29.04.2007 Liège - Ans (262 km)
Di Luca smarter than Frank Schleck
Resultate:
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Danilo Di Luca
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3rd at 3"
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46th at 1'36"
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10th at 9"
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The highlight in the Ardennes with 262 kilometers between Liège, Bastogne and back, with 12 climbs and as much opportunities to attack. But the big guns waited until the very end to show themselves, preferring to send their team-mates to the front for a long time. Like Samuel Sanchez, who had Unai Etxebarria in the early break, together with Kuyckx, Di Gregorio and Kiryienka. These riders had up to 18 minutes of advantage, before being caught again just after the côte de la Redoute, the former main strategic point of the race. At this point, world champion Bettini sent his team-mate Barredo for an acceleration, CSC made an attack with Andy Schleck, Di Luca had Nibali and Rebellin had Schumacher up at the front. The favourites still looked at themselves at the front of the pack, like Di Luca and Kirchen for example, who both wanted to save some strengh for the final today, unlike in the Flèche
Wallonne. After the climb of Sprimont, Amstel winner Schumacher took off alone in the lead, but behind him, there were still around one hundred riders together and on the long, long descent down to Liège, the German didn't have any chance to stay into the lead. In the very steep côte de Saint-Nicolas, less than 5 kilometers from the finish, the favourites at last showed some offensive spirit. And in this Italian part of the town, Cunego tried something, then Bettini, later also Boogerd, but nobody was able to get a bigger gap. At the summit, they were all together again, Valverde, Kessler, Di Luca or Kim Kirchen, who mad a very good race. Frank Schleck was also up there, despite a broken spine, that the doctors only saw the day before the race. And the Luxemburgish riders didn't want to wait until the finish line before trying to drop the fast men. He attacked at the right moment, just after Saint-Nicolas, where everyone needed to rest a little bit and nobody wanted to react. Except Di Luca who took the wheel of Schleck just in time. The latter seemed very strong and took big turns at the front, so that even an excellent time-trial specialist like Thomas Dekker wasn't able to bridge up to the duo. But Di Luca was also very strong and with around 500 Meters to go, the Italian took off for the victory, thus completing his Ardennes palmares after recent year wins in the Amstel and the Flèche Wallonne. Frank Schleck was overtaken in the end by Valverde, who had attacked too late out of the chasing group, but was able to keep an important podium spot in third position. A fantastic performance, considering the fact that under with his physical problems, any normal person wouldn't think about mounting on a race bike for more than six hours. Kim Kirchen was able to follow the chasers on the final uphill to Ans. Even if he couldn't match up with Valverde, he sprinted for fourth place with Bettini, Rebellin, Boogerd, Cunego, Kessler, Cobo and company. Behind these prominent riders, the Luxemburgish champion took 10th place, 9 seconds only after Di Luca. Andy Schleck was quickly reeled in again after his attack on the Redoute, and he lost contact to the Best in Saint-Nicolas. He finished the race in 46th position in a third group, together with riders like Vinokourov, Moreau, Chavanel, Merckx or Kaschechkin. To finish Liège-Bastogne-Liège less than two minutes late on the winner for a first participation, what a strong performance for a 22 year-old, who is just about to discover the big momuments of professional cycling.
