26.04.2009 Liège - Ans (261 km)
The big Andy Schleck show
Results:
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Andy Schleck
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winner
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23rd at 1’24”
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DNF
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It was a big show, a very big show that Andy Schleck put on in the final of Liège-Bastogne-Liège as he flew off in the "Falcon climb" to take a spectacular solo victory in Ans, nearly a minute and a half ahead of the next chasers. It hasn't happened for quite a while that one rider dominated the oldest of the one-day classics in such a manner, that one rider arrived alone in Ans with plenty of time to celebrate his victory, since he had dropped all his opponents long before. But if Andy has showed his huge talent during the 95th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, if he has showed his class both on and off the bike, it clearly appears that the the victory is above all a collective one. Eventually, Saxo Bank has dominated this race from the beginning to the end, and if Kroon, Kolobnev, Sörensen and the likes have done a fantastic job, it is of course also brother Frank, who controlled all the attacks behind the winner and fell into his arms after the race, who stands as a symbol for the perfect behaviour of this team today. The course was exactly the same as last year with some important strategic points like the climbs of Wanne, Stockeu and Haute-Levée with less than 100 kilometers to go in the race, then the long ascents of Rosiers and La Vecuée, the mighty côte de la Redoute and, finally, in the last 20 kilometers, La Roche aux Faucons, Saint-Nicolas and Ans to make the decision. In all of these points, Saxo-Band was up there at the front and demonstrated impressive collective strength.
On the côte de Wanne, the team-mates of Frank and Andy Schleck began to raise the pressure, in order to make the race tough and also to decrease the gap of 10 minutes to the early break, consisting of Sijmens, Wyss, Dupont and Gautier, who took off after 50 kilometers. First prominent victim of this acceleration was Kim Kirchen, who found himself at the back of the group and was dropped on the last few hundred meters of this climb, made famous by the attacks of Eddy Merckx quite a few years ago. The race had already been very hard until there with really high speed in the first racing kilometers and after having been helpful for his team during about 180 kilometers, Kim stepped out of the race as expected. But for the big guns, the race was only just about to begin and in the steep climbs of Stockeu and Haute Levée, both Andy and Frank Schleck were very present at the head of the peloton, with smooth and seemingly easy pedaling that showed their amazing form. The Saxo Bank festival continued and, while Fulgsang pulled very hard on the côte des Rosiers at the front of the bunch, Chris-Anker Sörensen launched a first attack on top of La Vecquée. Together with Gerdemann and Deveneyns, the Dane remained in the lead for a moment, before Kroon and Kolobnev took over on the côte de la Redoute. They were part of a group including also Kreuziger, Gesink, Van den Broeck, Serpa, Martinez and Dupont, the only one left out of the early break. But one rider was not willing to accept the dominance of Saxo-Bank on his home ground and in front of thousands of his fans, Philippe Gilbert attacked in a spectacular way on the côte de Sprimont, driving past the break of eight and quickly taking half a minute of advantage. Everyone waited for a reaction of the Schleck brothers on the very steep
côte de la Roche aux Faucons, where they had also attacked last year. Just like he had announced it, Andy accelerated right at that point and flew past the Kroon/Kolobnev group to chase behind Gilbert. Nobody was able to follow this impressive attack, not even the man from Silence-Lotto, although he could have been of a precious help in the last kilometers. Schleck flew past him and quickly had a gap of 30 seconds, a gap that continuously increased after that. Andy was very strong at the head of the race, but his team-mates were equally impressive in the chasing group that had formed after La Roche aux Faucons: 23 riders, among them four Saxo-Bank riders (Frank Schleck, Kroon, Kolobnev, Sörensen), as well as most of the other favorites (Rebellin, Cunego, Sanchez, Evans, Valverde, Sastre, Ivanov, Gilbert…). Frank Schleck reacted to each acceleration, of Gasparotto, Evans, Cunego or Rebellin, who tried his luck in the côte de Saint-Nicolas. Each time that a rider attacked, he had the man in the red-white-blue jersey in his wheel, and the grin on the face of the Luxemburgish champion got brighter and brighter as the finish line approach. Andy Schleck finally won the 95th edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège with 1’17” advantage on Joaquim Rodriguez, who had attacked in the chasing group on the last kilometers, and 1’24” ahead of Davide Rebellin, who won the sprint of the first group in front of Gilbert and Ivanov. In this group, Frank Schleck crossed the finish line in 23rd position, before throwing himself into the arms of his brother and congratulating him for this splendid win.
