Big shakeup upends general classification
Although yesterday’s time trial winner Luke Durbridge said that he was relatively confident that he and his Orica GreenEdge team would be able to defend the race lead, the Australian lost his grip at the top of the general classification on today’s fourth stage of the race.
The undulating 188.7 kilometre leg to Pré-en-Pail saw a major shakeup, with Durbridge and his team coming under sustained attack, and the defending champion trailing in over four and a half minutes down in 48th place.
The rider who benefited most from the reshuffling was the Frenchman Pierre Rolland (Europcar), who soloed to the stage victory and also took over as the new race leader.
Racing in cold conditions, the 2011 Tour de France Alpe d’Huez stage winner reached the line nine seconds clear of Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling) and 23 ahead of Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos-Shimano) plus Jan Barta (Team NetApp-Endura). Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale) led in a large chase group 25 seconds down.
“It was very cold, but as the stage was up and down, it was possible to warm up [going uphill],” Rolland said after the stage. “In the team we had our card to play. I feel better and better. With my coach I worked a lot to be ready for this time of the year. I can say that this victory came at the designated time…we did a very good job.”
Just over twenty kilometres after the start, Cyril Bessy (Cofidis), Jimmy Engoulvent (Sojasun) and Marco Coledan (Bardiani Valvole CSF Inox) jumped clear and opened a solid gap. They were joined in the last hour by Europcar’s Kevin Reza, Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Sébastian Duret (Bretagne Seche Environnement).
Rolland later bridged with NetApp’s David De la Cruz, then pushed on alone to take a fine win. The success and the shake up behind saw him end the day ten seconds ahead of Jan Barta (Team NetApp-Endura) and Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos-Shimano), with Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) eleven seconds back and Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling) at twelve.
The race concludes tomorrow with a 165.8 kilometre race from Abbaye de l’Epau to St-Vincent-du-Loroüer.
Circuit Cycliste Sarthe, France (2.1)
Stage 4: Angers – Pré-en-Pail:
1, Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar) 188.7 kilometres in 5 hours 33 mins 16 secs
2, Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling) at 9 secs
3, Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos-Shimano) at 23 secs
4, Jan Barta (Team NetApp-Endura)
5, Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale) at 25 secs
6, Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
7, Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard)
8, Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
9, Julien Berard (AG2R La Mondiale)
10, Marcel Wyss (IAM Cycling)
11, Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox)
12, Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar)
13, Jonathan Hivert (Sojasun)
14, Leonardo Fabio Duque (Colombia)
15, Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ)
16, Rory Sutherland (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
17, Nicki Sörensen (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
18, Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ)
19, Mads Christensen (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
20, Nicola Boem (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox)
21, Jesse Sergent (RadioShack Leopard) at 58 secs
22, Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha)
23, Geoffroy Lequatre (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) at 1 min 7 secs
24, Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne-Seche Environnement)
25, Rémi Pauriol (Sojasun)
26, Anthony Geslin (FDJ)
27, Carlos Julian Quintero (Colombia)
28, Yukiya Arashiro (Team Europcar)
29, Florian Guillou (Bretagne-Seche Environnement)
30, Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) at 1 min 21 secs
31, Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Sharp)
32, Théo Vimpere (BigMat-Auber) 93
33, David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Team NetApp-Endura)
34, Tony Hurel (Team Europcar) at 2 mins 34 secs
35, Kévin Reza (Team Europcar)
36, Jurgen Van Goolen (Accent Jobs-Wanty) at 3 mins 0 secs
37, Anthony Delaplace (Sojasun)
38, Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne-Seche Environnement)
39, Guillaume Levarlet (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
40, Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale)
41, Karsten Kroon (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
42, Benjamin King (RadioShack Leopard)
43, Jay McCarthy (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
44, Romain Zingle (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
45, Thomas Damuseau (Team Argos-Shimano)
46, Francis Mourey (FDJ)
47, Bob Jungels (RadioShack Leopard) at 4 mins 12 secs
48, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) at 4 mins 37 secs
49, Danilo Hondo (RadioShack Leopard)
50, Stéphane Rossetto (BigMat-Auber) 93
51, Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox)
52, Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack Leopard)
53, Sacha Modolo (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox)
54, Alexandr Pliuschin (IAM Cycling)
55, Flavien Dassonville (BigMat-Auber) 93
56, Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar)
57, Matthieu Sprick (Team Argos-Shimano)
58, Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp)
59, Will Routley (Accent Jobs-Wanty)
60, Steele Von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp)
61, Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp)
62, Timofey Kritskiy (Katusha)
63, Leopold Konig (Team NetApp-Endura) at 6 mins 33 secs
64, Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal (Colombia)
65, Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale) at 7 mins 6 secs
66, Sébastien Duret (Bretagne-Seche Environnement)
67, Marco Canola (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) at 7 mins 37 secs
68, Marco Coledan (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox)
69, Rémi Cusin (IAM Cycling)
70, Sylvain Georges (AG2R La Mondiale)
71, Jean-Marc Marino (Sojasun) at 10 mins 15 secs
72, Juan Pablo Valencia (Colombia) at 12 mins 22 secs
73, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha) at 12 mins 58 secs
74, Alexander Porsev (Katusha)
75, Nicolas Vogondy (Accent Jobs-Wanty)
76, Cyril Bessy (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
77, Jimmy Engoulvent (Sojasun)
78, Stéphane Poulhies (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
79, Duber Armando Quintero Artunduaga (Colombia) at 18 mins 33 secs
80, Scott Thwaites (Team NetApp-Endura) at 19 mins 21 secs
81, Danilo Napolitano (Accent Jobs-Wanty) at 20 mins 28 secs
82, Rony Martias (Sojasun)
83, Michael Hepburn (Orica-GreenEdge)
84, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ)
85, Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling)
86, Jonas Ahlstrand (Team Argos-Shimano)
87, Benoit Drujon (BigMat-Auber) 93
88, Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge)
89, Takashi Miyazawa (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
90, Gregory Habeaux (Accent Jobs-Wanty)
91, Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) at 25 mins 44 secs
General classification after stage 4:
1, Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar) 12 hours 44 mins 39 secs
2, Jan Barta (Team NetApp-Endura) at 10 secs
3, Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos-Shimano)
4, Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) at 11 secs
5, Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling) at 12 secs
6, Nicki Sörensen (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 17 secs
7, Mads Christensen (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 19 secs
8, Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ) at 20 secs
9, Jonathan Hivert (Sojasun) at 22 secs
10, Rory Sutherland (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 25 secs
11, Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) at 28 secs
12, Nicola Boem (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) at 29 secs
13, Marcel Wyss (IAM Cycling) at 30 secs
14, Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
15, Leonardo Fabio Duque (Colombia) at 31 secs
16, Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ) at 32 secs
17, Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
18, Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale) at 33 secs
19, Julien Berard (AG2R La Mondiale) at 40 secs
20, Jesse Sergent (RadioShack Leopard) at 45 secs
21, Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) at 49 secs
22, Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha) at 57 secs
23, Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) at 1 min 1 secs
24, Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) at 1 min 5 secs
25, Rémi Pauriol (Sojasun) at 1 min 7 secs
26, Geoffroy Lequatre (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) at 1 min 20 secs
27, Yukiya Arashiro (Team Europcar) at 1 min 22 secs
28, Carlos Julian Quintero (Colombia) at 1 min 25 secs
29, David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Team NetApp-Endura) at 1 min 28 secs
30, Anthony Geslin (FDJ)
31, Florian Guillou (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) at 1 min 29 secs
32, Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Sharp)
33, Théo Vimpere (BigMat-Auber 93) at 2 mins 19 secs
34, Kévin Reza (Team Europcar) at 2 mins 25 secs
35, Tony Hurel (Team Europcar) at 2 mins 43 secs
36, Benjamin King (RadioShack Leopard) at 2 mins 57 secs
37, Anthony Delaplace (Sojasun) at 3 mins 5 secs
38, Romain Zingle (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) at 3 mins 8 secs
39, Karsten Kroon (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 3 mins 10 secs
40, Jay McCarthy (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 3 mins 13 secs
41, Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) at 3 mins 21 secs
42, Thomas Damuseau (Team Argos-Shimano) at 3 mins 23 secs
43, Francis Mourey (FDJ) at 3 mins 25 secs
44, Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) at 3 mins 31 secs
45, Jurgen Van Goolen (Accent Jobs-Wanty) at 3 mins 32 secs
46, Bob Jungels (RadioShack Leopard) at 3 mins 55 secs
47, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) at 4 mins 20 secs
48, Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack Leopard) at 4 mins 32 secs
49, Timofey Kritskiy (Katusha) at 4 mins 33 secs
50, Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) at 4 mins 42 secs
51, Sacha Modolo (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox)
52, Matthieu Sprick (Team Argos-Shimano) at 4 mins 43 secs
53, Danilo Hondo (RadioShack Leopard)
54, Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) at 4 mins 45 secs
55, Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox)
56, Stéphane Rossetto (BigMat-Auber 93) at 4 mins 52 secs
57, Alexandr Pliuschin (IAM Cycling) at 4 mins 53 secs
58, Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) at 4 mins 56 secs
59, Flavien Dassonville (BigMat-Auber) 93
60, Steele Von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) at 5 mins 0 secs
61, Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal (Colombia) at 6 mins 51 secs
62, Leopold Konig (Team NetApp-Endura) at 6 mins 54 secs
63, Sébastien Duret (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) at 7 mins 22 secs
64, Marco Coledan (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) at 7 mins 32 secs
65, Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale) at 7 mins 36 secs
66, Guillaume Levarlet (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) at 7 mins 37 secs
