Sunday, November 9 2003 Stage 11 | Kombissiri > Ouagadougou - 123 km         Mixed results for African cycling…   Maarten Tjallingii is hence the winner of the 2003 Tour du Faso. But, faithful to his conception of sport, made up of panache and the surpassing of oneself, he achieved his win by breaking away from the pack in the ultimate stage mapped out on a circuit in the capital, Ouagadougou. He was second in the stage, behind the Alsace rider Thomas Dietsch, but stole the pink jersey of the intermediary sprints from his team mate Kay Kermer, holder of the green jersey. Full marks for the men of the Marco Polo team and the European teams, who left only the remnants to the riders of the African Continent, one stage win and the jerseys for the best African rider and the UEMOA… The Burkina Faso riders lost the blue jersey two days before the finish, splendidly snatched up by the Cameroon rider Martinien Tega (also white jersey holder for the best young rider in the competition), all of their pride weighs on the shoulders of Mahamadi Sawadogo, winner of the pale green jersey for the best rider of the UEMOA zone. As for the Isère riders' GMCI 38, they fully deserve, by their collective force, the title of best team in this 17th edition. African riders who are progressing, but who still need to perfect their collective strategies, and Burkina Faso riders who are conquerors but rarely victors, here we have a transition Tour which heralds a return in force of local riders for 2004.   The victorious entry of the yellow jersey in Ouaga The start of the 11th and last stage of the 17th Tour du Faso, Kombissiri' Ouagadougou (123 km), was given this morning at 8h36 to a pack made up of 67 riders (no non starters). A now classic tactic in this race, the attacks were multiplied from the start, at the initiative notably of Cuylits, soon relayed by Lu. Zongo, O. Keita, A. Lecoq, M. Bilgo & A Egue. Wearied by so much tension, the yellow jersey profited from the incessant attacks of T. Dietsch and B. Bouniot to slip away from the pack. The three men entered triumphantly into Ouaga, to the great displeasure of the Burkina Faso public, who hoped to see one of their riders in the lead. The great trio dupe the pack There remained ten laps of the circuit to be covered (76 kilometres in total) and anything was still possible. But the leading trio had set a great pace, and in the numerous bends in the town centre, gained ground on their pursuers. The gap rapidly increased to one, then two, and finally three minutes. It was all over! The Burkina Faso riders, though they were in the majority in the pack, along with all the other riders, were trapped: they wouldn't make a comeback… Victory was to be fought out between Tjallingii, Dietsch and Bouniot. Dietsch the smartest… In the last lap, the only thing at stake was the stage victory, to such an extent that the three breakaways slowed down the pace in order to better prepare for the final sprint. This was all that was needed by Thomas Dietsch to break away, profiting from the hesitations of Tjallingii and Bouniot, reputed to be better sprinters than him. Victory was waiting for him! The sprint for the places on the podium was won 28 seconds later by Maarten Tjallingii, the flamboyant winner of this 17th Tour du Faso, ahead of Brice Bouniot, whilst the pack arrived 1'28'' after the Alsace rider.   Water for Kossoghin! Imagine a village isolated in the Sahelian pre-desert on the outskirts of Ouagadougou. Imagine 157 inhabitants deprived of drinking water and forced to drink rainwater during the rainy season and to travel two kilometres to find a water point during the dry season. Imagine also a scorching sun blazing down for ten months of the year on a few dry clay homes… Kossoghin! Kossoghin, in the Namassa area, an enclosed village of 679 inhabitants, handicapped by the absence of a well… It is in order to remedy this injustice of nature that the ONG « Terre Verte » (Green Earth), based in Landrecies in the North of France and presided over by Henri Girard, and the 38 entities of the Portes du Hainaut Community of Agglomerations, presided over by Alain Bocquet and represented on the ground by Jocelyne Losfeld, in charge of Culture and Youth, joined forces to take up the challenge of bringing drinking water to the heart of Kossoghin. The idea came about during the last Water Festival in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux especially devoted to Africa and the encounter of these town councillors with Jean-Marie Leblanc, General Director of the Tour de France and a native of Hainaut. A subvention of 10.000 euros was voted and given to the A.Z.N (Zoramb Naktaba Association), a Burkina Faso Terre Verte (Green Earth) subsidiary company… On Monday the 10th of November, the day after the finish of the Tour du Faso, a delegation which included all the participants in this project along with Laurent Jalabert, accompanied by his wife, was received by the families of Kossoghin. The Prefect symbolically offered to Jocelyne Losfeld a gourd, the traditional water recipient in the countries of Western Africa, and folkloric shows punctuated an encounter rich in emotions and perspectives. Certainly, the first two forages proved to be unsuccessful, but further research has been undertaken and without doubt water will soon spurt from the dry ground in Kossoghin. As pointed out by Jean-Marie Leblanc, « the Tour du Faso brings joy to the Burkina Faso people; if its directors can contribute to the healthy wellbeing of its children, then they will have done their work well! »   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