25.04.2007 Charleroy - Huy (203 km)
Kirchen offensive, Schleck 7th
Results:
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Davide Rebellin
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7th at 16"
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57th at 1'20"
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56th at 1'20"
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Second round of the Ardennes classics at the Flèche Wallonne with the traditionnal Wall of Huy (1,3 km at 10% average slope) to be tackled three times, as well as 8 other climbs to operate the selection. Unfortunately for him, Frank Schleck still suffered from the consequences of his crash at the Amstel Gold Race with pain in his back and his rips. It was normal that, under these circumstances, he adopted carefull tactics: hiding inside the pack and keep all his strengh for the last rise up to the finish line. Even if the body hurts, the legs are good and Frank Schleck made us optimistic for Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the last kilometer with up to 20 % slope, when he emerged out of the peloton to take yet another Top 10 placing, the 7th for instance, 16 seconds behind the winner. Kim Kirchen used another, much more agressive tactics. The whole day, he was present at the front of the bunch in the strategic points
of the course, and with around 15 kilometers to go, the Luxemburgish champion attacked on the climb of Ben-Ahin. Valverde, Di Luca, Rodriguez and Kirchen, this was the prominent break that was in the lead at the top of the climb, but the presence of two Caisse d'Epargne riders complicated things. Rodriguez took off alone, Valverde and Di Luca saved strengh for the last climb, Kirchen worked the most in the break and behind them, AG2R and Astana chased hard. The result was a regroupement at the foot of the Mur, with around 60 riders still contesting the victory. Vinokourov and Kessler opened the final assault, but with around 250 meters to go, Davide Rebellin performed an irresistable acceleration that no-one was able to follow and he took the second victory for Gerolsteiner in just a few days at the finish. Behind him, Valverde and Di Luca, the winners of the two last years, took respectively second and third, proving that they had not given their all in the break with Kirchen. The latter hasn't insisted in the last kilometer, he rode the final climb in his rythm, finishing in 56th position 1'20" down. Andy Schleck has done a good race as team-worker, protecting his brother Frank in the peloton. He also represented CSC in several breaks in the last 50 kilometers, notably the one with Rogers, Vasseur, Lövqvist and Philippe Gilbert on the côte de Thon. Andy was still present among the first group as this one tackled the Mur for the last time. He crossed the finish line in 57th position, in the wheel of Kim Kirchen.
22.04.2007 Maastricht - Valkenburg (253 km)
Gerolsteiner makes one-two, Schleck unlucky
Results:
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Stefan Schumacher
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10th at 1'07"
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93rd at 10'23"
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14th at 1'12"
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The emotion was still there at the start in Maastricht, the pictures from last year were still in our head, the pictures of Frank Schleck who took the first big victory in his career with tears in his eyes. But even if the form is similar than 12 months ago, it was clear that it would be very difficult for the Luxemburgish rider to repeat the result, because he was one of the main favourites and watched very closely by his opponents. In fact, the rider with number 1 on his back didn't really get the chance to defend his title, because a crash with around 40 Kilometers to go cost him all his victory chances. After some long moments lying on the side of the rode, Schleck finally got up again, resumed racing and finished in a top ten spot: a big performance. 5 riders have animated the race for a long time: Ingels, Stubbe, Bonnaire, Musiol and Rooijackers have been in the lead for over 150 Kilometers, before being chased down by Voigt, Wesemann and Righi who opened the final with an attack 50 kilometers from the finish. In the Eyserbosweg,
with 15 kilometers to go, Stefan Schumacher launched a royal break by attacking near the top, with only Michael Boogerd, who was among the first 10 riders all day long, Paolo Bettini and Matthias Kessler able to follow him and Valverde, Rebbelin, Di Luca and Wegmann bridging up a little later. Kim Kirchen, who had been present a the front of the peloton until then and Frank Schleck, back in the pack after his crash, were a little bit too far at the back at the moment of the attack and found themselves in a second group, together with riders like Sanchez, Rodriguez, Ricco and Freire. The terrible Keutenberg didn't change much in the race because only Wegmann was the victim of Di Luca's acceleration and the other 7 stayed together. 50 seconds later, the chasers were led by Kim Kirchen and Frank Schleck over the Keutenberg. With around three kilometers to go, in the streets of Valkenburg, Schumacher attacked again, while Di Luca, Valverde, Kessler and Bettini watched temselves and didn't react with Rebellin in the tow. The German took 10 seconds, then 20 and didn't weaken on the Cauberg, so that he could write his name in the palmares of the race above the one of Frank Schleck. Rebellin completed the Gerolsteiner domination by winning the sprint for second ahead of Di Luca. Behind the break, Schleck and Kirchen were among the best of the rest because they took respectively 10th and 14th position at the finish on top of the Cauberg, in a chasing group of aound 20 riders that finished 1 minute late of the winner. Andy Schleck, as for him, crossed the finish line in the main peloton, consisting of around 50 contenders and he is noted on 93rd position in the results, more than 10 minutes behind Schumacher.
