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Dekker takes command at Critérium International
Young Dutch star surprises seasoned pros, Graham Watson Gallery below
Dutchman Thomas Dekker, of the Rabobank team, stunned a host of established professionals by winning the 98.5km second stage of the Criterium international race between Vieilles Forges to here on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Dutchman's victory gave him the race lead and he is now well primed to take the overall honours after the third and concluding stage, an 8.3km time trial held on Sunday afternoon. (Results are now posted.)
Dekker, the winner of last year’s Tour of Normandy and the prestigious GP Eddy Merckx two-man time trial (with Koen de Kort), beat out Liberty's Jörg Jaksche and Bobby Julich (CSC) at the top of the Roche aux Sept Villages climb.
Dekker will now do battle with Jaksche and Julich, who both have a three-second deficit to the Dutchman, ahead of the concluding time trial. Julich is the Olympic bronze medallist in the discipline, but Dekker is also something of a specialist in the race against the clock.
Italian Ivan Basso, who competed on an equal footing with Lance Armstrong on the climbs of last year's Tour de France, took fourth place a few seconds behind for his CSC team. Germany's Jens Voigt, also of the CSC team, however struggled to match the pace of the frontrunners and came over the finish nearly a minute and a half in arrears. His bid for overall victory is now virtually over.
On a day which saw half of the peloton (72 riders, including Australia's Bradley McGee who finished 13:36 down) missing the time cut on the nine-climb stage, the first attack on the day’s first climb proved to be the decisive move.
Jaksche led Julich and Basso over all of the day's difficulties, and appeared set to win the day. But Dekker, who joined the escapees 15km after they first attacked, proved to be the day’s surprise.
With 15 kilometers to go, the four lead riders continued to work quite well together, maintaining a solid 1:15 on their nearest pursuers and more than 2:00 on the main field.
With five kilometers to go the escapees still had a 1:20 lead on a group of six pursuers, while a small group of four riders – including Phonak’s Floyd Landis – jumped out of the main field, attempting to make contact with the chase group.
On the slopes of the Côte de la Roche aux Sept Villages, Basso lost contact with the leaders as Jaksche set a strong pace. With less than a kilometer to go, though, Julich launched a strong attack, but was quickly caught by the other two.
Jaksche then charged with just 200 meters to go, a move that was quickly countered by Dekker, who caught and passed the German for the win. Julich finished along side Jaksche for third.
FULLRESULTS ARE POSTED
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