Jens Voigt (CSC) won the Critérium International on Sunday after soloing to victory in stage 2 and taking seventh in the final time trial.

With his victory, the German became the first man to win the race three times since Sean Kelly in 1987.

"Ever since I was a little kid Sean Kelly was my hero," Voigt said afterward. "Because he was a rider who was successful from the start to the end of the year, ready to compete for the win at each race, like Jaja [Laurent Jalabert] later on, or Erik Zabel.

"I know I can not win the Tour de France. Yet, here over a weekend, I know I can remain mentally focused and physically consistent to be in a position to win. I know I can’t beat [Alessandro] Petacchi on a sprint, I can’t keep up with [Damiano] Cunego in the mountains, so I adapt to what I can do."

And adapt he did. In the morning stage, a 98.5km, nine-climb leg from Les Vielles Forges to Monthermé in the French Ardennes, Voigt followed an attack by American Danny Pate (Slipstream-Chipotle), who took off on the ascent of the Côte de Mont Malgré Tout.

The German was joined by Gorazd Stangelj (Lampre-Fondital) and Sébastien Joly (Crédit Agricole), and the trio dropped Pate as they passed over the summit and began to build a lead on the pack, led by Caisse D’Epargne.

Before climbing the Côte du Mont Malgré Tout for the second time, Voigt launched a solo attack, less than 30km from the finish.

"That was also part of the strategy," he said afterward. "I prefer to ride off alone."

Lövkvist en route to dominating the final stage

Photo: Graham Watson

A strong chase emerged from the pack, but Voigt held on and crossed the line 48 seconds ahead of runner-up Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) and Andreas Klöden (Astana). Luxembourger Frank Schleck (CSC) took fourth ahead of Italian Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital).

Voigt was glad to have built himself such a cushion going into the final 8.3km time trial in the streets of Charleville-Mézières, won by Thomas Lövkvist (Française des Jeux) ahead of Valverde and Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), who finished three and nine seconds behind, respectively.

"My legs were not on form," Voigt said. "Before beginning the race, I made a trip around the course with Franck Schleck. When I finished I was really happy I had such an advantage. If I had just a 10-second lead, the situation would have been very stressful, because I expended so much on the morning climbing stage.”

Julich, who spent some time in the hot seat during the finale, wound up top American in 15th overall at 2:03

Photo: Graham Watson

Americans Pate and Bobby Julich (CSC) both spent time in the hot seat before Lövkvist uncorked what proved to be the winning time of just over 10 minutes, which moved him into second place overall at 34 seconds back. Valverde took third at 37 seconds back.

Critérium International
Stage 2 results
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 98.5km in 2:29:00 (39.664 km/h)
2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:48
3. Andréas Klöden (G), Astana, same time
4. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, s.t.
5. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, s.t
6. Giampaolo Caruso (I), Lampre, s.t
7. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, s.t
8. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, s.t
9. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus), Credit Agricole, s.t
10. Laurent Brochard (F), Bouygues Telecom, s.t

Stage 3 results
1. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 8.3km in 10:01 (49.717 km/h)
2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:03
3. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, at 0:09
4. Andréas Klöden (G), Astana, at 0:09
5. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 0:10
6. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Astana, at 0:11
7. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 0:14
8. Francisco Perez Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:17
9. Luis Leon Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:17
10. Peter Velits (Slo), Team Wiesenhof, at 0:22

Final overall
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 6:54:57
2. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe), Française des Jeux, at 0:34
3. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:37
4. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, at 0:43
5. Andréas Klöden (G), Astana, s.t.
6. José Alberto Martinez (Sp), Agritubel, at 1:00
7. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, at 1:02
8. Sébastien Joly (F), Française des Jeux, at 1:04
9. Laurent Brochard (F), Bouygues Telecom, at 1:06
10. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, at 1:16

Complete results