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75th Critérium International - 2.HC
France, March 25-26, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage
Stage 3 - March 26: Charleville-Mezieres - Charleville-Mezieres, 8.3 km
Martinez surprises; overall victory to Basso
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After clinching the second stage this morning, Ivan Basso confirmed he is slowly reaching top form after taking overall honours in this year's Critérium International. Once again, the 28 year-old Italian impressed the audience, this time in the afternoon's time trial around city of Charleville-Mézières, and was beaten only by Spaniard José-Alberto Martinez (Agritubel), himself a past winner of the race in 2002. Early race leader Erik Dekker (Rabobank) finished 12th and did enough to secure second overall, while Ukrainian Andriy Grivko (Team Milram) rounded out the final podium.
"I'm equally surprised and happy. It means a great deal to me to win here in France, where I've always felt welcome. I didn't actually come here to win and wasn't banking on my form being good enough for a top result, but after the work the team did this morning, I found myself in a position where it was possible," said Basso in a team statement.
"I'm very pleased with my time trial today and it gives me a good feeling in relation to the big stage races. Up until now everything has been perfect this year. I feel more ready and I also feel that the work, I'm doing together with Bjarne and the team, is the absolute right way for me to achieve my goals this year. This victory is an important step on the way."
The early best time was set by the sixth rider to leave, Liberty Seguros-Würth's Andreï Kashechkin, who also finished second in the prologue of Pars-Nice a few weeks ago. It was then team-mate Alberto Contador who looked to be in a position to better Kashechkin's time of 10'18, but fell short by less than five seconds.
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Jens Voigt (CSC), a three-time winner of the final time trial at the Critérium International, also came close but fell short by just one second. And despite having won the event four years ago, José-Alberto Martinez (Agritubel) was still a surprise when the Spaniard clocked a time 10 seconds faster than Kashechkin, his time of 10 minutes and 8 seconds standing for the rest of the day.
Andriy Grivko (Team Milram) also impressed to place third on the stage and consolidate his third position overall, while second overall Erik Dekker (Rabobank) appeared a beaten man even before he left the start gate, a victim of an untimely mechanical in the morning's road stage, and finished 18 seconds adrift of the day's winner. The last rider to leave, Team CSC's Ivan Basso, gave a textbook display against the clock to finish less than two seconds behind Martinez.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by AFP Photo
- Ivan Basso (CSC) blazes around the town of Charleville-Mezieres en route to second place and overall victory.
- Surprise winner José Alberto Martinez (Agritubel) finished just one second ahead of Basso.
- Ivan Basso (CSC) shows off his winner's trophy.
- Ivan Basso (CSC) throws his winner's bouquet.
- Erik Dekker (Rabobank) was only good enough for 12th place on the stage, but maintained his second position overall.
- Andriy Grivko (Team Milram) rode a great TT to finish third and maintain third overall.
- José Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears) finished two seconds outside a podium place, placing fourth.
- Denis Menchov (Rabobank) is still yet to receive his winner's trophy from last year's Vuelta a España.
Results
1 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 10.08 (49.145 km/h) 2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 0.01 3 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 0.04 4 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.06 5 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.09 6 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 0.10 7 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 0.13 8 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.14 9 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.15 10 Pineau Jérôme (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.16 11 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 0.17 12 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.18 13 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld 0.20 14 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.21 15 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.22 16 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prevoyance 0.23 17 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.24 18 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.25 19 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 20 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 21 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Barloworld 22 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux 23 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 24 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.com 0.26 25 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 26 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram 0.27 27 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 0.28 28 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 29 Jorge Garcia Marin (Spa) Relax-Gam 0.29 30 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.30 31 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.33 32 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.39 33 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.40 34 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.41 35 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 36 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 37 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 38 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.42 39 José Luis Martinez Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 40 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 41 Bernard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile Team 0.43 42 Marco Osella (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 0.45 43 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 44 Pauriol Rémi (Fra) Credit Agricole 45 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 0.47 46 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 47 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 48 David Munoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 49 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.48 50 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 0.49 51 Francisco José Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Relax-Gam 0.50 52 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.51 53 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.53 54 Ivan Ramiro Parra (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 1.00 55 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld 1.03 56 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 1.05 57 Vicente Ballester (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 58 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.12 59 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 1.13 60 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 1.26 61 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile Team 1.30 62 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Agritubel 1.38 63 Mickael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 1.43 DNS Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak Hearing Systems Points 1 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 15 pts 2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 12 3 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 10 4 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 8 5 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 7 6 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 6 7 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 5 8 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 4 9 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3 10 Pineau Jérôme (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2 Best young rider 1 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 10.12 2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.09 3 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 0.21 4 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux 5 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.22 6 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.29 7 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.37 8 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 9 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.38 10 Bernard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile Team 0.39 11 Marco Osella (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 0.40 12 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 0.41 13 Pauriol Rémi (Fra) Credit Agricole 14 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.43 15 Francisco José Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Relax-Gam 0.46 16 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.47 17 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld 0.59 18 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 1.01 Teams 1 Team CSC 30.51 2 Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.31 3 Ag2R Prevoyance 0.44 4 Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.45 5 Francaise des Jeux 0.52 6 Rabobank 0.55 7 Agritubel 1.05 8 Phonak Hearing Systems 1.08 9 Bouygues Telecom 1.14 10 Relax-Gam 1.23 11 Barloworld 1.24 12 T-Mobile Team 1.27 13 Comunidad Valenciana 1.29 14 Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.54 15 Credit Agricole 2.28 Final general classification 1 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 7.17.03 2 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.27 3 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 1.08 4 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.22 5 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.31 6 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Barloworld 1.32 7 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.53 8 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 1.58 9 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.com 2.04 10 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 2.19 11 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 2.34 12 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 2.39 13 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak Hearing Systems 2.51 14 Pineau Jérôme (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.56 15 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 2.57 16 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.05 17 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 3.18 18 Bernard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile Team 3.22 19 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 3.36 20 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 3.53 21 Hugo Sabido (Por) Barloworld 4.57 22 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 6.26 23 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 6.28 24 Marco Osella (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 6.59 25 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) T-Mobile Team 7.42 26 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 7.44 27 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 28 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 29 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 30 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux 7.45 31 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 7.48 32 Jorge Garcia Marin (Spa) Relax-Gam 7.49 33 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 7.53 34 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 8.00 35 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 8.05 36 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld 8.23 37 Vicente Ballester (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 8.25 38 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner 8.32 39 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 9.34 40 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 10.52 41 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2R Prevoyance 11.11 42 Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram 11.14 43 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 11.16 44 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 11.19 45 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 11.28 46 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 11.35 47 Mickael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 12.30 48 José Luis Martinez Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 12.37 49 David Munoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 12.42 50 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 15.22 51 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 15.44 52 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 15.53 53 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Agritubel 16.35 54 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 19.46 55 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 19.58 56 Pauriol Rémi (Fra) Credit Agricole 20.22 57 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 20.30 58 Ivan Ramiro Parra (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 20.37 59 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 23.31 60 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 23.47 61 Francisco José Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Relax-Gam 23.55 62 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 24.10 63 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile Team 24.35 Points classification 1 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 39 pts 2 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 23 3 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 20 4 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 20 5 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 15 6 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 12 7 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 12 8 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears 10 9 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 10 10 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.com 10 11 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 10 12 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 8 13 Pineau Jérôme (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 8 14 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 7 15 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 7 16 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 4 17 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Barloworld 3 18 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak Hearing Systems 2 19 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 2 20 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 2 21 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1 Mountains classification 1 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 36 pts 2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 12 3 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 10 4 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 8 5 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 6 6 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 6 7 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4 8 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 3 9 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2 10 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 2 11 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 2 12 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 2 13 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.com 1 14 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1 15 David Munoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 1 16 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 1 Best young rider classification 1 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 7.18.11 2 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.50 3 Bernard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile Team 2.14 4 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Agritubel 2.28 5 Marco Osella (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 5.51 6 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 6.36 7 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux 6.37 8 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 6.45 9 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 6.57 10 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld 7.15 11 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10.11 12 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10.20 13 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 14.14 14 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 14.36 15 Pauriol Rémi (Fra) Credit Agricole 19.14 16 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 22.23 17 Francisco José Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Relax-Gam 22.47 18 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 23.02
