BiciRace.com :: 2006 3 Days of De Panne

2006 3 Days of De Panne, Stage 4

3 Days of De Panne, Belgium

Stage 4, De Panne TT, 11.5K

30 March

Hoste Heads Disco Hammer

Discovery Channel put down the hammer today: Leif Hoste not only took back the GC from Bernard Eisel to win the 30th 3 Days of De Panne, but he also stormed to time trial victory. Disco polished off the day with the fast beating rhythm of Hincapie (2nd) and Devolder (3rd). Austrian Eisel rode well to hold on to second overall in the Final GC.

A very technical course of 11.5K welcomed the riders on a drizzly day in De Panne. Only four seconds separated Leif Hoste (Discovery Channel) from taking the race leader's white jersey from Bernhard Eisel (Française Des Jeux). Eisel had his work cut out for him: Hoste on paper is a faster crono-man and has the Disco secrets.

The Disco rhythm aided Stijn Devolder to the top spot, with a time of 14'35". The Belgian was ousted by l'Americano, Hincapie, who stormed the cobbled course to come in four seconds faster. Hincapie, who looked wafer-thin, seems fit to challenge for the Tour de France overall, but what about next week's races?

There was a silence amongst the beer drinking crowd as they looked down the De Panne streets and heard the unmistakable sound of a disc wheel. It was Hoste. The Belgian nailed Hincapie's time, and then some, with 14'17". Austrian Eisel had no answer and lost the GC battle, his time was 34" off Hoste.

Eisel said before the stage that he had a small possibility of keeping the GC lead, but he did ride impressively to finish second on the podium. After crossing the line he searched out Hoste to congratulate him on a race well fought.

Of note to the BiciRace.com crew was the ride of Frank Vandenbroucke (Unibet.com). He blasted the course and held the lead for much of the morning, only ousted by the big favorites. VDB may have something to show in Sunday's Ronde.

We tip our hats to LL Sánchez (Liberty Seguros-Würth). The poor Spaniard had a rear wheel flat, which is never good on such a short TT. After fast Liberty service, the Spaniard regained his composure to hold on to his third place in GC. Well done.

Results:
1 Leif Hoste (Bel) Discovery Channel 14'17"99, 48.2 K/h
2 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 0.14
3 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel 0.18
4 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick-Step 0.27
5 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.30
6 José Joaquín Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 0.34
7 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
8 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux
9 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Unibet.com 0.39
10 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.41
11 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel 0.43
12 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 0.47
13 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 0.51
14 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) Discovery Channel 0.52
15 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 0.57
16 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
17 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step 0.58
18 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Française Des Jeux 0.59
19 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1.01
20 Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile 1.03
21 Daniele Colli (Ita) Liquigas 1.06
22 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Jartazi-7Mobile
23 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak 1.09
24 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth 1.10
25 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1.12
26 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step 1.15
27 Bram Schmitz (Ned) T-Mobile
28 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile 1.16
29 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step
30 Marco Milesi (Ita) Liquigas

Final GC:
1 Leif Hoste (Bel) Discovery Channel 13:17'03"
2 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux 0.30
3 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 1.05
4 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick-Step 1.08
5 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 1.25
6 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step 1.34
7 José Joaquín Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 1.45
8 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel 1.52
9 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2.15
10 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2.35
11 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2.42
12 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth 2.44
13 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2.49
14 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step
15 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step 2.50
16 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2.59
17 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick-Step 3.31
18 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 3.32
19 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel 3.54
20 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen 3.55
21 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Jartazi-7Mobile 4.08
22 Marco Milesi (Ita) Liquigas 4.41
23 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française Des Jeux 4.49
24 Michaël Blanchy (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile 5.01
25 Henk Vogels (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 5.46
26 Marlon Pérez (Col) Tenax-Salmilano 6.10
27 Jarno Van Mingeroet (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile 10.31
28 Sven Renders (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 12.09
29 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 15.21
30 Robby Meul (Bel) Jartazi-7Mobile 16.50