gitaneusa.com :: View topic - Tour of Qatar - Feb. 7-12 (2.1)

sandranian · Site Admin

SAUR-SOJASUN will take part in the 2010 Tour of Qatar, a race organized by ASO (they also do the Tour de France, so we are looking for brownie points here). The six stage race begins on February 7. Sixteen teams will be present, including most of the powerhouse clubs like QUICK STEP, COLUMBIA, SKY or SAXO BANK.

According to Saur's press release, this will give our sprinter, Jimmy Casper, the chance to test his sprint against top-flite pros like Tom Boonen. To help him out, Saur-Sojasun is sending him a leadout comprised of Jimmy Engoulvent, Laurent Mangel, and freshmen Cyril Lemoine and Stephan Poulhies. The race starts with a team time trial, so it will be interesting to see how these guys stack up (standard road bikes only). Hopefully we can get some great pictures as well.

The reality is that there will be a TON of sprinters at this race, and the new Tour of Oman, which follows the week after. Here is a link to an article talking about the race(s):

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-of-qatar-2-1/preview

Our Team:

Jimmy CASPER
Cédric COUTOULY
Jimmy ENGOULVENT
Cyril LEMOINE
Laurent MANGEL
Rony MARTIAS
Romain MATHÉOU
Stephan POULHIES

DS: Stephan HEULOT and Nicolas GUILLÉ

***************************
French Press Release:
***************************

Noyal, le 2 février 2010

SAUR-SOJASUN : UN TRAIN POUR LE QATAR

La nouvelle équipe cycliste professionnelle SAUR-SOJASUN participera au prochain TOUR DU QATAR, une épreuve créée au Moyen-Orient par ASO, l’organisateur du Tour de France.
Le Tour du Qatar comprendra 6 étapes, du 7 au 12 février, pour u...n parcours d’une distance totale de plus de 700 kilomètres. Seize équipes prendront part à l’épreuve disputée autour de la Capitale DOHA, parmi lesquelles QUICK STEP, COLUMBIA, SKY ou encore SAXO BANK. Une confrontation qui permettra au sprinter de SAUR-SOJASUN Jimmy CASPER de tester sa pointe de vitesse face aux meilleurs finisseurs du monde, comme le Belge Tom BOONEN. Pour l’occasion, Jimmy CASPER pourra s’appuyer sur son nouveau « train » de lancement, composé des fidèles Jimmy ENGOULVENT et Laurent MANGEL ainsi que des nouvelles recrues de l’équipe Cyril LEMOINE et Stéphane POULHIES.

Après le Tour du QATAR, l’équipe SAUR-SOJASUN enchaînera sur le Tour d’OMAN, du 14 au 19 février.

Composition de l’équipe : Jimmy CASPER, Cédric COUTOULY, Jimmy ENGOULVENT, Cyril LEMOINE, Laurent MANGEL, Rony MARTIAS, Romain MATHÉOU, Stéphane POULHIES.

Directeurs Sportifs : Stéphane HEULOT et Nicolas GUILLÉ

sandranian · Site Admin

A team time trial...Saur surprised more than a few by finishing a strong 6th place, 21 seconds off the pace, and well ahead of many pro-tour teams. Great job....

Stage 1 Results:

1 Sky Pro Cycling Team 0:09:41
2 Garmin-Transitions 0:00:08
3 Team Saxo bank 0:00:13
4 Team HTC - Columbia 0:00:18
5 Quick Step 0:00:20
6 Saur - Sojasun 0:00:21
7 Liquigas - Doimos
8 BMC Racing Team
9 Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 0:00:22
10 Team Milram 0:00:25
11 Team Katusha 0:00:33
12 Omega Pharma - Lotto
13 Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator Pro Cycling Team
14 AG2R - La mondiale 0:00:37
15 Trek Livestrong U23 0:00:39
16 Cervélo Test Team 0:01:08

Overall after Stage 1:

32 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:00:21
33 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
34 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
35 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
36 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
37 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
38 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun

sandranian · Site Admin

A cross-wind completely broke the pack to pieces. Our guys didn't finish high in the overall, but I think that we are mainly in Qatar to contest the sprints. Cyril Lemoine did place 20th, which isn't shabby, and the rest of the team finished with the main bunch.

