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Paris-Tours, France

8 October, 254.5K

Guesdon Sprints For Win

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2005 Results

Frédéric Guesdon used his sprinting nous to great effect today narrowly edging out Norway’s Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Team CSC) in the famed Avenue du Grammont. Again relegated to the bottom step of the podium was the Aussie almost man, Stuart O’Grady (Team CSC).

Lars Michaelsen (CSC), JJ Cobo (Saunier Duval), Enrico Franzoi (Lampre), Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile), Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) and Maarten Tjallingii (Skil) were the first riders to have a go of it. They were quickly neutralized after about 10 kilometers by a sextet that contained among others the race runner up, Kurt-Asle Arvesen.

Thirty three kilometers into affairs saw the real danger move of the day. In it were: Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel), Kasper Klostergaard, Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC), Stephane Poulhies (AG2R), Kevin Van Impe, Steven de Jongh (Quick Step), Frederic Finot, Frederic Guesdon (FDJ), Graeme Brown, Pedro Horrillo (Rabobank), Frederic Amorison (Landbouwkrediet), Tyler Farrar, Cristian Moreni (Cofidis), Sebastien Siedler (Milram), Danilo Napolitano, Enrico Franzoi (Lampre), Maarten Tjallingii, Cristoph Meschenmoser (Skil), Mauro da Dalto, Luca Paolini (Liquigas), Jan Kuyckx (Davitamon), Yoann Le Boulanger (Bouygues Telecom), Peter Wrolich (Gerolsteiner), David Vitoria (Phonak), Carlos Abellán, Koen de Kort (Astaná), Iñaki Isasi (EE) and Enrico Gasparotto (Liquigas).

A large chase eventually formed and by the 81 kilometer to go mark the chase had widdled their advantage down to about 1’35”. It would be tough for this group to stay away to the finish, but it nevertheless contained some very dangerous sprinters in the form of Paolini, Napolitano and Arvesen so the chase was getting very ansy.

By the feedzone both Boonen and Zabel had climbed off their steeds and called it a day. The relentless pace of the race coupled with the crosswinds had now claimed nearly half the peloton.

Inevitably, riders would begin to feel that their chance for victory would be far greater in a smaller group. And it was Carlos Abellán and Jan Kuyckx who were the first to have this realization. Moreni and Guesdon were the next pair to have a dig. Their effort laid waste to the original break as there little groups of five riders littering the road.

With 42K to go Van Impe managed to drag himself up the leaders, Guesdon and Moreni. Bouygues Telecom, Discovery and Lampre were the three team doing the majority of the work to bring back the break, but they were having a difficult go of it. Enrico Gasparotto and Kurt-Asle Arvesen joined the trio now making it a quintet.

With 19K to go these were the five leaders. Following at a scant 30 seconds behind was the peloton. Luck was not on Van Impe’s side as he broke a spoke in his rear wheel and eventually was forced to fall off the pace.

Allessandro Ballan and Danilo Napolitano were hammering on the front for their man Bennati and managed to bring the break down to 14 seconds. This would bode well for Van Impe who fell back to the peloton after getting a wheel change from his team car.

Moreni had slipped off the front on the small cotes that dot the finale of this race, but was caught by a charging Guesdon and Arvesen with 5k to go. The two went clear on the Cote du Pont Volant. Thankfully, for Guesdon, he had teammate Phillippe Gilbert at the front of the chase who would block the other riders in any way could. Their gap at 3.5K was a narrow 11 seconds. Nuyens and Markov made an 11th hours attempt to bring back the duo, but to no avail. Into the Avenue de Grammont they went.

It’s dead straight at this point so the pair couldn’t afford to play cat and mouse much at all. Arvesen was the first to take to the front with Guesdon in tow. Next, Guesdon took the front. Guesdon led it out with a few hundred meters to go and managed to show some clean wheels to Arvesen. This is a sweet one for Guesdon! You have to think say back to 1997 when Guesdon won his last monument: Paris-Roubaix.

