In short
| Stage winner | Julien GONNET |
 |
David VERDONCK |
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David VERDONCK |
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Wahab SAWADOGO A. |
 |
Martinien TEGA |
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Wahab SAWADOGO A. |
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Martinien TEGA |
| » Jerseys' description | |
All classifications
| Stage |
|---|
 |
|
• Individual time |
|
| 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 |
| Pô > 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
Wednesday 1 November 2006| stage 7 | Bobo Dioulasso > Banfora - 83.5 km |  |
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Gonnet, power and wisdom
The two escapees on the day did their best before eventually being caught by the pack but their attempt was just too obvious. The Belgians having decided to assume their responsibilities, led the pack at high speed all along the stage with the intention of enjoying a final bunched sprint. In a tense final part, seven riders eventually managed to outsmart Verdonck’s plans. Julien Gonnet, the strongest of them all, gave Brittany its fourth stage success and gained precious time in the overall standings.
The film of the stage
Belgium in command
On the shortest stage of the Tour it can be dangerous to let a breakaway group take off. The Belgian riders, who had to improvise a tactic for their new race leader David Verdonck, therefore decided to chase every single attempt and didn’t let the slightest chance to possible escapees. Barboza (Sen) and Abdoulaye Ouedraogo (Bur) were the first to witness what it was like leading the race when they took off at kilometre 5 before being rapidly caught back. About ten kilometres later, a group of six riders broke away including Barboza, Lokossué (Civ), Syne (Bel), Mahmoud (Egy) and the two former leaders of the overall standings Saadoune (Mar) and Sanda (Cam) who lost all chances of success on the previous day. They too were eventually caught back by the hungry pack.
Kagambega and Sawadogo under control
At kilometre 35, in other words with less than fifty kilometres to go, four riders (three from Burkina, one from Senegal) launched another break. A desperate and vain effort saw two of the riders, Boukaré Kagambega (Bur) and Gueswende Sawadogo (Bur) continue pushing and give all they had without however managing to get a lead of over forty seconds. The pack kept going at a fast pace on a road that surprisingly became slightly hilly with a face wind. The leading duo was under control.
Attacks with 5 kilometres left
Eight kilometres away from the finish line and according to Belgian plans, Kagambega and Sawadogo were caught by the pack. Indeed the goal was to control the race in order to have a bunched sprint, a perfect exercise for the likes of specialists Syne and Verdonck. But falls were to occur and added confusion to the existing tension in this final part. In the last five kilometres, two groups managed to break away. With just over one kilometre left, the finish line could already be seen at the end of a very long straight. The seven leading men could enjoy a thirty second advantage over their first followers.
Gonnet outsprints Lebras
Julien Gonnet (Fra / Bretagne) had waited quite some time before showing himself in this stage. This time, the Frenchman launched the sprint from far away (500 m), hoping that his legs would be strong enough. The return of Alexandre Lebras looked convincing. Ten extra metres would have been enough to give the Yvelines firemen their first victory in Burkina. Instead of that, Brittany continued its impressive record with a fourth success. Gonnet moved closer to overall leader Verdonck: he’s now 4th at 43’’.
LE MAGAZINE
Sidwaya, at the heart of the Tour
On the European continent, written press has often been innovative in terms of sports events. L’Auto, ancestor of L’Equipe in France and La Gazzetta dello Sport, are both at the origin of two monuments of cycling: the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. In Burkina, Sidwaya (meaning: The truth has come) wasn’t the initiator of the Tour du Faso, but as a state newspaper, it has largely contributed towards its development for close to twenty years. Marcel Belem, chief editor of sports took part in 19 of the twenty editions of the Tour du Faso. He talks to us about the implication of his newspaper in this event that has become a key date of the national sporting calendar.
How did Sidwaya take part in the birth of Tour du Faso?
The Tour du Faso answered a wish that Thomas Sankara had to broadcast around the country his message of revolution by showing an active and determined African youth. The population aimed at was that of the countryside where the customary power came as a contradiction with the communist values commended by Sankara. Being linked at the time to a policy dictated by the regime, we were the instruments of this propaganda. In another order of ideas, our mission was also to give a good exposure to the local sponsors that supported the Tour. Our stories always mentioned our partners and it was that visibility that allowed them to come back. Otherwise the Tour would have disappeared.
Things have changed a great deal in the way you now do your job…
We now benefit of a real freedom of expression and presentation, maybe even bigger than for private press. Concerning the Tour, we had at the time a driver, a journalist and a photographer on the road. Now five of us write stories. On the other hand the production has increased in the same proportions. During the year, a sport extra is published twice a week. During the Tour, Sidwaya Sport becomes a daily with twelve pages only focusing on the race.
And the conditions are sometimes difficult…
The difficulty mainly lies on the time delay we have to publish and how to transmit our stories and pictures. The newspaper is printed in Ouaga. In order for it to be available on the other side of the country like Bobo for instance at six o’clock on the following morning, our texts must be written and finished by 3:00 PM. And concerning the photos, it isn’t that simple to find a good enough internet connexion to be able to work on. But we have learned to adapt and that’s the rule during the whole year.