42nd Tour du Limousin - Just In
Borut Bozic wins the opening stage of the Limousin in Ussel.
Vacansoleil's Borut Bozic won the opening stage into Ussel this afternoon out of
a bunch sprint over Xavier Florencio of Cervélo TestTeam and Rabobanks Paul
Martins. French Continental team duo Besson Chaussures/Sojasun duo, Benoît
Sinnner and Jérémie Galland filled out the top five.
The day was animated by Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel) and Mathieu Perget
(Caisse d'Epargne) in the breakaway of the day with the two sharing the hot
sprint and climbing points between them. The duo gained six minutes and 50
seconds on their chasers; but the the sprinters were looking for their day on
the hilly stage.
From the start, the attacks came thick and fast
The racing got underway under hot conditions today with French champion,
Dimitri Champion (Brittany Schuller) the first open hostilities shortly after
the start o the opening stage. Twenty riders joined the effort including
Caisse d'Epargne's David Arroyo, Rabo's Lars Boom and Auber 93's Maxime Mederel
but the escape was given a short leash and soon returned to the fold. A
few more attacks had no more success than the first.
Just before the climb up the 1rst category Côte de Lestards ia where Vogondy
made his move going solo on the climb Perget joined him in the adventure with 75
km to go. Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis, le Crédit par Téléphone) tried to
bridge to the duo in a long solo effort; but finally gave up the chase with 35
kilometers to go.
Mathieu Perget lets Nicolas Vogondy set the pace as they defied the peloton.
Photo © 2009 Simon Alderson
At the first pass of the finish on the local circuits the duo had a little
over 3 minutes on the bunch with three of Bbox Bouygues Telecom squad attacking
and opening a gap. The trio, Thomas Voeckler, Pierre Rolland and Cyril Gautier
acceleration closed the gap to the leaders with 10 km and shortly after the
peloton was all together sealing the day for a bunch sprint.
4 riders abandoned today:
Jonathan Bertrand (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago)
Denis Flahaut (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago)
Masaaki Kikuchi (EQA-Meitan Hompo)
Fabien Bacquet (Auber 93)
Rabobank's Kai Reus finished over the time limit at 23 minutes to be eliminated.
Borut Bozic, happy to be in yellow...
Photo © 2009 Simon Alderson
Stage 1 Results & General Classification
Limoges - Ussel
159.6 km - 3:51:07
1 Borut Bozic (SLO, Vacansoleil) - 3:51:07
2 Xavier Florencio (ESP, Cervélo TestTeam)
3 Paul Martens (NED, Rabobank) - m.t.
4 Benoît Sinnner (FRA, Besson Chaussures/Sojasun)
5 Jérémie Galland (FRA, Besson Chaussures/Sojasun)
6 Nadir Haddou (FRA, Auber 93)
7 Sébastien Hinault (FRA, Ag2r la Mondiale)
8 Tom Leezer (NED, Rabobank)
9 Amaël Moinard (FRA, Cofidis)
10 Romain Feillu (FRA, Agritubel)
Caisse d'Epargne's Perget collected enough points during the break for the
Sprint and combined points jerseys. Photo © 2009 Simon Alderson
The Jerseys after Stage 1
Race leader and Maillot Jaune: Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil)
Combined classification: Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne)
Best Young Rider Julien Simon (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun)
KOM Mountains Classification: Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel)
Its hard to say if Nicolas Vogondy enjoyed claiming the Mountains jersey or the
kisses from the Limousin Misses. Photo © 2009 Simon Alderson
Combined classification sponsored by Natea Agriculture: Mathieu Perget (Caisse
d'Epargne)
Team Ranking : Besson Chaussures - Sojasun (11h33m21s) AG2R La Mondiale (mt)
Auber 93 (mt)
Most Aggressive rider: Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel) who led the breakaway of the
day with Mathieu Perget.
The peloton streams over the finish with Nicolas Vogondy just holding on.
Photo © 2009 Simon Alderson
2009 Tour du Limousin Stages
1. Limoges - Ussel - 159.6 km
2. Eymoutiers - Felletin (PNR de Millevaches) - 186.6km
3. St Martin de Jussac - St Junien - 189.6km
4. Châlus - Limoges - 180.1km
Total: 715.9 km
Race website
The tour may have the devil but the Tour du Limousin has Frelontin. It also has
it's own publicity caravan with gifts for the spectators from the sponsors. Photo © 2009 Simon Alderson
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