gitaneusa.com :: View topic - Paris-Nice - March 7-14 (HIS)

sandranian · Site Admin

Start list as of March 2, 2010:

Saur-Sojasun:
Jimmy Casper
Jérôme Coppel
Jimmy Engoulvent
Jérémie Galland
Cyril Lemoine
Laurent Mangel
Jean-Marc Marino
Yannick Talabardon

Wisey

C'mon Jimmy!!!

sandranian · Site Admin

The cold temps, wind and cobbles (yes, apparently cobbles were planned for a TT course) played havoc with the riders, sending Gert Steegmans to the hospital with a broken collarbone.

"It was all about pacing today because of the course. We had real cobbles, which are really tough on a time trial bike, and then the last part was uphill into the headwind," Robert Millar is quoted as saying.

All of the pics I have seen show riders exclusively on TT bikes, so the cobbles couldn't have been too nasty.

Saur rode well, with a 13th place, which is really impressive!

Prologue Results:
1 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 0:10:56
13 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:17
37 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:31
39 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:32
42 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:33
113 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:56
134 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:05
155 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:17
168 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:31

sandranian · Site Admin

Jeremy Galland 3rd on the stage! Cyril Lemoine finished in the top group as well, and Jimmy Casper got 4th in the bunch sprint. Lemoine protected his high GC spot with that finish.

Two Saur riders in the final successful break. Very good ride. Too bad we couldn't take this one though. Saur is 7th in the team competition, and Laurent Mangel stands 3rd in the mountains comp. with 1 point (they have only gone over 1 cat 3 climb). The Saur riders commented that the ride today was very nerve wrecking: Very twitchy and dangerous so far.

Bernard Hinault opined that Caisse d'Espargne was too late with their move and if they had attacked earlier, they might have had a 3 to 4 minute lead with the attack, which could have really shaken up the GC.

With regards to Contador, he pointed out that he has a real weakness in the wind which may prove decisive this July: “It’s probably his only weak spot. In this respect, his team must learn to protect him because we could find ourselves in the same situation on the Tour, especially in Holland where it could be even more windy. In the first three days, there could be splits any time.” Let's hope they put paid to his chances early in the Tour. I don't want to see another Spanish on top of the podium, specially Contador! (Source: Susan Westemeyer, Cyclingnews.com)

Stage 1 Results:
1 Gregory Henderson (NZl) Sky 4:22:17
3 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
15 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
20 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:17
31 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
40 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
89 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
96 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
127 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:07:12

General Classification:
1 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 4:33:11
14 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:35
17 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:36
33 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:50
35 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:51
83 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:15
97 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:24
112 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:50
151 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:08:10

sandranian · Site Admin

Laurent Mangel was in the early breakaway (after only 4km of racing!), so that is a positive. It is important to get someone in these early breakaways, both for visibility and..."even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while."

I think it is important for a Tour selection, which really looks like a long shot, for Saur to get a win at this race. Three Cat3 climbs today. At the moment, Mangel is the mountain points leader with 5 pts. He started the day 3rd in the competition (out of 3 riders!) with 1 point, so that was probably the goal today. He was first after climb #2...so he may be the leader in that competition by day's end! He also took the intermediate sprint, so maybe Saur needs the money....

Mangel was caught by the peleton on the last climb. However, three riders, including a Saur rider, sprinted off the front to take the mts. points, and preserved the polka dot jersey for Mangel! [Turns out that was Mangel himself, who came second to secure 2 pts on that climb].

In the end: Mangel with the Mountains Jersey with 11pts! Great ride!

Stage 2 Results:
1 William Bonnet (Fra) Bbox 4:22:40
12 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
24 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
62 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
84 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
85 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
96 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
99 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
159 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:02:27

General Classification:
1 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 8:55:51
12 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:31
15 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:35
34 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:50
35 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:51
75 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:15
87 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:24
101 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:50
131 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:08:10

scozim

Mangel rode well. Just watched the end of the stage - no one from Saur in the top 10 in the sprint. Casper was collected in a crash in the last 500 meters or so (so was Contador). He was limping quite a bit but did ride across the line.

sandranian · Site Admin

My favorite (non-Gitane) rider...the Berliner Jens Voigt, is now the leader. Hooray for old people, und aufgehts Deutschland! I missed watching this stage because I was out on my bicycle. Beautiful morning here in Southern California...much warmer than France at the moment!

Snow on the ground at the start of Stage 3 of Paris-Nice

Bigger news: Laurent Mangel added points in the mountains competition! I really thought he would lose the jersey today, but he actually gained through the day's three climbs, finishing the first (Cat.3) 1st, the second (Cat.2) 4th, third (Cat.2) 5th...but didn't get any on the last Cat. 2 climb. Still...7 pts on the day is great, which keeps him in polka-dots with 18pts. The next rider has 14 (Skil Shimano), so the competition will be close.

Another day in polka-dots for Laurent Mangel. Good work!

Saur stands 3rd in the teams competition. Hoorah!

Stage 3 Results:
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas - Doimo 3:44:28
27 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:06
29 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
36 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
63 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:22
146 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:03:01
147 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
155 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:04:40
161 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:12:15

General Classification:
1 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank 12:40:26
23 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:46
26 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:49
49 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:14
59 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:23
92 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:03:29
103 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:05:24
143 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:11:04
155 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:13:58

sandranian · Site Admin

Today's stage finishes on a steep climb up to a local airport.

The start of the "Montee Jalabert"

Nicknamed "Montee Jalabert" in honor of Laurent Jalabert's Tour de France victory there, it is only 3k, but at +10% average gradient, it packs a punch! The GC fight will take place on the hill...hopefully Jens Voigt will be able to grit it out.

Besides the GC battle, look today for Skil Shimano to try and take the polka dot jersey away from Saur. Skil is looking for that Tour bid, and they have been extremely active in this race, with a rider in every breakaway. Hopefully Saur and Mangel can defend it for another day, or at least keep it off of Skil's backs!
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The weather is "below freezing" for the entire route today. In the early stages of the race, there is a 7- man breakaway (76k in, 4 minutes lead on the Peleton...which is going down fast due to Saxo Bank pressure). Our man for the break is Jean-Marc Marino. It is important that he eat up most of the mountains points. Word is that he was 2nd on the first climb (5pts). A Cofidis rider was 1st, but that rider had no mts. points as of yesterday, so this break should really eat up all of the points on offer today, which may mean that Mangel is in the jersey again tonight.
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The break is over the second climb. Results as soon as I get them. I will be leaving on my ride soon...so no live coverage for me today (boo). Cat. 3 climb, Marino takes 1st (4pts). Next comes a Cat.3 and a Cat.2 climb before the finish. The Cat.2 climb is really a warmup...because Mende (Cat.1) comes up right after it!
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Got back from my ride to find that Alberto "I Am Not A Doper" Contador has blown the field apart to take the stage win and the GC lead. Sorry to be a "doubter", but I am not a fan. Sorry for Voigt, who gave it his all but couldn't hold the pace of the clean Spaniard. Mangel held in there until the last climb...then quickly lost 5 minutes to Contador...ouch.

But thanks to the early break, Mangel held on to his jersey! I fear that Contador will be taking it soon though (probably not tomorrow, but likely on Stage 6, which features a nasty Cat.1 climb), who only trails him by 5 points now. It is imperative that he gets out in the break tomorrow to add some points on the 3 Cat.3 climbs and the 1 Cat.2 climb. The Cat.2 climb comes early, so that will really be a test.

Jérôme Coppel also finished well, only 37" down on the leader, and in front of Voigt. Very impressive finish. Casper finished dead last(!), and Saur fell to 18th in the teams classification.

Stage 4 Results:
1 Alberto Contador* (Spa) Astana 4:26:47
11 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:37
75 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:04:18
98 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:05:14
118 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:08:20
119 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
125 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:09:29
126 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:09:42
166 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:12:59

General Classification:
1 Alberto Contador* (Spa) Astana 17:07:23
14 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:16
57 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:05:31
60 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:05:50
82 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:09:24
101 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:12:48
105 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:13:34
143 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:20:36
158 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:26:47

sandranian · Site Admin

Another test of the Saur riders' will today. 4 categorized climbs:
Km 40.0 - Col de Murs - 10.5 km climb to 4.3 % - Category 2
Km 75.5 - Côte de Lacoste - 2.6 km climb to 3.8 % - Category 3
Km 84.5 - Côte de Bonnieux - 2.6 km climb to 4.2 % - Category 3
Km 127.0 - Côte de Saint-Canadet - 4.8 km climb to 3.9 % - Category 3

In an interview posted at www.saur-sojasun.com, DS Stephane Heulot said that yesterday, the plan was executed to a tee: Get a man in the breakaway (Marino) to suck up all of the mountain points on the road, then position Jerome Coppel at the front for the final climb. All of that they did, and Coppel didn't disappoint, finishing only 37 seconds down on Contador. In the interview, Coppel said that the team worked perfectly, and that he didn't follow Contador when he attacked because he knew that he (Coppel) would explode. The first part of the climb was extremely steep, so he paced his effort so as to lose the least amount of time. It worked...and he finished well ahead of other big names who should have at least some form at this point, even though admittedly they aren't at their peak (Sylvain Chavanel, Sandy Casar, Nicolas Roche, David Millar, Levi Leipheimer, Frank Schleck, etc.). We'll see how the day goes. I think they should be able to hold on to the jersey today. Tomorrow and Sunday will be the real tests. The race ends with two nasty stages!
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Early word has it that Mangel is struggling on the first climb...at the back of the bunch. He may be done today..... No points for Saur on the first climb, and Moinard of Cofidis took second (5pts). He is now tied with Mangel with 18pts. Not good.
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Laurent Mangel before Stage 5: His last day in this jersey.
****
Well...it happened. Moinard (Cofidis) took the jersey away from Mangel, who didn't factor in at all in the climbs. I think he was exhausted, and quite frankly, I didn't expect him to hold on to it for as long as he did. Saur's website says that he was caught behind a crash that split the peleton.