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15 avril 2007: 53ème Klasika Primavera
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15.04.2007 Amorebieta - Amorebieta (171 km)
Valverde's present
results:
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Joaquin Rodriguez
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11th at 8"
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Traditionnaly, the day after the finish of the Tour of the Basque country, the same riders line up at the Klasika Primavera, on an equally difficult course around the town of Amorebieta. And like during the whole week, Frank Schleck has been among the best and finished the race in the first group. But the dominant team was without doubt Caisse d'Epargne who had with Lastras and Zaballa already the strongest riders in the early break. Constantino Zaballa ended up alone in the lead with around 20 kilometers to go, but soon after, 11 riders bridged up to him, among them three of his team-mates, Valverde, Rodriguez and Lopez, but also two CSC, Schleck and Julich and some other riders like De la Fuente, Vicioso or Mancebo. On the very last climb, Alejandro Valverde put the pressure down, followed by his team-mate Joaquin Rodriguez. The two riders crossed the summit in Autza with several seconds of advantage on Anton, Lopez, Schleck and the others. They managed to keep their small gap until the finish line, where Valverde didn't sprint and offered the victory to his countryfellow and faithfull team-mate Rodriguez. 8 seconds later, Matteo Bono won the sprint for third place among the next chasers, among whom Frank Schleck didn't participate in the sprint for third place. The Luxemburgish rider crossed the line as penultimate of his group and thus 11th in the final rankings. A new outstanding performance for him in this "Basque Week".
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April 9 to 14, 2007: 47th Vuelta al Pais Vasco
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14.04.2007 6. Oiartzun - Oiartzun (14 km ITT)
JJ Cobo takes overall win
results:
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Samuel Sanchez
Juan José Cobo
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17th at 1'08"
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8th at 3'13"
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The Vuelta al Pais Vasco 2007 ended with an individual time-trial in Oiartzun, near to the coast. Like in all the other stages, there isn't any flat road and even in the test against the clock, the riders have to tackle three minor uphills. No surprise though that the Spanish climbers dominated the time-trial like they dominated most of the stage race. There was a lot of supense today with the two first riders overall wihtin one second and some more good riders like Sanchez, Valverde, Gil, Schleck or Cunego just behind. Samuel Sanchez showed his good condition one week before the Ardennes classics by taking the stage victory in 21'36" (39 km/h) before Alberto Contador, an other man with good spring form. At he third place only 4" late of Sanchez, Juan José Cobo proved that his two stage victories where more than just luck and took his first overall victory in a stage race. Behind him, Cunego, Valverde and Angel Vicioso followed in the stage classification, while the latter once again showed his fighting spirit, but certainly was a little bit less strong than Cobo in the fight for the overall victory. Frank Schleck has finished the time-trial in 17th position at 1'08" of Sanchez (37 km/h average speed) and thereby consolidated his 8th place in the final overall classification. For him also, the legs are good before the Ardennes classics where he hopes to be as successfull as last year.
13.04.2007 5. Lekunberri - Oiartzun (169 km)
Cobo is back again
results:
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Juan José Cobo
Juan José Cobo
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7th at 1'50"
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8th at 2'09"
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The penultimate stage was once again a very difficult one, with 6 climbs, among them the famous Jaizkibel, known from the Classica San Sebastian, and another one of first category. It was the day chosen by Juan José Cobo to show his domination in this Vuelta al Pais Vasco with a second stage win and the taking-over of the overall lead. The Saunier Duval rider has attacked at the beginning of the stage and broke after around 50 kilometers with 14 other riders like Contador, the recent winner of Paris-Nice, Montfort, Astarloza, Landaluze, Lastras or Sevilla. After a crash and several accelerations from Cobo, the group split up and the Spaniard found himself alone in the lead with Astarloza in the Jaizkibel. But the gap to the peloton was fairly narrow and with pouring rain and fog, the stage became dramatic. While Gil, Marchante and Frank Schleck lost time due to a crash, Samuel Sanchez attacked in the peloton and bridged up to Cobo. But the Euskatel rider had used too much of his forces, he was dropped again by Cobo on a downhill and never managed to came back again. Juan José Cobo finally won the stage in Oiartzun with one minute advance on Sanchez and nearly two on the first bigger group led by Rebellin. In this group, Angel Vicioso has had a tough day trying to hold on to his yellow jersey. He finished the stage with the other favourites, but lost the leadership of the race for one second to Cobo. Frank Schleck also managed to bridge up to this group with also Cunego and Valverde after his crash, but used a lot of strenght to do so. Due to his misfortune, he certainly lost today a big chance to move up in the overall classification, but he is still in the Top 10 after the stage in 8th position, 2'09" down on Cobo.
12.04.2007 4. Vitoria Gasteiz - Lekunberri (176 km)
Jens Voigt tries again
results:
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Jens Voigt
Angel Vicioso
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14th at 1'53"
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9th at 2'13"
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Another finish in altitude at Lekunberri, at the end of a stage of 176 km. After the Alto de Azpiroz, a climb of category one at 617 meters above sea level, there were only 3 lightly downhill kilometers remaining until the finish line. A profile for agressive riders though and one of these certainly is Jens Voigt. The German had already been in the good break yesterday, but was unable to match for the stage victory and wanted a revange today. 9 riders broke clear early and besides Voigt, ther were also Mikel Artetxe, Aitor Perez Arrieta, Paolo Tiralongo, Addy Engels, Carl Naibo, Gorka Verdugo, Andriy Grivko and Remy Di Gregorio. They took over 5 minutes of advatage before Voigt decided that he wanted to be on his own with around 50 kilometers to go. After a flat tyre, the CSC rider first had to come back into the break, then he just rode past the others on an uphill portion and took off. He still had two mountains to cross but as an experienced rider, he managed the gap perfectly, arriving at the finish with still a comfortable margin of one minute and a half, whereas all the other riders of the break had been caught again. Behind Voigt, it was once again the same sreenplay as the other days: José Angel Gomez Marchanté attacked on the last climb, trying to win a few seconds on the other GC contenders. The Spanish rider finished eventually runner-up of the stage and gained 14 seconds on a group of 20 riders led by Valverde and with most of the overall favourites. Frank Schleck was also in this group in 14th position and he still has all his chances for a good final overall result.
11.04.2007 3. Karrantza - Vittoria Gasteiz (173 km)
Vicioso scores double
results:
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Angel Vicioso
Angel Vicioso
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32nd at 2'40"
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11th at 2'33"
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The stage to Vitoria - Gasteiz was one of the most easiest on paper in the the 2007 edition of the Tour of the Basque country. But even if the big favourites stayed calm and the main pack was compact until the finish line, the stage caused some changes in the overall classification. This is due to a break of 12 riders that broke away from the peloton on the flat and haven't been caught again until the finish. Iker Flores, Patxi Vila, Dario Cioni, Isidro Nozal, Morris Possoni, Jens Voigt, Bram Tankink, Hubert Dupont, Jurgen Van de Walle, Iker Camaño, Angel Vicioso and Jose Luis Rubiera had up to 4 minutes of advantage, until Gerolsteiner and Euskatel reacted in the peloton. But it was already too late: Vicioso, Camaño, Vila, Possoni, Dupont and Tankink had dropped the others in a descent and battled out the victory in a sprint. Spanish rider Vicioso from the small Relax-GM team was fastest and he scored double by taking the stage victory in front of Vila and Camano and the yellow jersey with now 2 minutes of advantage on Tankink. Frank Schleck has finished the stage inside the peloton in 32nd position and he looses two places overall in favour of Tankink and Vicioso, who now has 2'31" advantage on the Luxembourger.
