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Critérium International, France

Stage 1, Sedan - Charleville-Mezieres, 192K

25 March

Rabo-Man Dekker Takes First Blood

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Erik Dekker (Rabobank) has stolen the show from Ivan Basso, Andriy Grivko and Igor Astarloa. The foursome formed their move over the final climb (Côte de Barbe-en-Croc, 178.5) of the 192K stage to Charleville-Mezieres. The Dutchman will wear the leader's jersey for tomorrow's morning stage.

The first stage of the Critérium is normally reserved for the pure sprinters, but the rain helped a 30-man break move free. In the move were power-players Dekker, Astarloa, and Basso as well as No-Fuss Floyd Landis, fresh off victory in Paris-Nice, and last year's winner Bobby Julich.

Back luck struck l'Americano, Landis, with 42K to go. No-Fuss Floyd hit the deck on his left hip. He quickly got back up but lost time, forcing his hearing team to blaze down the road, chasing after the leaders for the rest of the day.

The attention was on the Danish squadra of Bjarne Riis. The CSC boys have won the last two additions, and looked poised to romp in today's stage. Fränk Schleck, Jens Voigt, Bobby Julich and Carlos Sastre were all in the move with the Italian Stallion, Ivan Basso. The crew, and winds, helped thin down the affairs to just four.

With -3K Dekker, Basso, Astarloa and Grivko had 15" over the main gruppo. Igor Astarloa (Barloworld), who showed he was back in 2006 with a strong Milan-Sanremo and a win in Milan-Torino, took a bad tumble on the wet run-in. BiciRace.com, and all of the cycling community, hope the 2003 World Champion will come back fighting again tomorrow morning in stage 2.

Dekker, after barely missing Astarloa's tumble, throttled past the Italian and Ukrainian. Ho ho ho. ... The 34 year-old comes hammering back on the scene after one and a half years without a win. The Dutchman would love to win the Critérium, but especially has his eyes on next Sunday's Ronde Van Vlaanderen.

Since the main gruppo finished at 1'32", the final GC will be fought out between the top nine in today's standings. With only a 20" separation it will be a tight battle for tomorrow's final two stages, but our Euro is on Dekker, Gutiérrez or McGee.

Results: 4:29'14", 42.788 K/h
1 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC
3 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Milram 0.02
4 Iván Gutiérrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.10
5 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
6 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
7 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner
8 Bradley McGee (Aus) Française Des Jeux
9 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Barloworld
10 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak 1.14
11 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile
12 David López García (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
13 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
14 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram 1.32
15 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française Des Jeux 1.33
16 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank
17 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
18 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
19 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
20 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux
21 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
22 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld
23 Chris Sutton (Aus) Cofidis
24 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
25 Mario De Sárraga (Spa) Relax-GAM
26 Grégory Habeaux (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
27 Sven Renders (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
28 Kevin Neirynck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
29 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
30 José Joaquín Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
31 Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
32 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prévoyance
33 Daniel Musiol (Ger) Milram
34 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole
35 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
36 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-GAM
37 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.com
38 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank
39 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld
40 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel
41 Marco Osella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi
42 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
43 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) T-Mobile
44 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak
45 Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile
46 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth
47 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
48 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux
49 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
50 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux

General
1 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 4:29'04"
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 0.04
3 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Milram 0.08
4 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Barloworld 0.10
5 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.16
6 Iván Gutiérrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.20
7 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
8 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner
9 Bradley McGee (Aus) Française Des Jeux
10 David López García (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.23
11 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Phonak 1.24
12 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile
13 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
14 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.37
15 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.41
16 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram 1.42
17 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française Des Jeux 1.43
18 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank
19 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
20 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
21 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux
22 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
23 Enrico Degano (Ita) Barloworld
24 Chris Sutton (Aus) Cofidis
25 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
26 Mario De Sárraga (Spa) Relax-GAM
27 Grégory Habeaux (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
28 Sven Renders (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
29 Kevin Neirynck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
30 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
31 José Joaquín Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
32 Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
33 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prévoyance
34 Daniel Musiol (Ger) Milram
35 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
36 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-GAM
37 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.com
38 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank
39 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld
40 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel
41 Marco Osella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi
42 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
43 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) T-Mobile
44 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak
45 Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile
46 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth
47 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
48 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux
49 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
50 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux