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Dauphine Libere
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67th Gent-Wevelgem - PT
Belgium, April 6, 2005
Main Page
Results
Live report
ProTour standings
Mattan swoops, Flecha foiled in controversial finish
By Shane Stokes in Wevelgem
Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto)
Photo ©: Sirotti
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Nico Mattan took the second ProTour victory by a Belgian rider in three days
when he won the 67th edition of Gent-Wevelgem today, staging a last gasp recapture
of lone leader Juan Antonio Flecha inside the final kilometre of racing.
The 33 year old Davitamon-Lotto rider reached the line in Wevelgem two seconds
clear of the deflated Spaniard, with Daniele Bennati (Lampre ? Caffita) leading
home Flecha’s Fassa Bortolo team-mate Fabian Cancellara and Credit Agricole’s
Thor Hushovd for third. Pre-race favourite Tom Boonen looked strong midway through
the 208 kilometre event, but faded in closing stages to finish a disappointed
26th. He will hope to turn things around again in time for Paris-Roubaix this
coming weekend.
After the race finish Flecha’s Fassa Bortolo team lodged a protest, on the
grounds that they felt the race victor had been aided in the closing stages
by press motorbikes and neutral support vehicles. Mattan himself insisted that
the vehicles were in his way and that he didn’t deliberately draft in his efforts
to catch and pass the race leader.
The College of Commissaires agreed with his version of events, fining the driver
of the Shimano neutral support car 400 Swiss Francs and warning the motorbikes
in question. They upheld the race result, stating that a detailed report will
be sent to the UCI on the matter.
Flecha, however, will feel deeply disappointed with how things unfolded. He
was away the second time up the Kemmelberg but was brought back by a chasing
group. An attack by Mattan inside the closing ten kilometres carried the Belgian
clear, but Flecha got across with Baden Cooke (Francaise des Jeux) and then
countered, opening up a decent lead. With one kilometre to go he had five seconds,
yet despite the gap he was hauled back before the line. While the commissaires
pointed the finger of blame at the vehicles rather than the rider, the Spaniard
and his team still feel bitterly disappointed by the result.
Cancellara and Flecha
Photo ⓒ: Sirotti
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"I did what I could to win," he said. "Myself and Cancellara were always to
the fore and, near the end, I made my bid for victory. I was a little nervous
because I only had a handful of seconds and I could see vehicles behind me."
"I kept the speed at 55 km/h and was clear until three hundred metres to go.
I was very surprised to be caught."
"One consolation is that I leave this race knowing that I have got over the
black period I had after Paris-Nice, being sick. Just before the Three Days
of de Panne I also had an accident between my bike and a car. My condition is
excellent now, though, and I hope to ride strongly in Paris-Roubaix."
Fassa Bortolo were stronger about what happened, releasing a statement this
evening criticising the day’s finale. They stated that they "denounced what
happened in Belgium at Gent-Wevelgem, a ProTour event, where the rider Flecha
was caught and passed inside the final three hundred metres by the Belgian Nico
Mattan.
"Although Flecha opened an advantage of six seconds over Mattan, there were,
inexplicably five vehicles that followed our rider. These facilitated the return
of Mattan and caused Flecha to lose his win.
"It is not possible that that this should happen in a ProTour race. All of
the events in this contest should be synonymous of absolute quality," the team
fumed, promising to pursue the matter further with the UCI.
For his part, Mattan maintained he did nothing wrong. "This is the best win
of my career," he said. "I have always dreamed of winning here. I train on these
roads and to take this victory is really important to me.
"I kept going when Flecha attacked, believing I could still win. I was closing
up to him when I saw the vehicles, but what could I do about that? I wasn’t
going to ease up. I had to get back up to him so I had to just keep going. It
wasn’t my fault, they shouldn’t have been there.
"You can’t say that the motorbikes helped me win. I was never right behind
them, on their wheel, it was my legs that got me to the line.
"A couple of kilometres before I was clear by myself. Cooke and Flecha got
across. Flecha attacked. I waited a little bit, recovering, keeping the same
speed as he, before making a big effort to get back to him."
"It really means a lot to win this. It is my best victory. It is a ProTour
event and it is also in Belgium, so that makes it very special. It is the best
race I could win. I train every day here, I spend a lot of time in the area
and know it really well."
How it unfolded
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step)
Photo ⓒ: Sirotti
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Gent-Wevelgem’s elevation to ProTour status this year lifted its status from
being a prestigious mid-week event sandwiched between the Tour of Flanders and
Paris-Roubaix. In terms of points, the race is now on an equal footing two its
two big brothers, even if it doesn’t have quite the same history.
The new billing ensured a top lineup of teams, with all the ProTour squads
plus Chocolade Jacques, Navigators Insurance, Landbouwkrediet-Colnago, Bartloworld-Valsir
and MrBookmaker.com amassing at the start in Deinze. Tom Boonen (Quick.Step)
was the obvious favourite following his excellent win in Flanders, the young
Belgian drawing most of the cheers at the sign-on, but the likes of compatriot
Tom Steels (Davitamon-Lotto), Steven De Jongh (Rabobank), Andreas Klier and
Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), George Hincapie (Discovery), Alessandro Ballan (Lampre),
Nico Eeckhout (Jacques), Thor Hushovd (CA), Allan Davis (Liberty), Lars Michaelsen
(CSC) and Baden Cooke (Francaise des Jeux) were amongst the long list of contenders
who would be happy to spoil the party.
Calm conditions awaited the riders at the start, with temperatures around ten
degrees on what was an overcast ? but relatively bright ? morning. Ahead lay
208 kilometres of racing, with early obstacles likely to be speed and sidewinds
before eight climbs helped break things up. The bunch would travel twice up
the Viadaigneberg and Rodeberg (137 and 160 km), twice up the Monteberg (148
and 169 km) and twice up the Kemmelberg (150 and 171 km) before an eyeballs-out
dash in to the finish in Wevelgem.
Of those climbs, the cobblestoned Kemmemberg was likely to be the most decisive,
with an average grade of 9% and steepest section of 21.5% occurring during its
eight kilometres.
It didn’t take that long for things to break up, however. Just after ten kilometres
into the race a big crash took down some riders, with Tom Steels, Roy Sentjens
and Fabrizio Guidi amongst those hitting the dirt. Guidi was the most badly
injured, breaking his wrist and abandoning. The biggest effect was a fragmentation
of the bunch into three pieces, with a second group number approximately fifty
riders being stranded and a smaller collection of riders finding themselves
even further back.
Andreas Klier (T-Mobile)
Photo ⓒ: Sirotti
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By the time the riders hit Oostende on the coast, the first and second groups
were two minutes apart. However, swinging southwest for De Panne meant that
the peloton turned into a headwind, leading to a regrouping by the halfway point.
This unity didn’t last too long, with things breaking apart on the run-in towards
the climbs. With approximately 84 kilometres remaining a group of thirty-odd
riders went clear, including Tom Boonen, Wilfried Cretskens, Kevin Hulsmans,
Servais Knaven (Quick.Step), Steven De Jongh, Matthew Hayman, Karsten Kroon
(Rabobank), Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Caffita), Nico Eeckhout (Chocolade Jacques),
Mark Walters (Navigators Insurance), Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas Bianchi), Lars
Michaelsen, Matti Breschel (CSC), Thor Hushovd, Cyril Lemoine, Geoffrey Lequatre,
Jaan Kirsupuu (CA), Tom Steels, Nico Mattan, Henk Vogels, Gert Steegmans (Davitamon
Lotto), Simone Cadamuro (Domina Vacanze), Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner), Fabian
Cancellara, Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa), Stefan Adamsson (Barloworld), Baden
Cooke (FDJ), Mauro Gerosa (Liquigas), Stuart O’Grady (Cofidis) and Antonio Cruz
(Discovery Channel). Missing were riders such as Cruz’s team-mate George Hincapie,
plus crash victims Roger Hammond and Andreas Klier. The latter’s fall led to
several T-Mobile riders also missing the break by waiting for Klier. However,
the in-form Erik Zabel did make the split.
