Canadian Cyclist

 

April 18/12 13:09 pm - Fleche Wallonne Men, Hesjedal 21st


Posted by Editoress on 04/18/12
 

Third Time Luck for Rodríguez

After two second places in the last two editions, Joaquím Rodríguez has finally claimed victory in La Flèche Wallone, blasting away 400 metres from the line for a superb solo win on the summit of the Mur de Huy. Second was Switzerland’s Michael Albasini and third last year’s winner, Philippe Gilbert of Belgium.A former leader of the Vuelta a España and stage winner of the Tour de France, Rodríguez watched and waited on the final ascent, shadowing Michael Albasini (GreenEDGE). A counter-attack by Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) failed to work out, and Rodríguez could claim his first ever major Classic, as well as Spain’s third victory in Fleche Wallone in less than ten years. For Albasini, this was his best result in a major Classic, whilst after his sixth place in Amstel, Gilbert confirmed again that he was on the way back up.

Velits and Urán Hit The Deck

Heavy, frequent rainshowers and gusting winds made for a nervous 76th edition of La Flèche Wallone, where the attackers had real problems going clear right from the start. A first duo of breakaways, Hovelynck (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) and Habeaux (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems) tried to attack early on, but were retaken by the bunch at km 22. Ratto (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Christensen (Saxo Bank) who then went clear didn’t have it much easier, particularly after Ratto punctured at km 31. Shortly beforehand, Martin Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Uran (SKY ProCycling) had crashed, causing the bunch to split apart. Katusha was working hard behind, and after 49 kilometres another crash saw Jurgen Van De Walle (Lotto-Belisol Team) forced to abandon.

Bellemakers and Roux move ahead

Christensen was caught shortly afterwards, and at km 55 following a frantic first hour Dirk Bellemakers (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) and Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat) went clear. Sjef De Wilde (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems) tried to get across and was still between the two race leaders and the bunch when the race went over the Mur de Huy for the first time at km 70.5. At that point, Bellemakers and Roux had 2-25 on De Wilde, who sat up shortly afterwards, and 3-25 on the bunch.

By km 80, the gap for Bellemakers and Roux was over five minutes and still climbing, and it reached a maximum of 7-10 soon afterwards, at km 88, before Katusha and Lotto-Bellisol started to chase behind.

Shortly before Katusha and Bellisol began their pursuit, Armee (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) attacked and began a lone chase of the two leaders that continued as the race passed its half way at km 97. With 84 kilometres left to race, Armee was at 3-35, with the bunch steadily regaining ground at 4-45. Thirty kilometres later at the summit of the Cote de Groyenne (53km to the finish), Armee was at 2-35 and the bunch, which had eased up chasing slightly, at 3-20.

Armee Surrenders-Andy Attacks

Around six kilometres further on, Armee sat up and was caught by the bunch, leaving the two race leaders, Bellemakers and Roux, out in front.
47 kilometres from the finish, just at the summti of the Cote de Bohisseau, Andy Schleck (RadioShack Nissan) launched a surprise attack with Dimitri Fofonov (Astana) and Yuri Trofimov (Katusha) on his wheel. However, it never gained more than 20 seconds and Schleck, seeing that the attack wouldn’t work, sat up.

With just 1-15 advantage when the race reached the foot of the Mur for a second time, the two long-term attackers Bellemakers and Roux, boldly kept going nonetheless. After the summit, Giovanni Visconti (Movistar Team) and Tom Slagter (Rabobank) launched a powerful counter attack, bridged across to Bellemakers and Roux around 18 kilometres from the finish but by km 178 the leading four were brought back - and a new race started.

An attack by Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) and Lars-Petter Nordhaug (SKY ProCycling) on the short but steep Cote de Villers-le-Bouillet earned the duo an advantage of 12 seconds with three kilometres to go. Nordhaug and Hesjedal were still ahead as they went under the flamme rouge banner of the last kilometre, but after a brief attack by Nordhaug and a strong counter-move by Hesjedal, the duo were reeled in. At which point, Joaquim Rodríguez made his dramatic attack, 400 metres from the line...