On the bright side, Coppel finished well, with the lead group containing all of the big guns. There are two very difficult stages remaining.

Jérôme Coppel on his way to a great finish in Stage 5.

Stage 5 Results:
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas - Doimo 3:34:15
14 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:02
33 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:25
46 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
117 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:16:50
124 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
129 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
133 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
149 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun

General Classification:
1 Alberto Contador* (Spa) Astana 20:41:40
12 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:16
78 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:13:11
82 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:13:5
104 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:22:19
105 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:22:38
112 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:26:12
143 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:37:24
155 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:43:35

sandranian · Site Admin

Today's stage is extremely tough. Look for attacks on Contador in the GC. Coppel will do well to stay with the leading group and preserve his place on the GC. It would be nice to see him improve and move up into the top ten. Wouldn't be surprised to see Jimmy Casper drop out today, because I don't think there is a possibility of a sprint finish in the next two days. He started the race today...so must be there for the fitness only. Here is a summary of what the race has in store for the team today:
Climbs:

Km 33.5 - Côte de Val-Rose - 1.9 km climb to 4.3 % - Category 3
Km 38.0 - Côte de Barjols - 1.7 km climb to 4.2 % - Category 3
Km 85.5 - Côte des Tuillières - 2.2 km climb to 8.2 % - Category 2
Km 101.0 - Côte du Mont Méaulx - 1.7 km climb to 5.1 % - Category 3
Km 131.5 - Côte de Tignet - 2.8 km climb to 5.1 % - Category 3
Km 147.0 - Côte de Plascassier - 3.7 km climb to 2.1 % - Category 3
Km 156.5 - Côte de Châteauneuf (D.3-D.2210) - 1.3 km climb to 9.5 % - Category 2
Km 187.5 - Col de Vence - 9.7 km climb to 6.6 % - Category 1

Ouch!
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Yannick Talabardon 1st over the first climb of the day (4 points).
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Huge breakaway group with approx. 2 minutes. No Saur riders represented. But Skil is there (!).
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Saur wasn't on the initiative today, but Coppel finished well (in the first group), so it wasn't necessarily a bad day. As predicted by your humble website moderator, Casper dropped out today.

Stage 6 Results:
1 Xavier Tondo (Spa) Cervélo Test Team 5:01:39
28 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:05
81 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:14:47
83 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
84 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
138 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:18:32
143 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
152 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:24:41
DNF Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun

General Classification:
1 Alberto Contador* (Spa) Astana 25:43:24
12 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:16
93 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:31:38
95 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:32:24
101 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:37:01
102 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:37:20
127 Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:50:48
132 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:52:06

sandranian · Site Admin

Last day of Paris-Nice. More mountains await the peleton: 3 Cat.1 climbs!

Km 51.0 - Col de la Porte - 7.2 km climb to 7.2 % - Category 1
Km 88.5 - La Turbie - 7.6 km climb to 4.8 % - Category 1
Km 103.0 - Col d'Eze - 4.2 km climb to 6.8 % - Category 1

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Saur don't seem to be figuring in today. They are in none of the early breaks. Apparently trying to preserve Coppel's GC placing at the moment. A top ten would be nice. Right now we have Amael Moinard (Cofidis) and Thomas Voeckler (Bbox) off the front. Moinard is the rider who took the mtns. jersey from us, and is solidifying his grasp on the competition today.
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Valverde giving it a go, trying to take the lead away from Alberto. Not going to happen though. Contador is just too strong (always).
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Moinard and Voeckler managed to stay away to the end...with the hard-charging peleton right at their heels. Moinard won the stage: Really a banner race for the Cofidis rider, who has a stage win in the mountains jersey. Very impressive.

As for Saur, there was no mention of them on the road, but it appears Coppel finished well enough (in the first group?) to move to 10th overall! That is a great finish for him and the team. Overall, Saur had a good Paris-Nice, holding the mountains jersey for 3 days and a top ten finish in the GC.

Stage 7 Results:
1 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 2:52:09
15 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:03
91 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:10:46
94 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
DNF Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
DNF Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
DNF Jeremy Galland (Fra) Saur - Sojasun
DNF Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur - Sojasun

General Classification (Final):
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 28:35:35
10 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:17
87 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:47:45
93 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 1:02:50