22.04.2009 Charleroi - Huy (196 km)
Rebellin ahead of Schleck
Results:
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Davide Rebellin
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2nd at 2"
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DNF
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Frank Schleck didn't recover in time from his bad crash last Sunday to participate in the Flèche Wallonne and, suffering from bad headaches since then, he preferred instead to focus completely on Liège-Bastogne-Liège. But brother Andy and defending champion Kim Kirchen remained to take the Luxemburgish flag high above the Mur de Huy during this year's Flèche Wallonne and they did it well. If Andy had shown great form recently during the Amstel, Kim has of course less race kilometers in his legs for this season and counted more on his experience and perfect knowledge of the course to make a positive result. Eventually, the Flèche Wallonne is a race where tactics are capital and today again, it was important to wait until the very end to play the cards. Of course, there were the usual attacks that animated the race, like the one of Christophe Moreau and Japanese rider Fumiyuki Beppu, leading the race for more than 150 kilometers with a maximum
advantage of a quarter of an hour, like the one of Sörensen, Gasparotto and Tony Martin, who woke up the peloton for good with about 40 kilometers to go, the one of Iglinski, Kolobnev and Sherpa, who accelerated on the new côte de Bousalle, or the one from Scarponi, Pfannberger, Kreuziger, Kroon, Rodriguez and Tiralongo, who broke away on the penultimate climb in Ben-Ahin. But they were all reeled in again before the infamous final climb, with the peloton being subsequently led by Caisse d'Epargne, Columbia, Saxo-Bank or Rabobank. Around 100 riders still remained in contention when they tackled the steep ramp of the chemin des chapelles, and Cadel Evans was the first of the favourites to attack, with Andy Schleck and Davide Rebellin in his wheel. The Luxemburgish rider had been very attentive all day, constantly among the first of the peloton with the help of his team, and when Cadel Evans started to fade at 200 meters from the line, he could feel the victory within reach. But Andy also was at his limit, whereas Davide Rebellin was still able to accelerate. The Italian is undoubtfully the master of the wall, taking the lead with 100 meters to go and bringing home his third win in the Flèche Wallonne, after 2004 and 2007. Two seconds later, Andy Schleck managed to hold off Damiano Cunego for second place, making his older brother forget his headaches for a moment with this fantastic performance. Kim Kirchen on his side had to discover that in a race of this level, even a very motivated rider can't make a good result if he isn't at 100 % of his physical abilities. After the second ascent of the Mur de Huy, when the peloton started to accelerate, Kim started to suffer and found himself at the end of the main peloton. He held onto the main group for another 60 kilometers, but was dropped on the côte de Bohisseau, with 34 kilometers to go and abandoned the race. He should be better an a few week's time when the form will start to increase.
