BiciRace.com :: 2006 Deutschland Tour

2006 Deutschland Tour, Stage 1

Deutschland Tour, Germany

Stage 1, Düsseldorf - Bielefeld, 198K

2 August

Bravo Bazayev

A wet and wily sprint in Deutschland Tour stage 1 produced a big win for Assan Bazayev and his Astaná squadra. Rain showers hammered the stage finale; after the day-long escape duo was pulled in at -18K tifosi witnessed a damp bunch gallop. German Erik Zabel (Milram) was exited to win after passing through his home town on today's course but could not contend with the 25 year-old Kazakh's power; finishing third behind Bazayev and Napolitano. Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel), who won yesterday's prologue, safely retained his yellow leader's jersey.

Düsseldorf was very nice for the riders of the Deutschland Tour but the finish in Bielefeld was just plain nasty. The peloton, covering 198K on a mostly flat parcours, encountered serious rain storms in last third of the stage.

An escape duo formed established a lead early on; building up to five minutes over the peloton at -85K. Anton Luengo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Andreas Matzbacher (Vorarlberg) spent the majority of their day off the front of the peloton before Discovery Channel, for Gusev, started to heavily police the duo's business.

The five minutes were cut in half, 2'50", by -60K. Wiesenhof-Akud, for their sprinter Gerald Ciolek, lent a hand to Disco to bring back the Spaniard and German. The worsening weather and the wave of momentum behind put an end to Luengo and Matzbacher.

Earlier in the day the skies were grey but by -25K, the escape with 1'05", buckets of rain were coming down, combining with nasty-strong winds and 19°C temperatures. This was the cue David Zabriskie needed to exit the race. Il Americano popped out the back of the peloton and put an end to his D-Tour (more info on Zabriskie later).

Lampre-Fondital and Milram started whipping up the tempo once the escapees were caught at -18K. Milram wanted to give Zabel a win after the German passed home town of Unna earlier in the stage. Milram handled a last minute gutsy move by Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner.

Schumacher, stage winner in the Giro d'Italia, also under soggy conditions, bolted free for two kilometers with Lampre-Fondital's Evgeni Petrov. As soon as Schumacher and Petrov were pulled in, -3K, Lampre-Fondital's Napolitano opened up his sprint. A touch early, the Italian sprinter was overtaken by Bazayev but held off Zabel.

The bravado shown over the drenched German roads were just enough to put a smile on teammate Vinokourov's face. The Kazakh-powered squadra, with their first win since being excluded from the Tour de France, will be partying in the hotel this evening. Spumante Anyone?

Results: 4:43'06"
1 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astaná
2 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram
4 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile
5 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance
6 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
7 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
8 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
9 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Rabobank
10 Josep Jufré (Spa) Davitamon-Lotto
11 Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Vorarlberg
12 Alexei Markov (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
13 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel
14 Koldo Fernández (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
15 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick-Step
16 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Milram
17 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
18 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
19 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel
20 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) T-Mobile
21 Sven Teutenberg (Ger) Vorarlberg
22 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
23 Luis Fernández (Spa) Phonak
24 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
25 Dario Cioni (Ita) Liquigas
26 Alan Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
27 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre-Fondital
28 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile
29 Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick-Step
30 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Rabobank
31 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel
32 Nick Gates (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
33 Aitor Pérez Arrieta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
34 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile
35 Christian Knees (Ger) Milram
36 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Phonak
37 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner
38 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) T-Mobile
39 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
40 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram
41 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner
42 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astaná
43 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital
44 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner
45 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Wiesenhof-Akud
46 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
47 Loyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
48 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas
49 Steffen Radochla (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
50 Guido Trentin (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
51 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
52 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astaná
53 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
54 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile
55 Daniel Becke (Ger) Milram
56 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel
57 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
58 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick-Step
59 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
60 Nicki Sřrensen (Den) Team CSC
61 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
62 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française Des Jeux
63 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner
64 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel
65 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
66 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
67 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
68 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis
69 Joseba Albizu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
70 Andrea Noč (Ita) Liquigas
71 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis
72 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
73 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick-Step
74 Björn Schröder (Ger) Milram
75 Tyler Farrar (USA) Cofidis
76 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
77 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC
78 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
79 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
80 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC
81 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole
82 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas
83 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas
84 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Cofidis
85 Marco Fertonani (Ita) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
86 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astaná
87 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
88 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
89 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astaná
90 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Crédit Agricole
91 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
92 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Saunier Duval-Prodir
93 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner
94 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux
95 Ian McLeod (RSA) Française Des Jeux
96 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital
97 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Ag2R Prévoyance
98 Patrick McCarty (USA) Phonak
99 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak
100 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak
101 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Crédit Agricole
102 Jurgen Van de Walle (Bel) Quick-Step
103 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astaná
104 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astaná
105 Ińigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC
106 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank
107 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile
108 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
109 Iban Iriondo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
110 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prévoyance
111 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
112 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
113 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis
114 Remmert Wielinga (Ned) Quick-Step
115 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
116 Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
117 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak
118 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
119 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile
120 Piotr Mazur (Pol) Saunier Duval-Prodir
121 Harald Morscher (Aut) Vorarlberg
122 Trent Lowe (Aus) Discovery Channel
123 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC
124 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
125 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Milram
126 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
127 Nicolas Inaudi (Fra) Cofidis
128 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner
129 Robert Retschke (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
130 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole
131 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole
132 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Crédit Agricole
133 Werner Riebenbauer (Aut) Vorarlberg
134 Christian Müller (Ger) Team CSC
135 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
136 Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank
137 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom 0.50
138 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.56
139 Patrick Riedesser (Aut) Vorarlberg
140 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R Prévoyance 1.07
141 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française Des Jeux 1.13
142 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux 1.18
143 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis
144 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis
145 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astaná
146 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Française Des Jeux 1.31
147 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Milram
148 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
149 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
150 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
151 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Quick-Step
152 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
153 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
154 Pascal Hungerbühler (Swi) Vorarlberg
155 Marco Milesi (Ita) Liquigas
156 David Vitoria (Swi) Phonak
157 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1.58
158 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
159 Davide Viganň (Ita) Quick-Step
160 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel 2.58
161 Tim Klinger (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud 4.37
162 Lubor Tesar (Cze) Wiesenhof-Akud
163 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir
164 Christoph Girschweiler (Swi) Vorarlberg
165 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Liquigas 4.40
166 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
167 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
168 Erki Pütsep (Est) Ag2R Prévoyance
169 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 6.11
170 Andreas Matzbacher (Aut) Vorarlberg 7.41
171 Jason McCartney (USA) Discovery Channel 7.50
172 Anton Luengo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
173 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 10.08

GC:
1 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel 4:49'47"
2 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile 0.01
3 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.02
4 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole 0.05
5 Alexei Markov (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.09
6 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
7 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick-Step
8 Ińigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 0.10
9 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Wiesenhof-Akud
10 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Ag2R Prévoyance
11 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astaná 0.11
12 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel 0.12
13 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram
14 Dario Cioni (Ita) Liquigas
15 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick-Step 0.13
16 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 0.14
17 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 0.15
18 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astaná 0.17
19 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Wiesenhof-Akud
20 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears

Points
1 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel 30
2 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astaná 25
3 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile 20
4 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 20
5 Andreas Matzbacher (Aut) Vorarlberg 16