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Giro finale
Photo ©: Bettini

GP Ouest France-Plouay - CDM & ProT

France, August 27-28, 2005

Main Page    Results   Pro Tour standings     Women's results

Hincapie stands tall in front of hostile crowd

By Jean-François Quénet in Plouay

The podium
Photo ©: JF Quénet
Click for larger image

The atmosphere at the end of the GP Plouay - the most popular one-day race in France - was very similar to the 1998 edition of the Breton event when Pascal Hervé won in the wave of the Festina scandal. Never had a winner received such little applause in the village that hosted the world championships in 2000. No more than one-third of the spectators in the grandstands cheered for George Hincapie, not to mention those whistling and booing.

Big George didn't deserve such a treatment after sprinting to perfection against Alexandre Usov, who celebrated his 28th birthday with his team-mates from Ag2r the day before. "I raised my hands maybe too early," Hincapie admitted. The New Yorker also said he amazed himself: "With two laps to go, I was gonna drop out because my legs were finished. Everybody was so tired but I'm very happy to be winning."

While there wasn't the need for heckling, there was a need for the photo-finish to be analysed before the identity of the winner was determined. Davide Rebellin's third place, however, was quite clear and the Italian was satisfied with the results. "I'm not a great sprinter but I wanted to score points for the classification of the UCI Pro Tour," he said.

More disillusioned was Pro Tour leader Danilo Di Luca, who finished in 12th place. "At some stage, [Jan] Ullrich and [Alexandre] Vinokourov went away from the bunch," the Italian commented. "I counter-attacked them but no one wanted to contribute to the breakaway with me then. In fact, I understood almost from the start that this race would end up in a bunch sprint. The course of Plouay is hard but maybe not enough when so many riders have such great condition. It was difficult to escape. Then I got blocked in during the sprint. It's a pity because I had the possibility to score some more points today."

Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi)
Photo ©: JF Quénet
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Despite the inevitable, some riders tried to avoid a bunch sprint; an early three-man breakaway consisted of José Luis Arrieta (Illes Balears), Grégory Habeaux (Landbouwkrediet) and Matti Breschel (Team CSC), with Liquigas the most active team in the chase. In the final third of the race, though, Gerolsteiner riders came to the fore, as Fabian Wegmann of Gerolsteiner trying his chances on more than one occasion. RAGT's Eric Berthou was another one, but all had little chance of succeeding. Freddy Bichot (Française des Jeux) and Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) were the two last riders away during the final lap, but Bichot got instructions from his directeur sportif Marc Madiot not to ride.

Thus, 65 riders sprinted for the win at the end of a pretty disappointing scenario, although a big crowd - around 100.000 spectators - were back in Plouay, attracted by the fabulous line-up thanks to the existence of the UCI ProTour. But the boring race wasn't the reason for the crowd to be unhappy. Breton fans actually admire Hincapie since he won the Tour du Pays Pourleth in Ploerdut as a junior, just a few miles away from Plouay, back in 1991. A fabulous American national team captured the best junior races in this area with Fred Rodriguez and Jeff Evanshine! But the cycling enthusiasts have the feeling of being 'abused' by Lance Armstrong in the past few years, and not only because of the revelations in L'Equipe last week.

George Hincapie (Discovery Channel)
Photo ©: JF Quénet
Click for larger image

Questioned about that matter, Hincapie - who refused to answer the press on his arrival to Plouay on Saturday - like the whole Discovery Channel team, gave a quick answer: "I'm Lance's biggest supporter. He's my best friend. He's a hero to billions of people including myself. It's a shame that some people don't like him but he's a hero to me." There were obviously a few people in Plouay who didn't share his admiration for the seven-time winner of the Tour de France.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Jean-François Quénet

Images by Régis Garnier/www.velofotopro.fr.st

 

Results - 226km

1 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team    4.59.42 (45.25 km/h)
2 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2r Prevoyance                               
3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner                                 
4 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                               
5 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner                                   
6 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                                    
7 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Quick Step                                   
8 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quick Step                                      
9 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC                                   
10 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                   
11 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Domina Vacanze                              
12 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi                             
13 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux                         
14 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                           
15 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare                   
16 David Etxebarria Alkorta (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team         
17 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                        
18 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne        
19 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux                         
20 Christophe Rinero (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences                         
21 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir                           
22 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank                                    
23 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC                                   
24 Christopher Horner (USA) Saunier Duval-Prodir                     
25 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team       
26 Benjamin Levecot (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences                          
27 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step                                      
28 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze                         
29 Lars Back (Den) Team CSC                                          
30 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux                          
31 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                           
32 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                            
33 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                                 
34 Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                    
35 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze                               
36 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo                                   
37 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems                       
38 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                
39 Benoît Salmon (Fra) Agritubel                                     
40 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank                                    
41 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Domina Vacanze                              
42 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                                
43 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir                           
44 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Agritubel                              
45 Massimo Codol (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                                 
46 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole                           
47 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                    
48 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                            
49 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                              
50 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel                                   
51 Guido Trentin (Ita) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone              
52 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Ag2r Prevoyance                               
53 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Fassa Bortolo                           
54 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone             
55 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank                                     
56 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                            
57 Patrick Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick Step                                
58 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone           
59 Sergio Barbero (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare                      
60 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences                        
61 Dimitry Muravyev (Kaz) Credit Agricole                            
62 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner                                 
63 Sergio Miguel Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team           
64 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step                                   
65 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                      
66 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi                       0.16
67 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team        0.42
68 Gregory Habeaux (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                     
69 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank                                     
70 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                                 
71 Ludovic Martin (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences                            
72 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                      
73 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance                              
74 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems                   1.50
75 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Domina Vacanze                            
76 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Naturino-Sapore di Mare                    
77 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir                        
78 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole                           
79 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française Des Jeux                            
80 Eric Berthou (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences                              
81 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto                             
82 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank                                        
83 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Française Des Jeux                             
84 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto                              
85 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole                           
86 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team                      2.45
87 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) T-Mobile Team                              
88 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                           
89 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux                     
90 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Fassa Bortolo                               
91 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems                       
92 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems                     
93 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner                             3.20
94 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team     4.00
95 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Domina Vacanze                                
96 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                             
97 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas-Bianchi                        5.17
98 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne            6.21
99 Unai Etxebarria Arana (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi                     
DNF Walter Beneteau Bouygues Telecom                                 
DNF Frédéric Mainguenaud Bouygues Telecom                            
DNF Mickael Pichon Bouygues Telecom                                  
DNF Laurent Lefevre Bouygues Telecom                                 
DNF Rony Martias Bouygues Telecom                                    
DNF Frédéric Amorison Davitamon-Lotto                                
DNF Henk Vogels Davitamon-Lotto                                      
DNF Wim Van Huffel Davitamon-Lotto                                   
DNF Frédéric Bessy Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone                  
DNF David Moncoutie Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone                 
DNF Stéphane Auge Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone                   
DNF Janek Tombak Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone                    
DNF Matthew White Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone                   
DNF Davide Vigano Quick Step                                         
DNF Davide Bramati Quick Step                                        
DNF Bram Tankink Quick Step                                          
DNF Laszlo Bodrogi Credit Agricole                                   
DNF Pietro Caucchioli Credit Agricole                                
DNF Jaan Kirsipuu Credit Agricole                                    
DNF Andy Schleck Team CSC                                            
DNF Jens Voigt Team CSC                                              
DNF Matti Breschel Team CSC                                          
DNF Peter Luttenberger Team CSC                                      
DNF Luke Roberts Team CSC                                            
DNF Igor Anton Hernandez Euskaltel-Euskadi                           
DNF Joseba Zubeldia Agirre Euskaltel-Euskadi                         
DNF Iker Flores Galarza Euskaltel-Euskadi                            
DNF Anton Luengo Celaya Euskaltel-Euskadi                            
DNF Markus Fothen Gerolsteiner                                       
DNF Sven Krauss Gerolsteiner                                         
DNF Beat Zberg Gerolsteiner                                          
DNF Carlos Barredo Llamazales Liberty Seguros-Würth Team             
DNF Koen De Kort Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                          
DNF Jörg Jaksche Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                          
DNF Aaron Kemps Liberty Seguros-Würth Team                           
DNF José Antonio Redondo Ramos Liberty Seguros-Würth Team            
DNF Rubens Bertogliati Saunier Duval-Prodir                          
DNF Ivan Ravaioli Saunier Duval-Prodir                               
DNF José Luis Arrieta Lujambio Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne        
DNF José Luis Carrasco Gamiz Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne          
DNF David Navas Chica Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne                 
DNF Antonio Tauler Llull Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne              
DNF Iker Leonet Iza Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne                   
DNF Jan Schaffrath T-Mobile Team                                     
DNF Torsten Hiekmann T-Mobile Team                                   
DNF Matthias Kessler T-Mobile Team                                   
DNF Christian Werner T-Mobile Team                                   
DNF Uros Murn Phonak Hearing Systems                                 
DNF Grégory Rast Phonak Hearing Systems                              
DNF Daniel Schnider Phonak Hearing Systems                           
DNF Sascha Urweider Phonak Hearing Systems                           
DNF Baden Cooke Française Des Jeux                                   
DNF Cyrille Monnerais Française Des Jeux                             
DNF Viatcheslav Ekimov Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team            
DNF Ryder Hesjedal Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team                
DNF Pavel Padrnos Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team                 
DNF Yaroslav Popovych Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team             
DNF Enrico Franzoi Lampre-Caffita                                    
DNF Paolo Fornaciari Lampre-Caffita                                  
DNF Evgeni Petrov Lampre-Caffita                                     
DNF Daniele Righi Lampre-Caffita                                     
DNF Oleksandr Kvachuk Lampre-Caffita                                 
DNF Claudio Corioni Fassa Bortolo                                    
DNF Massimo Giunti Fassa Bortolo                                     
DNF Vincenzo Nibali Fassa Bortolo                                    
DNF Dario Andriotto Liquigas-Bianchi                                 
DNF Enrico Gasparotto Liquigas-Bianchi                               
DNF Marco Milesi Liquigas-Bianchi                                    
DNF Andrea Noe' Liquigas-Bianchi                                     
DNF Franco Pellizotti Liquigas-Bianchi                               
DNF Roy Sentjens Rabobank                                            
DNF Karsten Kroon Rabobank                                           
DNF Jean-Paul Simon Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                          
DNF Steve Cummings Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                           
DNF Glenn D'hollander Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                        
DNF Jurgen Van Loocke Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                        
DNF Ludovic Capelle Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                          
DNF Sven Renders Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                             
DNF Nicolas Reynaud R.A.G.T. Semences                                
DNF Hubert Dupont R.A.G.T. Semences                                  
DNF Roman Luhovyy R.A.G.T. Semences                                  
DNF Cedric Coutouly Agritubel                                        
DNF Florent Brard Agritubel                                          
DNF Mickaël Buffaz Agritubel                                         
DNF Gilles Canouet Agritubel                                         
DNF Benjamin Johnson Agritubel                                       
DNF Samuel Dumoulin Ag2r Prevoyance                                  
DNF Lloyd Mondory Ag2r Prevoyance                                    
DNF Mariano De Fino Silveiro Naturino-Sapore di Mare                 
DNF Gian Matteo Fagnini Naturino-Sapore di Mare                      
DNF Cristian Gasperoni Naturino-Sapore di Mare                       


Pro Tour standings

1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi                                184 pts
2 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team                                      140
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team             139
4 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team                             136
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner                                   131
6 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC                                          130
7 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team             129
8 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner                                   126
9 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step                                          120
10 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                             111
11 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto                                    99
12 Santiago Botero Echeverry (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems               95
13 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank                                    94
14 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team            92
15 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC                                            86
16 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank                                       80
17 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step                                      80
18 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir             75
19 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC                                            73
20 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                                 70

Full standings: Individuals, Teams, Nations

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