19.04.2009 Maastricht - Valkenburg (259 km)
Spectacular crash for Frank Schleck
Results:
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Serguei Ivanov
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DNF
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10th at 8"
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259 kilometers through the Dutch Limburg, 31 climbs, 10.001 turns, the first big and announced goal of the Schleck brothers was for today. But if Andy was well present at the front of the race until the very end, this season doesn't seem to be very lucky for Luxemburgish riders, as Frank Schleck was involved in a nasty crash, just as the race went into its final part. The crasch looked terrifying and Frank was lying on the ground for a long moment, before showing some signs of live. He was then brought to hospital with blood over all his face and a neck brace around his head, but the doctors reported that he only sufferes from brain concussions and a serious shock. In the morning, Frank was still smiling when 6 riders attacked immediately after the start and, as they passed the Cauberg for the first time, Yukiya Arashiro, Sergei Klimov, Niki Terpstra, Rubens Bertogliati, Albert Timmer and Borut Bozic had more than 14 minutes advantage on the rest of the
troups, where no-one had taken his responsabilities yet. Caisse d'Epargne and Euskatel were the first to react and, whereas both Frank and Andy Schleck had some mechanical problems, but quickly found their way back into the peloton with the help of their team-mates, the gap had decreased to about 5 minutes, with still 100 kilometers to go. Pieter Weening then started the race for good with an attack on the penultimate ascent of the Cauberg, but shortly afterwards, the terrible crash of Frank Schleck happened and took him to ground, together with Mathew Lloyd. Whereas, with about 30 kilometers to go, the adventure of Terpstra and his mates at the front of the race was over, Andy Schleck seemingly wanted to take revange from the misfortune of his brother and he attacked on the Gulpenerberg. Together with
Rogers, Gasparotto and Kreuzinger among others, he stayed in the lead of the race for about 10 kilometers with a very narrow gap, before they were swallowed up again at the foot of the next climb. But Andy still had some power left on the Kruisberg, and he continued to set the pace at the front of the first group, in order to create a selection. Also on the tough Eyserbosweg and on the terrible Keutenberg, Andy was up at the front. It was once again on the very steep ramp just outside Schin-op-Geul that the decision fell: they were about ten in the front, including Schleck, Kroon, Cunego, Gesink, Gilbert, Pfannberger and Ivanov. Right after the Keutenberg, on exactly the same place where his brother flew away to victory three years ago, Andy attacked once again, creating a small gap. But if he was caught again about a kilometer later, Robert Gesink had more luck. Together with Kroon and Ivanov, the Dutch rider managed to break away and the three of them took about 20 seconds advantage, with less than 10 kilometers to go. On the descent into Valkenburg, the chasing group came closer and closer, but it was already too late: the three leaders battled out the win among themselves and, as Gesink didn't have any strength left in the last ascent of the Cauberg, Serguei Ivanov was faster than Kroon on the finishing straight. With his team-mate present at the front, Andy's role was of course very passive in the last kilometers, where he followed the wheel of the Silence-Lotto riders that led the chase for Philippe Gilbert. The Belgian maybe is the most disappointed contender at the end, since he proved to be the strongest of the group by taking 4th place, just a few meters before Andy Schleck taking an excellent 10th position, 8 seconds behind the winner. This isn't excactly the expected result by the Schleck brothers in this race, but all their fans surely show a grin of relieve this evening after having known some very frightening emotions during the race.
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April 16, 2009: 50th Grand-prix de Denain
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16.04.2009: Raismes - Denain (203 km)
Another crash for Kim Kirchen
Resultats:
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Jimmy Casper
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DNF
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Bad luck once again for Kim Kirchen, on the day after the Scheldeprijs, when he lined up in the Grand-prix de Denain to collect some more race kilometers and increase the form ahead of the Flèche Wallonne. But he didn't ride much of them, as he crashed onto the wet asphalt only a few minutes after the start. He didn't continue the race after that, but the incident shouldn't have any dramatic consequences on the rest of his season. Shortly after that, three riders managed to break away and opened the road during 150 kilometers with a maximum advantage of 6 minutes. But with 40 kilometers to go, the break of Cédric Coutouly, Tony Galopin and Yury Krivtsov was reeled in and the sprinter teams took control of the race. Of course, there were lots of attacks on the last local loop around Denain, but especially Landbouwkrediet and Cofidis worked a lot at the head of the peloton to make them fail. In the last kilometers, Saxo Bank took over to lead out for Mathew Goss, but at the end, Jimmy Casper prooved to be faster than the Australian, team-mate of the Schlecks. Adding to a stage in the Citerium International recently and Paris-Camembert just a few days ago, this was already the fifth season victory for Casper.