ASO press release

 

Charleroi to Huy, 194 km
1 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Katusha Team) 4:45:41
2 Michael Albasini (GreenEDGE Cycling Team) at 0:04
3 Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team)
4 Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol Team) both s.t.
5 Robert Kiserlovski (Astana Pro Team) 0:07
6 Daniel Martin (Garmin - Barracuda) 0:09
7 Bauke Mollema (Rabobank Cycling Team)
8 Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale)
9 Diego Ulissi (Lampre - ISD all s.t.
10 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol Team) 0:11
11 Enrico Gasparotto (Astana Pro Team)
12 Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R la Mondiale)
13 Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana Pro Team)
14 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (SKY Procycling)
15 Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM
16 Paul Martens (Rabobank Cycling Team)
17 Igor Anton (Euskaltel - Euskadi) all s.t.
18 Rui Alberto Costa (Movistar Team) 0:18
19 Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun)
20 Frank Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan)
21 Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin - Barracuda) all s.t.
22 Robert Gesink (Rabobank Cycling Team) 0:23
23 Arthur Vichot (FDJ-Bigmat) s.t.
24 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Katusha Team) 0:26
25 Alexandre Geniez (Team Argos-Shimano)
26 Fabian Wegmann (Garmin - Barracuda) both s.t.
27 Bert De Waele (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) 0:29
28 Brice Feillu (Saur-Sojasun) 0:31
29 Romain Bardet (AG2R la Mondiale)
30 Maxime Monfort (Radioshack-Nissan)
31 Christophe Le Mevel (Garmin - Barracuda)
32 Fabio Andres Duarte (Colombia-Coldeportes)
33 Nicki Sorensen (Team Saxo Bank)
34 Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre - ISD
35 Manuele Mori (Lampre - ISD
36 Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) all s.t.
37 Pieter Serry (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) 0:37
38 Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil-DCM
39 Guillaume Levarlet (Saur-Sojasun)
40 Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) both s.t.
41 Jérôme Pineau (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 0:43
42 Christopher Horner (Radioshack-Nissan) s.t.
43 Karsten Kroon (Team Saxo Bank) 0:47
44 Peio Bilbao (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
45 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team) 0:51
46 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team)
47 Tom Jelte Slagter (Rabobank Cycling Team)
48 Bruno Pires (Team Saxo Bank)
49 Jan Bakelants (Radioshack-Nissan) all s.t.
50 Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar Team) 0:58
51 Romain Sicard (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
52 Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ-Bigmat) both s.t.
53 Lars-Peter Nordhaug (SKY Procycling) 1:02
54 Mikael Cherel (AG2R la Mondiale) s.t.
55 Giovanni Visconti (Movistar Team) 1:05
56 Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank Cycling Team) 1:09
57 Simon Geschke (Team Argos-Shimano)
58 Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-DCM both s.t.
59 Salvatore Puccio (SKY Procycling) 1:13
60 Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ-Bigmat) 1:19
61 Mauro Santambrogio (BMC Racing Team) 1:23
62 Kevin De Weert (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 1:24
63 Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank Cycling Team) 1:27
64 Maciej Paterski (Liquigas-Cannondale) 1:30
65 Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) 1:34
66 Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
67 Simone Stortoni (Lampre - ISD 1:48
68 Chris Anker Sorensen (Team Saxo Bank)
69 Laurens De Vreese (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) both s.t.
70 Simon Clarke (GreenEDGE Cycling Team) 1:55
71 Thomas Dekker (Garmin - Barracuda) 1:57
72 Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team)
73 Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank Cycling Team)
74 Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team)
75 Francis De Greef (Lotto-Belisol Team)
76 Vegard Stake Laengen (Team Type 1-Sanofi)
77 Pieter Jacobs (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) all s.t.
78 Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) 2:10
79 Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 2:13
80 Gaëtan Bille (Lotto-Belisol Team) 2:20
81 Andy Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan) 2:25
82 Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
83 Oscar Freire (Katusha Team) 2:28
84 Yury Trofimov (Katusha Team) 2:35
85 Angel Vicioso (Katusha Team) 2:37
86 Andriy Grivko (Astana Pro Team) 2:39
87 Pablo Lastras (Movistar Team)
88 Eduard Vorganov (Katusha Team)
89 Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil-DCM both s.t.
90 Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil-DCM 3:10
91 Maxime Bouet (AG2R la Mondiale) 3:26
92 Dirk Bellemakers (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) 3:28
93 Federico Canuti (Liquigas-Cannondale) 3:55
94 Moreno Moser (Liquigas-Cannondale) s.t.
95 Christian Vande Velde (Garmin - Barracuda) 4:07
96 Michael Schär (BMC Racing Team) 4:07