The chasing group slipped to over a minute down just before the climbs began,
essentially spelling an end to their chances. Up front, Boonen’s QuickStep team
set the pace on the Vidaigneberg, with Michaelsen, Vogels, Backstedt and Cruz
leading over the top. Boonen himself led the group up the Rodeberg then, once
over the Monteberg, pushed the pace on the much harder Kemmelberg. This effort
put Backstedt, Vogels, Steegmans, De Jongh, Lemoine and Lequatre in difficulties,
while Boonen’s team-mate Filippo Pozzato made things look even better for his
leader when he jumped across from a small chase group to the back of the fragmenting
front bunch.
However, he couldn’t quite close the gap. Although there was a bit of a regrouping
after the descent, De Jongh, Steegmans, Vogels, Knaven, Lemoine, Lequatre and
Pozzato slipped back and were reabsorbed by a chasing group with about 52 kilometres
remaining. The gap was hovering around the 50 second mark.
Backstedt led over the top of the Vidaigneberg, second time round, looking
strong. About thirty seconds later the persistent chase group crested the top,
looking determined to get back in touch. The gap was down to 14 seconds on the
Monteberg, prompting a flurry of attacks up front as the strong riders sought
to put the hammer down again.
Filippo Pozzato (Quick.Step)
Photo ⓒ: Sirotti
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Flecha kicked with 41 kilometres remaining, opening a gap of ten seconds over
Backstedt, Mattan, Boonen, Kirsipuu, Cooke, Hushovd, Cancellara, and Michaelsen
by the top. He held this advantage on the second and final ascent of the Kemmelberg,
with Hushovd prominent and Boonen staying close to the front, but now starting
to suffer.
A regrouping took place after the descent, with Flecha joined by Bennati, Cancellara,
Hushovd, Backstedt, Mattan, Cooke and an impressive Pozzato, who jumped from
the chase group on the climb and was able to surge again over the top. Meanwhile,
Boonen, Kirsipuu, Breschel, Cruz, Kroon and Cretksens were slipping back, dropping
to first 15 and then 18 seconds in arrears as the leaders put the hammer down.
With 25 kilometres to go the front runners were 28 seconds up on the chasers.
The peloton was just 50 seconds back. Boonen tried to drive his group along
and get back to the head of affairs but finally relented, deciding to wait for
the main bunch along with his breakaway companions. Up front, the leaders started
to jump around as the kilometres ticked down. Pozatto was looking strong and
closed down many of the moves, hoping that Boonen would win the sprint if the
Rabobank-led chase brought things back. However, Mattan had no intention of
waiting around for that to happen. The Belgian jumped with nine kilometres to
go, being brought back by Hushovd; he went again, and while Bennati and Cancellara
did what they could, they couldn’t quite back on terms.
Pozzato and Backstedt were looking strong and could have had a chance of reeling
him in, but both went down on a corner, losing any chance they had of winning.
A fully committed Mattan opened up a gap of 6 seconds with 7 kilometres to go,
beincg chased by Bennati, Flecha, Cancellara, Hushovd and Cooke. This quintet
gradually clawed him back, Flecha and Cooke surging to get across and make it
three up front.
The podium (L to R):
Photo ⓒ: Sirotti
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Cooke’s sprint made him a big danger, so Flecha wasn’t going to wait around.
He put in a huge effort with three kilometres to go, shaking off the other two.
Cooke slipped backwards and eventually finished sixth, but Mattan kept going.