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April 15, 2009: 97th Scheldeprijs
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15.04.2009: Antwerpen - Schoten (200 km)
Petacchi escapes from chaos
Results:
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Alessandro Petacchi
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DNF
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The Scheldeprijs, covering 200 mostly flat kilometers in the region of Antwerpen with some cobbled section, is the last big spring race of the Flemish type, before the peloton switches over to the Ardennes classics, requiring more climbing skills. While for some teams, this is already the last chance to shine and to recover from missed chances for this spring, others use it as preparation race for the upcoming goals. This is certainly the case for Kim Kirchen, although he has lined-up this morning on the Grote Markt in Antwerpen with the number one on his back, replacing his team-mate and defending champion Mark Cavendish who has skipped the race in order to prepare for the Giro d'Italia. For most of the race, Kim has acted as support for his team, taking for example water bottles to his team-mates from the service car, before he abandoned the race shortly before the finish line, having suffered from a puncture. The final of the race was very hectic on a narrow and twisty local course with lots of crashes. 4 riders haven opened the road for a long while: with 70 kilometers to go,Pavel Brutt, Mathé Pronk, Lorenzo Bernucci and Jeff Louder had 6 minutes advantage on the peloton that was of course led by the Quick-Step team of local hero Tom Boonen. Other teams supported the men of Patrick Lefèvre in the chase and with 25 kilometers to go, the gap had come down to two minutes. It melted now continously and 5 kilometers from the line, Radio Tour announced: "break caught, peloton compact". Silence-Lotto prepared the sprint in the final kilometer, but Alessandro Petacchi accelerated with 200 meters to go and won the race several meters ahead of Van Hummel and Rollin. Eventually, the sprint was spoiled somewhat by a massive crash sending on the tarmac among others McEwen, Boonen and Van Avermaet.
12.04.2009 Amorebieta - Amorebieta (172 km)
Frank Schleck in the lead group
Results:
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Alejandro Valverde
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DNF
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11th at 0"
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There wasn't any sign of the spring at the Klasika Primavera, which has provided the riders with cold and rainy weather. To keep somewhat warm in these conditions, several riders chosed to attack and the speed war very high in the first race hours. A group of 9 riders containing Ratti, Kessiakov, Lopez Gil, Ruiz, Anton, Santaromita, Vorganov, Dominquez an Escobar was able to break away after around 50 kilometers, but Caisse d'Epargne controlled the gap very tightly and never let it grow beyond one and a half minutes. With 20 kilometers to go, the break was swallowed up again and, on the Alto de Munitetagane, the battle of the big names took place. A royal break with Valverde, Rogriquez, Nibali, Cunego, Martinez, Vicioso, Astarloa, Herrada, Verduga, Blanco and Mosquera took the lead, while Frank Schleck also managed to get into it. Against the fast Cunego, Nibali or Valverde, Frank had of course only small chances for victory and so he decided to have a go on the very last climb of the day, the Alto de Autzagane. With a powerfull acceleration, the Saxo Bank rider pulled away and took the lead alone for a while. But he was caught again on the wet and slippery downhill leading to the finish in Amorebieta. The group had 30 seconds advantage on the next chasers, a gap that increased further more until the finish line, where Alejandro Valverde proved to be faster than Martinez and Herrada. Frank Schleck didn't match up in this sprint and he crossed the line at the end of the little group in 11th position, in the same time than the winner. The Luxemburger thus seems to have well recovered from his illness on the Tour of the Basque country. Brother Andy, however, did not resist to the bad weather conditions and prefered to quit the race, not taking any risks with one week to go until the Amstel Gold Race.
11.04.2009: 6. Zalla - Zalla (24 km ITT)
Contador dominates again
Results:
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Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
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44th at 3'26"
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38th at 13'44"
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Just like last year, the Tour of the Basque Country 2009 has finished with a time-trial on a selectif course. 500 meters of change in altitude in 24 kilometers and a long climb at mid-course, these facts ensured that the strongest would be in contention for the win. But who could possibly prevent Alberto Contador from winning on such a course, given his dominance in both mountain stages and time-trials. The answer was just as obvious as that: Nobody. Not Cadel Evans, who did a rather medium-rated performance in 8th position, not Luis-Leon Sanchez, 5th of the stage at 1 minute and 13 seconds of the winner. Not Michael Rogers either, who was far too back overall, but was for a long time owner of the fast intermediate times in the stage against the clock, before having to settle down with 4th position against the Spaniards. Samuel Sanchez and Toni Colom did fairly good time-trials today in third and second position respectively, but they were not able to beat the time of Alberto Contador, master of the day in 31'59" for 24 kilometers of race, meaning an impressive average speed of 45 km/h for a very difficult course. Andy Schleck too was very far from approaching the man of Johan Bruyneel, since he had no ambitions overall any more and rode his loop at his own rythm, in 35'25" (average speed 40,6 km/h) and 3 minutes and a half late on the winner. But Andy showed during this week that after a difficult season begin, the form is slowly coming and that he will be ready for the next goals. At the final overall classification, Schleck takes 38th position, more than 13 minutes behind Contador, for whom Paris-Nice 2009 remains the one and only faux-pas in nearly two years of racing.