67, Marco Canola (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) at 7 mins 46 secs
68, Rémi Cusin (IAM Cycling) at 7 mins 49 secs
69, Sylvain Georges (AG2R La Mondiale) at 7 mins 52 secs
70, Jean-Marc Marino (Sojasun) at 10 mins 48 secs
71, Will Routley (Accent Jobs-Wanty) at 12 mins 51 secs
72, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha) at 12 mins 56 secs
73, Juan Pablo Valencia (Colombia) at 12 mins 59 secs
74, Alexander Porsev (Katusha) at 13 mins 6 secs
75, Jimmy Engoulvent (Sojasun) at 13 mins 12 secs
76, Stéphane Poulhies (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) at 13 mins 31 secs
77, Nicolas Vogondy (Accent Jobs-Wanty) at 13 mins 37 secs
78, Cyril Bessy (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) at 13 mins 59 secs
79, Duber Armando Quintero Artunduaga (Colombia) at 19 mins 3 secs
80, Scott Thwaites (Team NetApp-Endura) at 19 mins 45 secs
81, Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge) at 20 mins 15 secs
82, Michael Hepburn (Orica-GreenEdge) at 20 mins 18 secs
83, Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) at 20 mins 41 secs
84, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) at 20 mins 51 secs
85, Jonas Ahlstrand (Team Argos-Shimano) at 20 mins 56 secs
86, Benoit Drujon (BigMat-Auber 93) at 21 mins 0 secs
87, Rony Martias (Sojasun) at 21 mins 11 secs
88, Takashi Miyazawa (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 21 mins 20 secs
89, Gregory Habeaux (Accent Jobs-Wanty) at 21 mins 41 secs
90, Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) at 25 mins 30 secs
91, Danilo Napolitano (Accent Jobs-Wanty) at 29 mins 24 secs
Points:
1, Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) 41 pts
2, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) 39
3, Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) 36
4, Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar) 25
5, Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos-Shimano) 22
6, Steele Von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) 22
7, Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha) 21
8, Sacha Modolo (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) 21
9, Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling) 20
10, Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack Leopard) 19
11, Jan Barta (Team NetApp-Endura) 18
12, Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale) 17
13, Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) 14
14, Alexander Porsev (Katusha) 14
15, Scott Thwaites (Team NetApp-Endura) 13
16, Takashi Miyazawa (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) 13
17, Nicola Boem (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) 11
18, Kévin Reza (Team Europcar) 11
19, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 10
20, Marco Coledan (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) 10
21, Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) 10
22, Leonardo Fabio Duque (Colombia) 9
23, Bob Jungels (RadioShack Leopard) 9
24, Jonathan Hivert (Sojasun) 8
25, Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) 8
26, Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) 8
27, Benoit Drujon (BigMat-Auber 93) 8
28, Julien Berard (AG2R La Mondiale) 7
29, Jimmy Engoulvent (Sojasun) 7
30, Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) 7
Mountains:
1, Rony Martias (Sojasun) 23 pts
2, Jimmy Engoulvent (Sojasun) 18
3, Cyril Bessy (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) 16
4, Kévin Reza (Team Europcar) 14
5, Nicola Boem (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) 12
6, Sébastien Duret (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) 10
7, Marco Coledan (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) 9
8, Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) 6
9, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) 4
10, Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) 3
11, Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) 2
12, Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ) 2
13, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 1
Young riders:
1, Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos-Shimano 1) at 2 hours 44 mins 49 secs
2, Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne-Seche Environnement) at 51 secs
3, Théo Vimpere (BigMat-Auber 93) at 2 mins 9 secs
4, Jay McCarthy (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) at 3 mins 3 secs
5, Bob Jungels (RadioShack Leopard) at 3 mins 45 secs
6, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) at 4 mins 10 secs
7, Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) at 4 mins 32 secs
8, Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) at 4 mins 35 secs
9, Flavien Dassonville (BigMat-Auber 93) at 4 mins 46 secs
10, Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale) at 7 mins 26 secs
11, Duber Armando Quintero Artunduaga (Colombia) at 18 mins 53 secs
12, Scott Thwaites (Team NetApp-Endura) at 19 mins 35 secs
13, Michael Hepburn (Orica-GreenEdge) at 20 mins 8 secs
14, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) at 20 mins 41 secs
15, Jonas Ahlstrand (Team Argos-Shimano) at 20 mins 46 secs
Teams classification:
1, Team Saxo-Tinkoff, 38 hours 14 mins 58 secs
2, Team Europcar, at 41 secs
3, FDJ, at 1 min 19 secs
4, Bretagne-Seche Environnement, at 2 mins 13 secs
5, RadioShack-Leopard, at 2 mins 40 secs
6, Cofidis,Solutions Credits, at 3 mins 9 secs
7, Ag2R La Mondiale, at 3 mins 28 secs
8, Sojasun, at 3 mins 36 secs
9, IAM Cycling, at 4 mins 36 secs
10, Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox, at 4 mins 44 secs
11, Team Argos-Shimano, at 7 mins 19 secs
12, Team NetApp-Endura, at 7 mins 31 secs
13, Colombia, at 7 mins 46 secs
14, Garmin Sharp, at 10 mins 9 secs
15, Bigmat-Auber 93, at 10 mins 30 secs
16, Katusha, at 17 mins 14 secs
17, Accents Jobs-Wanty, at 20 mins 45 secs
18, Orica-GreenEdge, at 24 mins 39 secs