gene (Fra)
103 Bert Grabsch (Ger) 113 Frédéric Mainguenaud (Fra)
104 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) 114 Rony Martias (Fra)
105 Robert Hunter (RSA) 115 Alexandre Naulleau (Fra)
106 Uros Murn (Slo) 116 Anthony Ravard (Fra)
107 Grégory Rast (Swi) 117 Unai Yus Kerejeta (Spa)
108 Sascha Urweider (Swi) 118 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra)
Liberty Seguros-Würth Team Gerolsteiner
121 Carlos Barredo (Spa) 131 Frank Hoj (Den)
122 Allan Davis (Aus) 132 Danilo Hondo (Ger)
123 Koen De Kort (Ned) 133 Sven Krauss (Ger)
124 Aaron Kemps (Aus) 134 Sebastian Lang (Ger)
125 Jesus Hernandez (Spa) 135 Michael Rich (Ger)
126 Sergio Paulinho (Por) 136 Robert Förster (Ger)
127 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) 137 Thomas Ziegler (Ger)
128 Ivan Santos Martinez (Spa) 138 Marcus Zberg (Swi)
Team Barloworld-Valsir Mrbookmaker.com-Sports Tech
141 Stefan Adamsson (Swe) 151 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel)
142 Luca Celli (Ita) 152 David Boucher (Fra)
143 Vladimir Efimkim (Rus) 153 Angel Castresana (Spa)
144 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) 154 Ben Day (Aus)
145 Antonio Salomone (Ita) 155 Jeremy Hunt (GBr)
146 Sean Sullivan (Aus) 156 Matthé Pronk (Ned)
147 Giulio Tomi (Ita) 157 Erwin Thijs (Bel)
158 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned)
Chocolade Jacques-T Interim Team Wiesenhof
161 Steven Caethoven (Bel) 171 André Greipel (Ger)
162 Koen Barbe (Bel) 172 Christian Knees (Ger)
163 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) 173 David Kopp (Ger)
164 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) 174 Martin Müller (Ger)
165 Wesle Van Der Linden (Bel) 175 Daniel Musiol (Ger)
166 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) 176 René Obst (Ger)
167 Wesle Van Speybroeck (Bel) 177 Steffen Radochla (Ger)
168 Frederik Willems (Bel) 178 Sebastian Siedler (Ger)
Landbouwkrediet-Colnago Ed' System-Zvvz
181 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) 191 Josef Soukup (Cze)
182 Mathieu Criquielion (Bel) 192 David Kupka (Cze)
183 Thierry De Groote (Bel) 193 Andreas Dietziker (Swi)
184 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) 194 Michal Precechtel (Cze)
185 Glenn Dhollander (Bel) 195 Kamil Vrana (Cze)
186 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) 196 Florian Stalder (Swi)
187 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) 197 Jan Valach (Svk)
188 Johan Verstrepen (Bel) 198 Roman Bronis (Svk)
Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie Flanders
201 David Betts (Aus) 211 Giovanni De Nolf (Bel)
202 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) 212 Thierry Masschelein (Bel)
203 David Mcpartland (Aus) 213 Kenneth Mercken (Bel)
204 Dean Podgornik (Slo) 214 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel)
205 Zoran Klemencic (Slo) 215 Alex Coutts (GBr)
206 Corrado Serina (Ita) 216 Gregg Germer (USA)
207 Cristiano Frattini (Ita) 217 Daniel Lloyd (GBr)
208 Kristjan Fajt (Slo) 218 Ronny Poelvoorde (Bel)
Jartazi Granville Team Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong Vlaanderen
221 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) 231 Steven De Neef (Bel)
222 Michael Blanchy (Bel) 232 Bart Vanheule (Bel)
223 Leonardo Duque (Col) 233 Sam Van Rooy (Bel)
224 Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) 234 Jeroen Van Rij (Bel)
225 Peter Ronsse (Bel) 235 Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel)
226 Maxim Rudenko (Ukr) 236 Erik Lievens (Bel)
227 Johan Svensson (Swe) 237 Sjef De Wilde (Bel)
228 Raimondas Vilcinskas (Ltu) 238 Kristof De Zutter (Bel)
Past winners
2004 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 2003 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 2002 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2001 Nico Mattan (Bel) 2000 Vjatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) 1999 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) 1998 Michele Bartoli (Ita) 1997 Johan Museeuw (Bel) 1996 Vjatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) 1995 Michele Bartoli (Ita) 1994 Fabio Roscioli (Ita) 1993 Eric Vanderaerden (Bel) 1992 Frans Maassen (Ned) 1991 Jelle Nijdam (Ned) 1990 Erwin Nijboer (Ned) 1989 Eric Vanderaerden (Bel) 1988 Eric Vanderaerden (Bel) 1987 Eric Vanderaerden (Bel) 1986 Eric Vanderaerden (Bel) 1985 Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke (Bel) 1984 Bert Oosterbosch (Ned) 1983 Cees Priem (Ned) 1982 Gerrie Knetemann (Ned) 1981 Jan Bogaert (Bel) 1980 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1979 Gustave Van Roosbroeck (Bel) 1978 Guido Van Sweevelt (Bel) 1977 Roger Rosiers (Bel) Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
