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 Wednesday 26 October 2005 |
| stage 1Kokologo > Boromo - 136 km |
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| Roosen the smartest |
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One doesn’t need to be the strongest to carry the yellow jersey. Cycling is indeed a sport of strategy and the Tour of Faso isn’t an exception to the rule. Belgian Stéphane Roosen, who had the good idea to clinch most of the bonus points and seconds on the day, captures the yellow jersey although finishing the stage in second position.
Jérémie Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso national champion won the final sprint in Boromo, but had to settle for the green jersey… for the moment!
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111 riders at the start
Thanks to the last minute arrivals of the Cameroon and Angola teams, the 19th Tour of Faso started with 19 teams and a total of 111 riders. The day’s stage took off from Kokologo. Sivere Ackermann made the best of the first participation of a Swiss rider when attacking after the third kilometre, but this first initiative only lasted under two kilometres. Vincent Viet’s attempt at kilometre 10 was just as vain.
Sawadogo shows himself
The bunched attempts failed to work out as well, especially with the first intermediate sprint just a few kilometres away. It was therefore a good opportunity for titleholder Abdul Wahab Sawadogo to prove his ambitions as he took the lead clinching the first bonus points ahead of Belgian Roosen who also managed to gain precious seconds. Immediately after, a group of 13 riders including Sawadogo enjoyed a 25” advantage. But a very nervy pack prevented them from gaining a bigger lead. A breakaway with 10 riders, then 12, then 15 and eventually 18 were just as unlucky between kilometres 68 and 77.
The last intermediate sprint for Roosen
Eventually a group of 31 riders managed to take off in convincing fashion. Breaking away at kilometre 80, it included all the main favourites of the pack, with Sawadogo and his bodyguards but also the likes of Roosen, who claimed the final intermediate sprint of the day (km 102,5). Added to the pink jersey for “hot points”, the Belgian could already enjoy six bonus seconds.
Ouedraogo, the new sprint master of the continent
At km 107, only the strongest remained in a pack of around 60 riders. Burkina rider Saïdou Tall and Damien Tekou Fokou of Cameroon tried to break clear but the two men were finally caught back with 4 kilometres to go by a group of sprinters ready for the final battle. The historical captain of the Burkina stallions, Saïdou Rouamba, having punctured in the last kilometre, the host nation was to be represented by young Jérémie Ouedraogo, known on the continent for his power in the last metres. Despite his efficiency, he couldn’t however prevent the yellow jersey from heading to Belgium and going on the shoulders of Stéfan Roosen, second of the stage.
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A very special evening
Before even having taken off for the first kilometres of the race, the Tour du Faso started by breaking records, capturing the attention of the crowd, play with the nerves of many of its riders and surprise the organisers. The official presentation ceremony, a speciality where improvisation is left aside, almost became a joke. Quite a few innovations had been decided during the race preparation of this 2005 edition. First of all because the teams flying from Paris had been invited to come a day in advance compared to the previous years: a detail that will prove to have its importance for the remaining part of the story. Also because the riders had been asked to go for a presentation ride in the streets of the capital before climbing on the podium of the “Maison des Peuples”.
But Air Burkina flight 2J 300, heading from Orly south airport to Ouagadougou, decided to change the organisation of this presentation evening. Because of an overload, a serious amount of passenger luggage was left on the airport tarmac, awaiting another way to make it to Africa. With about 60 pieces of luggage missing, the European and Japanese riders found themselves without bikes, pedals, helmets and cycling gear whether they were lucky or not. In this nightmare, the Swiss team, invited for the first time on the event, proved to be the unluckiest. “For the moment, we don’t have our bikes or our changing gear, but it doesn’t really matter. We’ll take the opportunity to go and buy new tooth brushes and we’ll just have to see what happens tomorrow”, laughed Chantal Fedele, used to the Tour who helps out the Swiss team this year.
Cameroon and Angola arrive!
The festivities planned were therefore to be slightly changed to a lighter version with the parade naturally reserved to those having a bike. For the others, whether they were from Brittany or Switzerland, lent t-shirts and jeans would be good enough. After all, the main thing was to welcome the riders of a gearless pack, hoping they would get their pedals and clothes back in time…
After the slight problems of the European squads, the Africans started giving the organisers major headaches. Would the Cameroon lions, who had given rather bad news just a week before, eventually show up? And what about the riders from Angola who hadn’t given any news despite the many calls? Just as Jean-Claude Hérault, head of the event was asking himself these crucial questions in his welcome speech, the plane from Angola was landing in Burkina. A slight passage in Lisbon and then Dakar partly explained the delay. And just after Angola, Cameroon made a triumphant entrance in the Maison des Peuples.
While we were expecting a race with 16 teams (with Benin and Togo in a mixed team) including half of the squads with no equipment, 19 teams eventually showed up for the start of the first stage in Kokologo: a new record...
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