In short
| Stage winner | Jean-Luc DELPECH |
 |
Abdelati SAADOUNE |
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Lionel SYNE |
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Julien GONNET |
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Ahmed RASHAD |
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Gueswende SAWADOGO |
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Abdelati SAADOUNE |
| » Jerseys' description | |
All classifications
| Stage |
|---|
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• Individual time |
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| Overall |
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• Individual time • Individual points • Best team |
Stage by stage
| 1 | Wednesday 25 October | 91 km |
| Ouagadougou > Manga | ||
| 2 | Thursday 26 October | 121 km |
| Manga > (Pô) > Tiébélé | ||
| 3 | Friday 27 October | 140 km |
| PĂ´ > Ouagadougou | ||
| 4 | Saturday 28 October | 129 km |
| Boussé > Ouahigouya | ||
| 5 | Sunday 29 October | 150 km |
| Yako > Ziniaré | ||
| 6 | Tuesday 31 October | 136 km |
| Kokologo > Boromo | ||
| 7 | Wednesday 1 November | 83.5 km |
| Bobo Dioulasso > Banfora | ||
| 8 | Thursday 2 November | 121 km |
| Bobo Dioulasso > Bobo Dioulasso | ||
| 9 | Friday 3 November | 115 km |
| Boromo > (Sabou) > Koudougou | ||
| 10 | Saturday 4 November | 96 km |
| Linoghin > Pouytenga | ||
| 11 | Sunday 5 November | 88 km |
| Loumbila (Barrage) > Ouagadougou | ||
| Total | 1270.5 km | |
The race
Friday 27 October 2006| stage 3 | PĂ´ > Ouagadougou - 140 km |  |
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A dream gift for Delpech
The road to Ouagadougou gave a fair deal of elements concerning the evolution of the hierarchy of the 20th Tour du Faso. First of all, the Burkina riders, despite the big disappointment of the previous day haven’t changed the goal they had before the start of the event, in other words they still hope to retain their crown. Secondly, the Moroccans still have the necessary resources to control the pack and stop any possible attempt. Thirdly, the Brittany team carried on impressing for their very first Tour: on the day of his 27th birthday, Jean-Luc Delpech offered himself stage victory. Finally one will need to be extremely determined to try and capture the green jersey from the shoulders of Lionel Syne.
The film of the stage
Morocco behind Saadoune
The previous stage left traces on the starting list with the absences of five riders failing to make it within the allowed time in Tiebele, and that included half of the mixed BĂ©nin-Togo-Niger team. The series of punctures that had started on the eve in the dirt track portion carried on at the beginning of stage 3 and hit some of the top riders. Former yellow jersey Lionel Syne, lost precious time in the first few kilometres but still managed to catch up the pack thanks to his strong legs. Current yellow jersey Abdelati Saadoune was also to suffer a puncture on his rear tire. His five team mates awaited their leader to make his return in the pack as smooth as possible.
J.Ouedraogo will not abdicate
An attack led at kilometre 12 by a dozen riders gave a good idea of what the stage would be like. Despite their time loss on the previous day, the Burkina Stallions had certainly not stopped them from being ambitious. 8’55’’ off the winning pace of Saadoune at the start of the stage, title holder Jérémie Ouedraogo led the breakaway attempt. But the Moroccans took control of the situation: they indeed started easing up the pace n the front positions of the main field and managed to catch the escapees at kilometre 15. This episode repeated itself between kilometres 20 and 30 and J.Ouedraogo was this time joined by Saïdou Tall (Bur), just under two minutes adrift overall, who represented an even bigger menace for Saadoune.
18 riders in the lead
After the intermediate sprint in Nobéré (km 42), the breakaway riders were caught back but not discouraged. An attacking group shaped up including the likes of J.Ouedraogo (Bur), Syne (Bel), Pattyn (Bel), S.Rouamba (Bur), A.W.Sawadogo (Bur), pink jersey Julien Gonnet alongside an ally, as well as three riders from the Egyptian squad. A total of 18 riders seemed ready to challenge the Moroccan armada forced to carry on easing up the rhythm of the main pack. The leading group enjoyed a maximum 1’40’’ lead after 60 kilometres of racing.
5 left with 10 kilometres to go
The road was still long and the return of the pack seemed obvious. A part of the adventurers lacked of power and were caught by the bunch at kilometre 70. Only ten courageous riders remained, including the last two winners of the Tour du Faso, A.W.Sawadogo and J.Ouedraogo. With ten kilometres to go and while the pack carried on moving closer (20’’ gap) an attack broke the group apart. Five would therefore have the privilege to battle it out for stage success just as long as they carried on their efforts.
First win for Delpech
A battle of sprinters was to be prepared in the last kilometre. Protected in the wheel of Frenchman Florent Gohier (Fra / Sarthe) for quite some time, Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra / Bretagne) launched the decisive move with 300 metres to go. Despite the return of Lionel Syne who took command of the point’s classification, the man from Brittany proved to be the most powerful. Happy birthday to him!
LE MAGAZINE
Memories from Salzburg
The numbers are cruel, brutal at first sight. For their first participation in cycling World Championships, the representatives from the elite of Burkina cycling came back home with very discouraging results: one lap of the circuit for Saïdou Rouamba, two for Jérémie Ouedraogo, three for Abdul Wahab Sawadogo. Together, the three finest “Stallions’’ of the country failed to cover the 260 kilometres of the Salzburg race.
Like often it is behind the numbers that one will find the reality of the experience. Indeed the trip to Austria was more of an initiation for the riders concerned. “We knew that none of us would be able to finish the race because the conditions were too tough for a performance that would show our real level”, mentioned Jérémie Ouedraogo. The first few sentences of his argumentation are not very convincing but the account of the details has far more weight: “we were told that we could compete in the World Championships just a week from the date and our season hadn’t even started. And two hours before leaving, we didn’t even know if we could be on the plane because our budget hadn’t been confirmed for our tickets. In terms of preparation, we were close to zero”, insisted Jérémie. When arriving in the Mozart’s city the disillusion continued when taking off for the first training sessions: “when checking the course out, we found out that it was almost impossible for us to clear the two difficulties. We were equipped with 49x22 systems and that isn’t really adapted for a hilly course”. Numerous climbs added to the extremely fast start to the race meant that the three Burkina ambassadors almost didn’t have the slightest chance to perform well and only spent five kilometres together among the World’s elite pack.
That isn’t hoverer what Rouamba, Ouedraogo and Sawadogo remembered of their journey to Europe. The first satisfaction came from the pride of representing their continent, indeed only two nations, Burkina Faso and South Africa, were qualified by the UCI. The contact with the best riders of their discipline during a few days was especially a good lesson for these newcomers: “we were based in the same hotel as the Kazakhstan team, and we were able to see the difference of conditions between the very high level of cycling and our way of preparing. Concerning the material and the food of course, but also in a more global approach. It isn’t the same thing at all when one has the goal to win this type of race”. Vinokourov and Kashechkin, the new friends of the Burkina riders, weren’t really able to help them progress during these few days: “they offered to change the gear systems on our bikes, but I am equipped by Campagnolo and they use Shimano. As a souvenir he still gave me his gloves, shorts and jersey”, explained Ouedraogo. Abdul Wahab Sawadogo now rides with a pair of shoes offered by Kashechkin. Shoes that helped him conquer third spot of the stage to Ouaga!