10.04.2007 2. Urretxu - Karrantza (192 km)
Beltran resists to the peloton
results:
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Manuel Beltran
Juan José Cobo
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8th at 26"
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9th at 19"
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The longest stage of the Vuelta went over 8 climbs, among them one of the first category and the mountain top finish in Karrantza. A break that formed after around 50 kilometers finally proved to be the good one whereas the favourites didn't react until the very last climb. David Lopez, Jose Antonio Redondo, Manuel Beltran , Carlos Barredo, Egoi Martinez, Mikel Astarloza , Sebastien Joly and Anthony Charteau were the ones that were able to take off and they worked well together until the Alto de Ubal, penultimate climb of the day. There, Beltran, Redondo and Astarloza left the others behind and on the last uphill, Manuel Beltram attacked and went away for a solo victory, 15 seconds in front of Redondo. Among the favourites, it was once more Gomez Marchante who was the strongest on the last climb and he took the third place at the finiah, winning 5 seconds from Sanchez, Gil and Vicioso as well as 7 from Cobo, Schleck, Cunego, Rebellin. Alejandro Valverde finished the stage 10 more seconds later. Frank took the 8th place of the stage and moves up to 9th overall, still 19 seconds behind Cobo.
09.04.2007 1. Urretxu - Urretxu (139 km)
Cobo surprises the favourites
results:
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Juan-José Cobo
Juan-José Cobo
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10th at 19"
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10th at 19"
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Like last year, Frank Schleck continues his preparation for the Ardennes classics in the Tour of the Basque country. He is surely willing to take a revange from last season, where he crashed out of the race while being in a very good position overall. The first stage is already very tough with 9 repertoriated climbs around Urretxu. 4 riders broke away very early in the race, Lastras, Hernandez, Ballester and Ramirez,
but on the many climbs, the group splitted up and only Pablo Lastras was left at the head of the race before the penultimate difficulty. 4 other riders then attacked in the peloton and joined Lastras in the lead: Juan José Cobo, Constantin Zaballa, Oscar Sevilla and Tadej Valjavec, who had already shown himself at his advantage in other stage races this year. On the last climb and under terrible weather conditions, Cobo showed out to be the strongest and he took off alone to arrive at the finish line with 10 seconds of advantage on Zaballa. The peloton was naturally split up in the final kilometers and next to Valjavec, another favourite proved to be strong, José Gomez Marchante, who managed to drop Valverde, Gil, Rodriguez, Rebellin or Frank Schleck on the last climb. The Luxemburgish rider was among the strongest today and by finishing in 10th position, he has lost only two seconds to Alejandro Valverde, the major favourite for the final overall victory. Schleck had good legs all day but missed a better position by attacking the final sprint too early in the storm.
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April 9, 2007: 92nd Rund um Köln
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09.04.2007 Leverkusen - Köln (203 km)
Haedo beats Petacchi
results:
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Juan-José Haedo
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50th at 40"
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"Around Köln" is the most ancient German road race and despite 9 smaller climbs and some cobbled roads, it had often smiled to the sprinters. The 2007 edition didn't make an exception and some of the major stars were among the 40 riders that sprinted for the victory: Petacchi, Brown or the new CSC-recruit, JJ Haedo. Petacchi has launched a long sprint, maybe too long since Heado, already winner of a stage at the Tour of California, came around him in the last meters to win with a bike length of advance on Brown and the Milram-rider. Andy Schleck had tried his luck early in the race when he broke away with Fothen and three other riders. But the attempt didn't have any success and for the rest of the race, Andy played the role of team-helper since CSC hoped for a sprint finish. His job done, Schleck crossed the finish line in 50th position, just a few seconds behind the first group in which there was another Luxemburgish rider, the young Laurent Didier.
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April 8, 2007: 91st Ronde van Vlaanderen
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09.04.2007 Brugge - Meerbeke (259 km)
Ballan dominates the Belgian riders
results:
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Alessandro Ballan
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57th at 1'32"
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Kim Kirchen has made of the Tour of Flanders one of his major objectives for the spring. Speaking about the race, he said: "my goal is to be with the best in the last race hour, after that, everything is possible". The Luxemburgish riders was well into the race until the Muur of Geraardsbergen, with around 15 kilometers to go. He even crossed the first climb, the Molenberg, in the lead. But after that, Kirchen crashed in a stratetic portion near the Kluisberg and had to waste a lot of strengh to come back into the big peloton. Because despite a group of 11 that broke clear at the beginning of the race, despite the numerous attacks of a very strong Fabian Cancellara, despite also the accelerations of Van Summeren, Hulsmans, O'Grady, Van Petegem, Steegmans, Gilbert, Boogert, Hoste or Bettini on the Flemish hills, there were still 75 riders in the lead, presenting themselves together at the foot of the Wall in Geraardsbergen. Everyone waited for Tom Boonen and it was him who led the pack at mid-climb, but the former world champion had crashed early in the race and wasn't at his best. Nor him, nor anyone else was able to follow a very powerfull attack from Alessandro Ballan. Kim Kirchen was further back, he had wasted too much strengh in his chase after the crash and didn't have good legs any more. Behind Ballan, Leif Hoste was the strongest rider and he managed to bridge up to the Italian shortly after the summit of the Muur. The two riders had around 15 seconds of advantage on the next chasing group with among others Paolini, Kroon, Nuyens or Boogerd and they were not caught until the finish line. Leif Hoste opened the sprint, but for the third time in four years, the Belgian had to settle down with second place as Ballan overtook him only in the very last meters to take his second victory for the week after the 3 days of La Panne. Luca Paolini has won the sprint of the next groupe only 5 seconds later, whereas Tom Boonen finished in 12th position at 35 seconds in a group with O'Grady, Burghardt, Pozzato, Wesemann or Leukemans. Kim Kirchen has crossed the finish line in 57th position, in a big group of around 50 riders that was 1'32" late on Ballan.
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April 7, 2007: 34th Hel van het Mergelland
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07.04.2007 Eijsden - Eisjden (187 km)
Sijmens wins, Schleck unlucky
results:
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Nico Sijmens
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73rd at 5'14"
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The hell of the Mergelland is a race with a great palmares, formerly only open to young riders. It is the little sister of the Amstel Gold Race and held on a similar course in the South-East of Maastricht, where the riders have to tackle among others the Gulpenerberg. 14 riders broke clear early and fought out the stage victory, among them Andy Schleck and two of his team-mates, Blaudzun and Sörensen. But Andy had really bad luck today and suffered two punctures as well as a break of his saddle. After that and despite having good legs, Schleck finished very last of the race, more than five minutes behind the winner. Finally, 4 riders have reached the finish line with a few seconds of advantage: Serguey Lagutin, Niki Terpstra and Preben Van Hecke finished in this order behind Belgian rider Nico Sijmens, who has won the Mergelland for the scond time in his career. The 4 riders were the strongest out of the break of 14. German rider Björn Glasner has won the sprint of the next chasers 5 seconds down, whereas the main pack has crossed the finish line nearly 3 minutes late on Sijmens.
01.04.2007 3. Charleville-Mézières - Charleville-Mézières (8,3 km ITT)
Jens Voigt for the third time
Results:
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Thomas Lövqvist
Jens Voigt
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65th at 57"
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80th at 6'21"
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37th at 42"
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10th at 1'16"
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A flat, but technical inidividual time-trial in the streets of Charleville-Mézières has decided about the overall winner of the Critérium International version 2007 and as expected, Jens Voigt hasn't been put into danger. The German didn't take any risks on the course and a seventh place at the finish was enough for him to win the final overall victory for the third time after 1999 and 2004. The surprising Thomas Lövqvist has won the stage in 10'01" for 8,3 km, and at the same time took the second place overall. The Swedish rider was faster than the favourites Valverde, Chavanel, Klöden, Julich and Vinokourov who took the next places in that order. Frank Schleck didn't realize an excellent race against the clock because, with the victory of his team-mate nearly certain before the start, he didn't have to take any risk at all on the tricky course with some dangerous turns. He took off very carefully and after 3,6 km, Schleck the elder had already lost 21 seconds on the eventual winner. He has crossed the finish line in 10'43" at the average speed of 46,4 km/h, which meant a 37th place in the stage classification and a 10th place overall. Andy has finished in 10'58" (average speed 45,5 km/h) in 65th place. He has started rather slowly and was only in 85th position after 3,6 km. On the second half of the race, the younger Schleck was faster and lost only 22 seconds on Lövqvist, nearly the same amount than his brother. In the overall rankings, Andy has finished in 80th position, 6'21" down on Jens Voigt.