Stage 2 Results:
20 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:02:43
50 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:09:43
51 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
66 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
69 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
75 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
83 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
84 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Saur-Sojasun

General Classification:
16 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:02:54
56 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:09:54
57 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
59 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
60 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
62 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
65 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
69 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:09:59

Teams Classification (16 teams):
12 Saur-Sojasun 0:15:47

sandranian · Site Admin

Tom Boonen pummeled the field today in the sprint. Unfortunately, the best Casper could manage was 17th, which isn't good. Taylor Phinney took 7th! We'll console ourselves in the fact that the season is still early, and this is the first race for the leadout. Hopefully the results get better from here!

Stage 3 Results:
17 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun (all same time)
44 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
58 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
67 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
71 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
77 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
95 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
96 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun

General Classification:
16 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:02:54
50 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:09:54
52 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
53 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
55 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
56 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
57 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
63 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:09:59

Teams Classification (16 teams):
12 Saur - Sojasun 0:15:47

sandranian · Site Admin

Another fast stage, won by Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas-Doimo). Another no show from Saur. I have to remind myself that it is only February. Not so good to see the stragglers coming in a few minutes behind the peleton, although Cyril Lemoine improved his good GC standing despite finishing 0:01:42 behind the main bunch. And we just moved ahead of big $$$ "Team Sky" in the team standings, so all is not bad!

Stage 4 Results:
32 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun (same time)
37 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
55 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
56 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
79 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:00:44
114 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:01:42
119 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:02:39
120 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:03:41

General Classification:
14 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:02:54
44 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:09:54
46 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
47 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
50 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:09:54
62 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:10:38
91 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:12:33
104 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:13:35

Teams Classification (16 teams):
11 Saur - Sojasun 0:15:47

sandranian · Site Admin

Boonen won the sprint (again). Jimmy Casper did place top 20, but was actually beaten by Taylor Phinney (again).

Stage 5 Results:
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step 3:13:00
18 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
27 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
35 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
43 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
94 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:02:10
115 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
116 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
117 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Saur-Sojasun

General Classification:
1 Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 13:12:28
14 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:02:54
43 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:09:54
44 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
59 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:12:04
60 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:12:09
69 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:12:48
79 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:13:35
95 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:14:43

Teams Classification (16 teams):
11 Saur-Sojasun 0:15:47

sandranian · Site Admin

A great result today for Jimmy Casper! Fifth in the field sprint is nothing to sneeze at, specially against the likes of Boonen (7th) and Haussler (9th)! Overall, I would give the team a 'B' for their effort: A good opening time trial (surprising, really), and a good final effort. It would have been nice to have a stage victory, but then in September, who remembers the Tour of Qatar?

The problem is that there are very few spots open for the Tour de France, which is the ultimate goal. There are 6 wild card spots, one of which will go to Armstrong's Radio Shack team, another which will likely go to Cadel Evans' BMC squad. So likely four spots...which Saur will have to beat out Team Sky (Wiggins), Katusha (Kim Kirchen), Cervélo (Carlos Sastre and Thor Hushovd), and Garmin-Transitions (Christian Vande Velde). Ouch!

Stage 6 Results:
1 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 2:42:49
5 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
42 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
44 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
84 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:01:26
88 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
104 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:02:02
105 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun

General Classification (Final):
1 Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 15:55:17
14 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:02:54
41 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:09:5
50 Rony Martias (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:11:20
55 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:12:04
74 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:14:11
83 Romain Matheou (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:15:01
96 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun 0:16:45

Teams Classification:
1 Cervelo Test Team 47:32:51
2 Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator 0:00:17
3 Quick Step Cycling Team 0:01:26
4 Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team 0:01:34
5 BMC Racing Team 0:02:04
6 Katusha Team 0:02:15
7 Garmin - Transitions 0:04:34
8 Team Milram 0:07:50
9 Omega Pharma - Lotto 0:08:52
10 Team Saxo Bank 0:09:14
11 Saur-Sojasun 0:15:38
12 Liquigas-Doimo 0:18:03
13 AG2R-La Mondiale 0:18:54
14 Team HTC - Columbia 0:20:48
15 Team Sky 0:21:15
16 Trek Livestrong U23 0:30:10

Wisey

Also consider that the Saur team are only just back on their bikes after spending a winter in Europe, whereas many of the Pro Tour Teams have done training camps in the Med or done the TDU. Our guys will still be finding their legs I think.

nicolas

I hate to say this but... Don't hold your breath for a tour de France wild card. There is also the Vacansoleil team with french brothers Feillu, one of which won a mountain stage in 2009, the other one winning a stage and wearing the yellow jersey in 2008...

Wisey

Yes, I agree. There are more TdF spots up for grabs this year than in the past, but it's a long shot.