97 Bram Tankink (Rabobank Cycling Team) 4:32
98 Thierry Hupond (Team Argos-Shimano) s.t.
99 Christian Meier (GreenEDGE Cycling Team) 4:39
100 Yukihiro Doi (Team Argos-Shimano) 5:04
101 Johannes Fröhlinger (Team Argos-Shimano)
102 Jorge Azanza (Euskaltel - Euskadi) both s.t.
103 Jonathan Hivert (Saur-Sojasun) 5:20
104 Michel Kreder (Garmin - Barracuda) 5:39
105 Anthony Roux (FDJ-Bigmat) 5:49
106 Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana Pro Team) 7:06
107 Sergio Paulinho (Team Saxo Bank) 7:50
108 Martin Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
109 Stephan Denifl (Vacansoleil-DCM 8:09
110 Wilson Marentes (Colombia-Coldeportes) 9:29
111 Gregory Habeaux (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems) 9:31
112 Jeffry Romero (Colombia-Coldeportes) 9:36
113 Kurt Hovelynck (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) s.t.
114 Laurent Didier (Radioshack-Nissan) 9:39
115 Mads Christensen (Team Saxo Bank) 9:41
116 Imanol Erviti (Movistar Team) 9:46
117 Fumiyuki Beppu (GreenEDGE Cycling Team) 9:50
118 Xabier Zandio (SKY Procycling) s.t.
119 Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing Team) 9:57
120 Martin Kohler (BMC Racing Team)
121 Georg Preidler (Team Type 1-Sanofi)
122 David Tanner (Team Saxo Bank)
123 Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Argos-Shimano)
124 Sander Armee (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator)
125 Travis Meyer (GreenEDGE Cycling Team)
126 Alessandro Spezialetti (Lampre - ISD
127 Johan Esteban Chaves (Colombia-Coldeportes)
128 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Lampre - ISD
129 Stefano Agostini (Liquigas-Cannondale)
130 Alex Howes (Garmin - Barracuda)
131 Angel Madrazo (Movistar Team)
132 Arnoud Van Groen (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems)
133 David Le Lay (Saur-Sojasun)
134 Rubens Bertogliati (Team Type 1-Sanofi)
135 Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
136 Matthieu Sprick (Team Argos-Shimano) all s.t.
137 Reinier Honig (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) 10:04
138 Luke Rowe (SKY Procycling) 10:17
139 Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) 10:24
140 Jeremie Galland (Saur-Sojasun) 11:02
141 Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 11:10
142 Gilles Devilliers (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) 11:17
143 Arthur Van Overberghe (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) 12:27
DNF Dennis Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol Team)
DNF Jurgen Van De Walle (Lotto-Belisol Team)
DNF Bart De Clercq (Lotto-Belisol Team)
DNF Sandy Casar (FDJ-Bigmat)
DNF Brian Bulgac (Lotto-Belisol Team)
DNF Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator)
DNF Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator)
DNF Steve Chainel (FDJ-Bigmat)
DNF Christophe Riblon (AG2R la Mondiale)
DNF Steven Caethoven (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems)
DNF Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R la Mondiale)
DNF Albert Timmer (Team Argos-Shimano)
DNF Kenny Elissonde (FDJ-Bigmat)
DNF Cedric Pineau (FDJ-Bigmat)
DNF Davy Commeyne (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony)
DNF Sebastien Delfosse (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony)
DNF Sébastien Minard (AG2R la Mondiale)
DNF Staf Scheirlinckx (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems)
DNF Daniele Colli (Team Type 1-Sanofi)
DNF Oleg Chuzhda (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems)
DNF Sjef De Wilde (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems)
DNF Kevin Ista (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems)
DNF Jurgen Van Goolen (Accent Jobs-Veranda's Willems)
DNF Troels Ronning Vinther (Team Saxo Bank)
DNF Robinson Eduardo Chalapud (Colombia-Coldeportes)
DNF Victor Hugo Pena (Colombia-Coldeportes)
DNF Egidijus Juodvalkis (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony)
DNF Wesley Sulzberger (GreenEDGE Cycling Team)
DNF Juan Pablo Suarez (Colombia-Coldeportes)
DNF Xavier Florencio Cabre (Katusha Team)
DNF Alberto Losada Alguacil (Katusha Team)
DNF Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
DNF Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
DNF Marco Bandiera (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
DNF Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
DNF Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale)
DNF Daniele Ratto (Liquigas-Cannondale)
DNF Rigoberto Uran Uran (SKY Procycling)
DNF Davide Appollonio (SKY Procycling)
DNF Jure Kocjan (Team Type 1-Sanofi)
DNF Daryl Impey (GreenEDGE Cycling Team)
DNF Ben Gastauer (AG2R la Mondiale)
DNF Ben Hermans (Radioshack-Nissan)
DNF Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan)
DNF Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM
DNF Bert-Jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM
DNF Yuriy Krivtsov (Lampre - ISD
DNF Oleksandr Kvachuk (Lampre - ISD
DNF Julien El Fares (Team Type 1-Sanofi)
DNF Alexander Efimkin (Team Type 1-Sanofi)
DNF Javier Megias Leal (Team Type 1-Sanofi)
DNF Francesco Gavazzi (Astana Pro Team)
DNF Evgeni Petrov (Astana Pro Team)
DNF Simone Ponzi (Astana Pro Team)
DNF Thomas Lofkvist (Sky Procycling)


 

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