Results: 5.31.09 (46.112 km/h)
1 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française Des Jeux
2 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC
3 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team CSC 0.08
4 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
5 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance
6 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com
7 Frank Hoj (Den) Gerolsteiner
8 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
9 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
10 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step
11 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel
12 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
13 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux
14 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
15 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
16 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis
17 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile
18 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Unibet.com
19 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis
20 Thomas Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
21 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Skil-Shimano
22 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram
23 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank
24 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astaná
25 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis
26 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Crédit Agricole
27 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
28 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel
29 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick-Step
30 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas
31 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
32 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
33 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Skil-Shimano
34 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC
35 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.12
36 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Milram 0.14
37 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
38 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 0.34
39 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Milram
40 Erki Pütsep (Est) Ag2R Prévoyance 1.02
41 Carlos Abellan (Spa) Astaná 1.08
42 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC 4.14
43 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
44 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas
45 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 4.29
46 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
47 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2R Prévoyance 5.27
48 Kévin Van Impe (Bel) Quick-Step 7.37
49 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 9.36
50 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC
51 David Vitoria (Swi) Phonak
52 Evert Verbist (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
53 Koen De Kort (Ned) Astaná
54 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick-Step
55 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
56 David Loosli (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
57 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank
58 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
59 Christoph Meschenmoser (Ger) Skil-Shimano 11.27
60 Kasper Klostergaard (Den) Team CSC
61 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
62 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel
63 Tyler Farrar (USA) Cofidis
64 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
65 Volodimir Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel
66 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas
67 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
DNF Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Unai Uribarri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Vincent Jerome (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux
DNF Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française Des Jeux
DNF Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française Des Jeux
DNF Bradley Mc Gee (Aus) Française Des Jeux
DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux
DNF Johan Coenen (Bel) Unibet.com
DNF Jérémy Hunt (GBr) Unibet.com
DNF Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Unibet.com
DNF Ruben Perez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Iban Mayoz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis
DNF Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Renaud Dion (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
DNF Christophe Riblon (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
DNF Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Ag2R Prévoyance
DNF Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com
DNF Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com
DNF Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
DNF Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
DNF Kevin Neyrinck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
DNF Nico Sijmens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
DNF James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
DNF Jurgen Van Loocke (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
DNF Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano
DNF Paul Martens (Ger) Skil-Shimano
DNF Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano
DNF Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano
DNF René Weissinger (Ger) Skil-Shimano
DNF Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astaná
DNF Daniel Navarro (Spa) Astaná
DNF Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Astaná
DNF Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
DNF Benoit Sinner (Fra) Agritubel
DNF Marco Zanotti (Ita) Unibet.com
DNF Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
DNF Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
DNF Jens Renders (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
DNF Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
DNF Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
DNF Maarten Wynants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
DNF Serge Pauwels (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
DNF Hans Dekkers (Ned) Agritubel
DNF Linas Balciunas (Ltu) Agritubel
DNF Aivaras Baranauskas (Ltu) Agritubel
DNF Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Agritubel
DNF Benjamin Johnson (Aus) Agritubel
DNF Lenaïc Olivier (Fra) Agritubel
DNF Eladio Sanchez (Spa) Astaná
DNF Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram
DNF Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank
DNF Fumuyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel
DNF Leif Hoste (Bel) Discovery Channel
DNF Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Discovery Channel
DNF Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel
DNF Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
DNF Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
DNF Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak
DNF Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak
DNF Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak
DNF Victor Hugo Pena (Col) Phonak
DNF Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak
DNF Michael Schär (Swi) Phonak
DNF Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak
DNF Gerben Löwik (Ned) Rabobank
DNF Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank
DNF Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Milram
DNF Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Milram
DNF Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Milram
DNF Marco Velo (Ita) Milram
DNF Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC
DNF Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC
DNF José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
DNF Aleixei Markov (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
DNF Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
DNF Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
DNF Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
DNF Mikel Pradera (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
DNF Vicente Reynes (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
DNF Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
DNF Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile
DNF Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile
DNF Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner
DNF Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas
DNF Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas
DNF Marco Righetto (Ita) Liquigas
DNF Stefano Zanini (Ita) Liquigas
DNF Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole
DNF Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole
DNF Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Crédit Agricole
DNF Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole
DNF Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Crédit Agricole
DNF Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step
DNF Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step
DNF Sebastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick-Step
DNF Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick-Step
DNF Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner
DNF Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner
DNF Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile
DNF Andre Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile
DNF André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile
DNF Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile
DNF Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile
DNF Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Arkaitz Duran Aroca (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Peter Mazur (Pol) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Javier Meijas (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Carlos Zarate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Alberto Fernández De La Puebla (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
DNF Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis