Tuesday, November 4 2003 Stage 6 - Ouagadougou > Yako - 103,5 km       Zongo, Yako, well done!   Laurent Zongo! Laurent Zongo! Laurent Zongo this morning whipped up the pride of the Burkina Faso people by triumphing in the streets of Yako, at the end of a breakaway of seven riders who for a long time during the race threatened the yellow jersey holder. Riding strongly with the help of his team mates, Maarten Tjallingii arrived at the finishing line 28'' away from the breakaways, holding onto his precious golden jersey. The Burkina Faso rider Gweswende Sawadogo remains the first African in the general classification, which gives him the honour of wearing the blue and pale green jerseys. But the most important result lies elsewhere: Burkina Faso is in jubilation and has reasons to hope for further victories in this 17th edition of the Tour du Faso. Tomorrow in Ouahigouya like today in Yako, we'll just have to wait and see…   The seven mercenaries The start of the 6th stage of the 17th Tour du Faso, Ouagadougou – Yako (103,5 km), was given this morning at 7h43 to a pack made up of 75 riders (1 non starter: Ludovic Lemaréchal – bib n°113). Once again, the race set off at a wild pace, marked by multiple breakaway attempts easily quelled by the pack. More serious was the seven man attack launched just before the first intermediary sprint in Boussé; this group, made up of Laurent Zongo, J. Ibouldo, O. Keita, B. Bouniot, T. Kabore, J. Sanda and J. Kern, cut a fine figure and rapidly widened the gap, whilst R.G Ouedraogo launched an exhausting and in vain counter attack between the leaders and the pack. Right in the sunshine Very quickly, the gap between the two groups widened, rapidly passing to more than a minute: 2' at Km 55, then 4'25'' at the third intermediary sprint in Arbole. At the back, Tjallingii sees that his title is in peril: within the breakaway pack, Laurent Zongo, 14th in the general classification at 3'35'' from the leader, becomes the virtual yellow jersey of the race. But, on the roads lined with fields of millet and sorghum, the Marco Polo team are watching over their leader… The pursuit was launched and the gap rapidly closed, whilst the scorching heat settled over the routes of the Tour (42,5°C in the non air conditioned car of the person in charge of race communication). A singing triumph Fortunately, the seven men arrive at the finish a few seconds ahead of the pack (28'') and fight for stage victory « with their pedals ». Listening to the wise advice of his sporting director, Laurent Zongo is lying in wait and launches himself in the last kilometre. His attack is a dazzling one: the Burkina Faso rider claims his well deserved success, the first for the Africans on this Tour du Faso. A stage which, according to the different points of view, changes everything, or nothing at all… To see the joy and the excitement of the public, the Tour du Faso has just been hit by a total revolution!   Marco Polo's world tours Two stages and the yellow and green jerseys in 2001, two stages and the green and pink jerseys in 2002, two stages and the yellow and green jerseys in 2003, the results of the Dutch team Marco Polo on the Tour du Faso are impressive. This team, that our faithful readers are very familiar with, is at the origin of an ambitious and original concept, to make riders from the four continents of the world ride in the four corners of the world! Created in December 2000 by the former professional, Nathan Dalberg, the nomadic team found it logical to adopt the name of the most famous of travellers, Marco Polo. This year, the men in blue continue their conquest of Africa, possessing, in the person of Maarten Tjallingii a charismatic and dominating leader. The other particularity of the team lies in its management, all female. Questioned as to the reasons for the success of their « boys », Petra, Isabel and Francis put forward a definitive « female secret »; but watching them prepare the water bottles, massage the champions, watch over them during the race and keep them updated on the movements of the day's stage, we can see that they apply to the letter the basic winning formula: preparation, seriousness and solidarity. This is why this year the team has gained victories in Korea, in Canada, in Mongolia and in Chile. Those in charge of the Marco Polo team have recently gone one step further in their cosmopolitan training and recruitment policy. They now have among their ranks two Eritrean riders, Habte Welesimon and Ephrem Tewelde. The first of these riders, born in 1981, won the Tour of Eritrea in 2003 and remains one of the rare African riders to have participated in 1999 in the World Juniors Championship in Verona. The second, born in 1977, a member of the national team since 1999, triumphed in second place in the Tour of Eritrea; a time trial specialist, he finished fifth in the 1999 Pan-African Games (organised in South Africa) covering the 42 kilometres of the race at an average of 47,5 km/h. An initiative that delights the organisers of the Tour du Faso, whose middle term ambition clearly remains to make access to the highest level – to become professional – possible for riders from Africa. A passion unites them, travel and cycling: their ideal, to do all the world Tours… More information at www.marcopolocycling.com   TJALLINGII Maarten KERMER Kay    Stage • Individual time • Individual points • Team    Overall • Individual time • Individual points • Team   1 Wednesday, October 29 111,5 km  Ouagadougou - Kaya 2 Thursday, October 30 70 km  Kaya - Ziniaré 3 Friday, October 31 136 km  Kokologo - Boromo 4 Saturday, November 1 74 km  Boromo - Houndé 5 Sunday, November 2 133 km  Orodara - Bobo-Dioulasso R Monday, November 3  Ouagadougou 6 Tuesday, November 4 103,5 km  Ouagadougou - Yako 7 Wednesday, November 5 80 km  Yako - Ouahigouya 8 Thursday, November 6 128,5 km  Ouahigouya - Boussé 9 Friday, November 7 149 km  Koulbila - Tenkodogo 10 Saturday, November 8 139,5 km  Tenkodogo - Fada N'Gourma 11 Sunday, November 9 123 km  Kombissiri - Ouagadougou