01.04.2007 2. Les Vieilles Forges - Monthermé (99 km)
Voigt takes a big option
Results:
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Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt
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53rd at 4'27"
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83rd at 5'38"
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4th at 48"
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9th at 48"
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It was necessary to get up early on this Sunday because the hill stage, short of 99 kilometers, started at 8 o'clock in the morning. 9 climbs with the final rise up to Monthermé have brought a clear seclection among the favourites for the overall win. Three prominent riders have animated the stage: Jens Voigt, former overall and stage winner in the race, Sebastien Joly and Gorazd Stangelj took off on the second climb of the day and crossed most of the sumnits together in the lead. The three have had up to 2 minutes of advantage on the peloton led by Astana. With around 20 kilometers to go, Voigt has dropped the other tow and established himself alone in the lead. Behind them, in the main field, the strong riders also showed themselves: Valverde, Frank Schleck, Caruso, Lovqvist and Cardenas reacted to an attack of Cunego. But it was already too late: after a superb solo performance, Jens Voigt crossed the finish line with 48 seconds advantage on Valverde and took over the leader jersey. It seems obvious that he has taken a very big option on the final overall victory with this epic ride. Behind the German, Frank Schleck was very good and while he wasn't allowed to take any turn behind his team-mate, he was able to follow the attacks of Cunego, Valverde and Klöden to take the fourth position at the finish, in the same time than runner-up Valverde. Andy Schleck has finished the stage in 53rd position, 4'27" behind Voigt.
31.03.2007 1. Asfeld - Charleville-Mézières (179 km)
Pollack wins in the storm
Results:
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Olaf Pollack
Olaf Pollack
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123rd at 1'11"
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127th at 1'21"
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60th at 0"
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60th at 10"
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For the seventh time in a row, the Criterium International takes place near the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg, on the roads around Charleville-Mézières in the French Ardennes, and for the fifth time, the Schleck brothers try to illustrate themselves in the race. The first stage from Asfeld to Charleville is called flat, but the up and downs of the course provide lots of attacking opportunities for the riders. Five riders decided to break away early and try their chance. Albizuri, Feillu, Dall’Antonia, Bellin and Cheula had to battle very hard for several kilometers with only a few seconds of advantage on the peloton before they were allowed to increase the gap up to 8 minutes. But CSC and Caisse d'Epargne, the two teams with the biggest ambitions overall, took their responsibilities in the main pack and with 15 kilometers to go, the five were caught again. Heavy rain began to pour onto the riders and after some crahes, the peloton was divided into several parts. Despite attacks from Johnson and Damiano Cunego, who made a solo attempt in the last three kilometers, the victory was decided in a sprint where Olaf Pollack was faster than Furlan and Gaztanaga. Frank Schleck has been able to avoid all the traps and he finished in the first group in 60th position, whereas Andy has lost 1'11" in the hectic final and he finished the stage in 123rd position.
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April 1, 2007: 47th Brabant Arrow
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01.04.2007 Zaventem - Alsemberg (Beersel) (200 km)
Kirchen behind Freire and Nuyens
Results:
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Oscar Freire
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3rd at 0"
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The Brabant Arrow in the southern suburbs of Brussels is on paper a taylor-made race for Kim Kirchen with its short, but steep climbs and the difficult local circuit in the streets of Alsemberg. For his first and up to now only participation down in 2003, he had already taken 8th place of the race. And the Luxemburgish rider lived up to the expectations because it was him who made the deciding attack on the climb of Bruineput, with around 10 kilometers to go. Several riders had tried to escape in the race like Petito, Veikkanen and Kolesnikov or later on Tossato, Paolini and Ljungqvist, but nobody really managed to create a decision. Until Kirchen attacked and took the lead of the race alone, before being reeled in by six other riders at little bit later: Boogerd, Freire, Nuyens, Leukemans, Gasparotto and Kroon. The strongest riders were up there and battled out the victory in a sprint, despite a last attempt of Leukemans with 4 kilometers to go. In the final sprint, Oscar Freire was of course unbeatable and took the win for the third year in a row, whereas Kim Kirchen was able to climb on the third step of the podium. Within a week of the Ronde van Flaanderen, the Luxemburgish champ gives another proof of his exellent shape.
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