With one kilometre to go he was five seconds back; it seemed too much to close,
but with cars and motorbikes hovering in the gap, he managed to get across with
300 metres remaining. Once there, he went straight past a tiring Flecha, hitting
the line two seconds clear and scooping the biggest ? and probably the most
controversial ? win of his career.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images,
click here
Images by
Jonathan Devich/
epicimages.us
Images by
Fotoreporter
Sirotti
Results - 208 km
1 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 4.53.07 (42.577 km/h)
2 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 0.02
3 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 0.09
4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo
5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole
6 Baden Cooke (Aus) Francaise des Jeux 0.16
7 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 0.18
8 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Domina Vacanze
9 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile
10 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis - Le Credit par Telephone
11 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Credit Agricole
12 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas - Bianchi
13 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Liquigas - Bianchi
14 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank
15 Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems
16 Antonio Cruz (USA) Discovery Channel
17 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC
18 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech
19 Vladimir Gussev (Rus) Team CSC
20 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile
21 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak Hearing Systems
22 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Francaise des Jeux
23 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC
24 Frederic Guesdon (Fra) Francaise des Jeux
25 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
26 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep
27 Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
28 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank
29 Nicola Loda (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi
30 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quickstep
31 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Rabobank
32 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank
33 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep 0.31
34 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quickstep 0.36
35 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 0.57
36 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quickstep 1.08
37 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 2.05
38 Aurelien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 2.55
39 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team CSC
40 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre - Caffita
41 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Francaise des Jeux
42 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
43 Unai Yus Kerejeta (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
44 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Domina Vacanze
45 Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne
46 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 2.57
47 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
48 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems
49 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre - Caffita
50 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner
51 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 3.01
52 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quickstep
53 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 6.57
54 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
55 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Rabobank
56 Stefan Adamsson (Swe) Barloworld - Valsir
57 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Credit Agricole
58 Henk Vogels (Aus) Davitamon - Lotto
59 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi
60 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim
61 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi
62 Gianluca Sironi (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi
63 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole
64 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas - Bianchi
65 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
66 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quickstep
67 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto
68 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim
69 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) Team CSC
70 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Wurth Team
71 Isaac Galvez Lopez (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne
72 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner
73 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld - Valsir
74 Matthe Pronk (Ned) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech
75 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre - Caffita
76 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Cofidis - Le Credit par Telephone 12.25
77 Siro Camponogara (Ita) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
78 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
79 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
80 Josu Silloniz Aresti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
Starters: 193
ProTour standings
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 93 pts
2 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 70
3 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Gerolsteiner 70
4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep 62
5 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 50
6 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 50
7 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile 41
8 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 41
9 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 40
10 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 35
11 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 35
12 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems 35
13 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 35
14 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile 33
15 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis - Le Credit par Telephone 31
16 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 31
17 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 30
18 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 25
19 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 25
20 Jorg Jaksche (Ger) Liberty Seguros-Wurth Team 25
21 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi 25
22 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 25
23 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 21
24 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 20
25 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise des Jeux 20
26 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 15
27 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Wurth Team 15
28 Baden Cooke (Aus) Francaise des Jeux 11
29 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon - Lotto 10
30 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon - Lotto 10
31 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 10
32 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 7
33 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Domina Vacanze 5
34 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile 5
35 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 5
36 Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) (Saunier Duval 5
37 Vladimir Gussev (Rus) Team CSC 1
38 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 1
39 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 1
40 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 1
41 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quickstep 1
42 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 1
43 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 1
Teams
1 Fassa Bortolo 80 pts
2 Davitamon-Lotto 77
3 T-Mobile Team 70
4 Team CSC 68
5 Rabobank 68
6 Phonak 53
7 Discovery Channel 52
8 Saunier Duval-Prodir 51
9 Quickstep 50
10 Gerolsteiner 47
11 Liquigas-Bianchi 47
12 Credit Agricole 46
13 Franccaise des Jeux 41
14 Liberty Seguros 41
15 Lampre-Caffita 35
16 Cofidis 29
17 Euskaltel-Euskadi 28
18 Bouygues Telecom 28
19 Domina Vacanze 20
20 Illes Balears 16
Nations
1 Italy 203 pts
2 Germany 200
3 Spain 199
4 Belgium 164
5 USA 85
6 Australia 52
7 Norway 50
8 Switserland 31
9 France 30
10 Luxembourg 15
11 Netherlands 12
12 Russia 6
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