By Karen Lambrecht

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Stage 2: Waterloo – Nivelles 169 km

After a solo-breakaway from 145 km, Stéphane Berges won the second stage in the Tour du Région Wallonne. The stage between Waterloo and Nivelles counted two hills, but that didn’t afraid Berges. After only 25 km he took off and 35 km later he had an advantage of almost 17 minutes.

Marco Zanotti won the sprint of the peloton before Guennadi Mikhailov.

Stage 2 results:

1.Stéphane Berges (AG2R)
2.Marco Zanotti (Fassa Bortolo) à 2.35
3.Guennadi Mikhailov (US Postal-Berry Floor)
4.Stefan Van Dijk (Lotto-Domo)
5.Jo Planckaert (Cofidis)
6.Fabien De Waele (Palmans-Collstrop)
7.Lars Michaelsen (CSC)
8.Sébastien Chavanel (Brioches la Boulangère)
9.Andreas Klier (Team Telekom)
10.Erki Putsep (AG2R)
(Peter Wuyts did not start and Janek Tombak abadonned)

Ranking

1.Stéphane Berges (AG2R)
2.Nico Eeckhout (Lotto-Domo) à 2.16
3.Thierry De Groote (Palmans-Collstrop) à 2.22
4.Wim Van Huffel (Vlaanderen T Interim) à 2.26
5.Marco Zanotti (Fassa Bortolo) à 2.45
6.Hans Dekkers (Rabobank T3) à 2.46
7.Tom Boonen (Quickstep-Davitamon) à 2.47
8.Guennadi Mikhailov (US Postal-Berry Floor) à 2.47
9.Magnus Backstedt (Team Fakta) à 2.48
10.Jimmy Engoulvent (Brioches la Boulangère) à 2.49

Points

1.Marco Zanotti (Fassa Bortolo) 32
2.Stefan Van Dijk 28
3.Nico Eeckhout 25

Mountains

1.Stephane Berges 8
2.Thierry De Groote 4
3.Matthew White 3

Sprints

1.Stephane Berges 10
2.Nico Eeckhout 10
3.Hans Dekkers 7

Stage 3: Namur – Bouillon 208.8 km

Michele Bartoli won the third stage in the Tour du Région Wallonne. He was the fastest in the sprint of a group of six.

Between Namur and Bouillon, the riders had to climb 8 hills. On the last hill, 6 riders took off: Yaroslav Popovych, Peter Farazijn, Dave Bruylandts, Jurgen Van Goolen and the teammates Kim Kirchen and Michele Bartoli.

In the sprint, Michele Bartoli didn’t have problems to win, also because Kirchen did great work for him.

Tom Boonen won the sprint of the small peloton.

Michele Bartoli: "It’s a great pleasure to ride here: Belgium is my second country. I love the public and the fans here. I come here to win. My compatriots are Dave Bruylandts, he’s very motivated. Also Yaroslav Popovych is good. My objectives for the rest of the season are the World Cup races and the World Championship in Hamilton."

Stage 3 results:

1.Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo)
2.Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago)
3.Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo)
4.Peter Farazijn (Cofidis)
5.Jurgen Van Goolen (Quickstep-Davitamon)
6.Dave Bruylandts (Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf)
7.Tom Boonen (Quickstep-Davitamon) à 0.08
8.Johan Museeuw (Quickstep-Davitamon)
9.Julian Dean (CSC)
10.Mark Scanlon (AG2R)
…
104.Christophe Kern (Brioches la Boulangère) à 30.13

Ranking

1.Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo)
2.Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) à 0.04
3.Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo) à 0.06
4.Jurgen Van Goolen (Quickstep-Davitamon) à 0.10
5.Peter Farazijn (Cofidis) à 0.10
6.Dave Bruylandts (Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf) à 0.10
7.Tom Boonen (Quickstep-Davitamon) à 0.14
8.Mark Scanlon (AG2R) à 0.18
9.Johan Museeuw (Quickstep-Davitamon) à 0.18
10.Julian Dean (CSC) à 0.18
…
104.Allan Bo Andresen à 39.21