10.04.2009: 4. Guenes - Zalla (161 km)
Andy Schleck attacked
Results:
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Marco Pinotti
Alberto Contador
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DNS
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81st at 7'15"
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39th at 10'18"
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Another difficult stage with the Alto de Beci to be crossed three times during the last 80 kilometers. In addition, rain and cold made the racing difficult in the Basque country, just like during several stages last year. This wasn't at all to please Frank Schleck, who was suffering from a little cold. He did not take the start of the penultimate stage, in order to stay healthy ahead of his big goals, the Ardennes classics. Brother Andy, on his side, was better at stake and just like yesterday, he showed himself offensive. After around 40 kilometers covered at high speed with lots of attacks, Schleck the younger managed to get into a break on the first category climb Alto de Ubal, together with Moncoutié, de la Fuente, Monfort, Rodriguez, Pfannberger and Martinez. A nice group, far too prominent in the eyes of the Astana squad, who immediately started the chase in the peloton. First time up the Alto de Beci, at mid-race, the break had one minute and a half of advantage, but despite insisting very much, the young Saxo-Bank rider and his group were swallowed up at 20 kilometers from the finish. Efimkin, Vanotti and Pinotti, who attacked right after that, were more successfull and quickly gained 30 seconds of advantage. On the very last uphill, Pinotti dropped the two others and went away to conquere the stage victory, 19 seconds ahead of Ben Swift who was again fastest out of the bunch. An exhausted Andy Schleck passed the finish line in 81st position in a third group, more than 7 minutes late on the winner and together with most of his former break-mates.
09.04.2009: 4. Eibar - Guenes (161 km)
Albasini's long break
Results:
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Michael Albasini
Alberto Contador
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94th at 1'25"
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17th at 1'11"
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93rd at 1'25"
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30th at 3'22"
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This was an ideal stage for a long break with a quite difficult begin but, after 7 climbs, the last 30 kilometers were flat. The riders were still tired of yesterday's tough battle, but 6 of them wanted to profit from the situation and broke away after only 6 kilometers. Eventually, the luck was with them since Michael Albasini was able to win the stage after having covered more than 150 kilometers at the front. At the beginning of the stage, Albasini was joined by Van Den Broeck, Van de Velde, Deignan, Arrieta and Serrano, but the two latter were rapidly dropped. At around mid-race, the four leaders had 7 minutes advantage on a peloton in which the favourites neutralized themselves. Towards the end of the stage however, the bunch decreased the gap to the break, in which Philippe Deignan was dropped on the Alte de Beci. The three others fougth out the stage victory in a tight sprint, with Michael Albasini being faster than Jurgen Van den Broeck and Christian Van de Velde. 1 minute and 25 seconds later, Ben Swift led the peloton over the line, a nearly complete peloton in which the Schleck brothers took positions 93 and 94, side by side. Andy had even tried to attack very early in the stage, but his attempt was rapidly aborted, so that the two of them remained inside the peloton for the rest of the day.
08.04.2009: 3. Villatuerta - Eibar (173 km)
Contador takes control
Results:
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Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
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22nd at 1’12"
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16th at 1'12"
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26th a 1'56"
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31st at 3'23"
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The third stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco was the only one, in 2009, to finish in altitude and was expected to be quite deciding for the overall classification, together with the closing time-trial. The last 50 kilometers were really tough with two climbs of second and two climbs of first category, among them the Alto de Ixua, which summit was situated at 510 meters of altitude and only 3 kilometers from the finish. It wasn't any big surprise that Alberto Contador won this queen stage and, even if the gap with the next chasers was small, the Spaniard took over the yellow leader jersey from his friend Sanchez. Contador put on the pressure very early in the stage by sending his team to the front of the peloton to make the race tough behind the seven riders of the early break. The latter of course were the first victims of these tactics and Nocentini and Tschopp, the last two survivors, were caught with 10 kilometers to go. Chris Horner set a very high rythm at the beginning of the Ixua, too high for the Schleck brothers who could not follow Contador when the Spaniard attacked at half climb, even though Frank had been able to follow the best until then. The Astana leader took off, crossed the summit alone and didn't weaken on the last two flat kilometers until the finish. He took the stage victory with 9 seconds advantage on Cadel Evans, the only one capable of following Contador during a while on the climb. In the same time, Samuel Sanchez and Toni Colom took the next positions, whereas Cunego, Gesink and Luis-Leon Sanchez followed half a minute behind the stage winner. The Schleck bros had a less positive results, with Frank finishing 22nd in a second group of around 10 riders, 1'12" behind Contador and 44 seconds ahead of Andy in 26th place. In the overall classification, Alberto Contador now leads with 8 seconds advantage on Samuel Sanchez, whereas Frank Schleck has lost two places in 16th spot and Andy is noted in 31st place.
07.04.2009: 2.Ataun – Villatuerta (164 km)
Trofimov wins after long break
Results:
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Yuri Trofimov
Luis-Leon Sanchez
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39th at 1’10"
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14th at 0"
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31st at 1'10"
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44th at 1'27"
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In the Basque country, they call it a transition stage, but 6 climbs were on the program on the 164 kilomters between Ataun and Villatuerta. Of course, tomorrow’s mountain top finish was already on everybody’s mind, but from the start, there were numerous attacks, for example from riders like Maxime Monfort and Aitor Hernandez. The young and talented Rein Taaramae tried his luck several times, and he was finally rewarded together with Yury Trofimov, Bauke Mollema and Manuel Vazquez : they formed the break of the day, that obtained up to 7 minutes advantage on the peloton. On the Alto de Lezaun, with 25 kilometres to go, Trofimov and Taaramae took the lead of the race alone and at the summit, they still were 3 minutes ahead of the peloton led by Lampre and Caisse d’Epargne. But no other team supported the helpers of leader Sanchez in the chase, so that the two riders were able to stay in the lead until the end. With a powerful attack at the two kilometre mark, Trofimov dropped Taaramae and arrived at the finish for a nice solo win, several meters before the Estonian and one minute ahead of Ben Swift, who won the sprint of the peloton. In the last kilometres, Andy Schleck helped to prepare the sprint for Kolobnev, hoping to take the yellow jersey for Team Saxo Bank, but with a fifth place in the stage, Sanchez retained his shirt. Both of the Schleck brothers finished inside the first big group of 120 riders, in positions 31 and 39.
06.04.2009: 1.Ataun – Ataun (143 km)
Sanchez ahead of Sanchez
Results:
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Luis-Leon Sanchez
Luis-Leon Sanchez
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16th at 0"
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16th at 0"
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61st at 1'27"
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61st at 1'27"
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Big line-up as usual for the Tour of the Basque country which represents a preparation race for the Ardennes classics, but also a goal in itself for the Cunego, Contador, Evans, Sastre, Sanchez or Schleck. If Kim Kirchen, who won two stages last year, but still lacks form after his crash in the Tour of California, prefers the less difficult Circuit de la Sarthe to resume racing, the Schlecks are eventually present on the tough profile of the Vuelta. The first stage around Ataun had already 8 climbs of second and third category and, if Aitor Hernández, José Herrada, Bingen Fernández and Gorka Izagirre were out at the front most of the day, Astana and Lampre already showed their ambitions by leading the chase behind the four in the peloton. Later, Saxo-Bank also showed themselves at the head of the peloton and in the Alto de Abaltisketa, with about 20 kilometres to go, the early break was reeled in. There was still the Alto de Lazkaomendi to cross and on this steep hill, after accelerations from Cunego and Colom, half a dozen riders took a gap, among them Samuel Sanchez, Contador and Evans, but also Frank Schleck. But in the descent to the finish, several more riders bridged up and they were about twenty to fight for the win at the end. In a very tight sprint, Paris-Nice winner Luis-Leon Sanchez ruled out Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez for the first leader jersey. Frank Schleck finished the stage at the end of the small group in 16th position. Andy Schleck, on his side, had a little bit of trouble to follow the best on the Lazkaomendi, and he crossed the finish line in 61st place, one minute and a half behind the double Sanchez pack.
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April 7-10, 2009: 57th Circuit de la Sarthe
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10.04.2009: 5. Pré-en-Pail - Le Mans (195 km)
Demaret wins stage, Le Lay overall
Results:
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Jean-Eudes Demaret
David Le Lay
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28th at 26"
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23rd at 1'07"
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Just like yesterday, today's stage was quite tough with a difficult final circuit around Le Mans, that granted for suspense until the end. 5 riders broke away at the start, including Kim Kirchen's team-mate Tony Martin, but also Franck Bouyer, the ever active Jérôme Coppel, Jean-Eudes Demaret and Sébastien Duret. On the final circuit in the streets of Le Mans, with the 18% steep climb of Gazonfier, Demaret and Martin showed out to be the strongest of the group, but Martin had to bury his chances after an unlucky flat tyre. Jean-Eudes Demaret remained alone in the lead and in a very brave manner, the young Frenchman from Cofidis resisted to the peloton, finishing the stage as solo winner 17" ahead of his team-mate Julien El Fares. El Fares was strongest out of a group of 6 contenders that left the peloton in the last hectometers and finished several seconds ahead of the main bunch which consisted of only 30 riders any more. David Le Lay was never threatened in his overall lead and he finished 17th of the stage, three positions behind his most dangerous opponent, Enrico Rossi. Also present in this first group was Kim Kirchen, who has finished under the pouring rain at the end of the small bunch in 28th position, very happy that he has been able to follow the best on this very steep, Mur de Huy look-a-like climb of Gazonfier. Kim has gotten better from day to day on this Circuit de la Sarthe and finished a good 27th overall, only one minute late on the winner. He can now look ahead on the upcoming races with some optimism and good morale.
09.04.2009: 4. Angers - Pré-en-Pail (184 km)
First victory for Anthony Roux
Results:
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Anthony Roux
David Le Lay
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47th at 10"
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39th at 1'07"
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The race goes crescendo with a difficult stage, containing half a dozen of small climbs and, most of all, a finish line situated at the top of a climb of 2 kilometers at 8% gradient. Something that suits very well Kim Kirchen and, even if he has not been able to get into the good break of the day, he showed that the form isn't bad at all by staying within the first peloton of about 50 riders all the way on this rollercoaster through the French countryside, finishing 47th of the stage, only 10 seconds down on the winner. The name of the latter is Anthony Roux and it is the first professionnal win in the career of the young Frenchman from La Française des Jeux. He was part of the good break of 11 riders that took off in the last round on the local circuit in Pré-en-Pail, after the early break consisting of Augé, Mazet and Sprick was caught. There were prominent riders in the leading group with Klöden, Martin, Bertogliati, the young and talented Jeanesson, Tirreno-Adriatico stage winner El Farès or yellow jersey wearer David Le Lay. They fought out the stage victory in the sprint and Anthony Roux was faster than Vaugranard and Simon, just seconds ahead of Kim Kirchen's group.
08.04.2009: 3. Angers - Angers (6 km ITT)
Engoulvent wins, Le Lay resists
Results:
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Jimmy Engoulvent
David Le Lay
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66th at 34"
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56th at 57"
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A mini time-trial of only 6 kilometers on a very technical course in the streets of Angers took place in the afternoon. In latest years, but on a slightly longer distance, the time-trial often had a crucial effect on the overall classification, but this time, the rain and the wind complicated things a little bit. On such a short effort and under these conditions, most riders did not want to take any risks, even if Andreas Klöden surprised with a second place at only one second. At the end, Besson Chaussure's Jimmy Engoulvent was the one who handled the bad conditions best and he won in 7'44" at an average speed of 47,2 km/h. On the next places came Klöden at one second, Rabon at 3 and then Monier, Rossi, Rasmussen and Gutierrez, all of them less than 7 seconds late on the winner. David Le Lay also showed a good performance, given the tremendous efforts he had already made in the morning stage. He finished in 7'54" at the 14th place, eventually retaining the overall lead, where he has now 9 seconds advantage on Ross, the winner of the first stage and 20" on Engoulvent, the fastest against the clock. Kim Kirchen hasn't gone to his limits this afternoon on the dangerous course, finishing in 8'28" (average speed 43,2 km/h) which means 66th position in the stage, 34 seconds late on Engoulvent.
08.04.2009: 2. Ancenis - Angers (94 km)
Fine victory for Le Lay
Results:
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David Le Lay
David Le Lay
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71st at 27"
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70th at 33"
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With just one climb on the program, the first stage for today was again destinated for the sprinters, but they did not count with a very strong David Le Lay. The Frenchman from Agritubel, who had already several good results in the last few weeks, was able to hold the peloton in respect for more than 60 kilometers. On the last loops around the final, local circuit in the streets of Anger, the peloton came closer and closer, but after a superb effort, just like Rossi yesterday, Le Lay was able to keep 20 seconds advantage at the finihs, enough to take the stage victory and the yellow jersey. Henderson, Loddo, Dumoulin and Casper were the fastest of the chasers and, for the second day in a row, will have some regrets. In the overall classification and before this afternoon's time-trial, Le Lay holds a few seconds advantage on yesterday's winner, Enrico Rossi and the other favourites. Kim Kirchen has finished the stage inside the main pack in 71st position, after having tried to protect from the wind and the rain in the middle of the peloton during the morning.
07.04.2009: 1.Noirmoutier-en-ile - Ancenis (192 km)
Enrico Rossi succeeds after long break
Results:
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Enrico Rossi
Enrico Rossi
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79th a 2"
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80th a 19"
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For the first time since 2 months, Kim Kirchen has participated in a bycicle race today by lining up in the first stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe, after having recovered from his broken shoulder of the Tour of California. Of course, he had to seriously reconsider his ambitions for the Ardennes classics, but Kim still hopes to be at the start of the Flèche Wallonne in Charleroi, and the race through the beautiful country of the Loire should give him some indications about his current form. The first stage however was mostly flat, with the biggest natural obstacle being the spectacular “Passage du Glois”, a narrow and always wet and slippery road between two seas, which the riders had to cross shortly after the start. But in brilliant weather conditions, the dangerous passage didn’t cause any problems and the first attack took place only after 30 kilometres. Immediately, Enrico Rossi, Kevin Ista and Martin Kohler were able to break away and they built up a seven minutes advantage on the peloton. But the French teams organized the chase in the peloton and with 20 kilometres to go, the gap was down to a minute only. Despite an attempt of Enrico Rossi in the streets of Ancenis, the home of the world leader in rough-terrain handling equipment MANITOU, everything was on track for the expected bunch sprint after Ista and Kohler had been caught. But with a brilliant ride, Rossi resisted to the whole peloton in the last kilometres and won the stage with 2 seconds advantage on Loddo, Delpech and Casper the sprinters. After a day without any big problems, Kim Kirchen crossed the finish line at the end of the main group in 79th position.
04.04.2009 Estella - Estella (191 km)
Andy Schleck attacked
Results:
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David De la Fuente
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28th at 1'06"
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31st at 1'06"
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190 kilometres of twisty up and down, without any flat, that sounded good in the ears of the Schleck brothers, with just 2 weeks to go until the Amstel Gold Race. On the eve of the Tour of the Basque Country, Andy eventually tested the form with an attack on a steep slope at 10 kilometers from the finish. But apart from creating a further selection on an already reduced peloton, the younger Schleck didn’t achieve anything, since Caisse d’Epargne controlled the race very tightly. Valverde made his boys work all day, behind the early break consisting Alexandre Botcharov, Vladimir Efimkin, Gorka Verdugo et Roman Kreuziger, and behind the late attacks from Schleck, Isasi or Karpets. But the tactics from the men in black didn’t quite work well since their leader was not able do follow David De la Fuente, Alexandr Kolobnev and Fabian Wegmann on the last climb of the day. In a very long uphill sprint, the Spaniard from Fuji took the win ahead of the team-mate from the Schlecks and the German champion.
Frank and Andy didn’t battle for the victory and crossed the line in a second group, a minute behind the winner and in 28th and 31st position respectively.
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Drucker
