Home » Top Stories » Road »

Euro-nats Roundup: Moreau confirms form by winning French road title

By Agence France Presse
Published: Jul. 1, 2007
Moreau collects his first French road crown
Moreau collects his first French road crown
Photo: AFP

France — AG2R team leader Christophe Moreau continued to display his race form ahead of the Tour de France by winning his first-ever French road-race crown Sunday in Aurillac. The 36-year-old winner of last month’s Dauphiné Libéré escaped late in the race and finished with a two-minute lead on Pierrick Fedrigo and Patrice Halgand.

The Netherlands — Rabobank rider Koos Mourenhout won the Dutch national road race championship Sunday in Maastricht. Mourenhout finished ahead of Sebastien Langeveld and Maarten den Bakker after a solo attack in the final lap of the race.

Switzerland — Gerolsteiner's Beat Zberg won the Swiss national road race championship after 205.2km of racing around Brugg on Sunday. Zberg finished ahead of world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara of CSC and David Loosli.

Austria — Third in 2006, Christian Pfannberger (Elk-Haus Simplon) made amends this year by winning the Austrian national road race on Sunday in Vienna. Pfannberger beat Markus Eibegger in a two-man sprint to the finish line after 172.2km of racing, with Thomas Rohregger in third at just a second behind.

Luxembourg — Astana's Benoit Joachim won the Luxembourg national road race crown on Sunday in Schifflange after finishing ahead of Christian Poos and Franck Schleck of CSC. Joachim, 30, thus picks up his third national title having won in 2000 and 2002.

Belgium — Discovery Channel's Stijn Devolder won the Belgian national road race crown on Sunday in Renaix. Devolder was the strongest on the day's final climb, and he pulled away from a small group to complete the remaining 10km in winning fashion, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert on Sunday.

Germany — Gerolsteiner's Fabian Wegmann claimed the first German road race crown of his blossoming career on Sunday after dominating T-Mobile's Patrik Sinkewitz in a two-man sprint for the finish in Wiesbaden. The 27-year-old's victory came after he and Sinkewitz escaped from the group with 45km to race. It is the third year in a row that T-Mobile, who dominated the championships from 1993-2004, has failed to claim the national title.

Italy — Quick Step rider Giovanni Visconti was crowned Italian road race champion on Sunday in Rome. Visconti held off the threat of Paolo Bossoni, Davide Rebellin and Christian Murro, with whom he had broken away with 15km to race. Defending champion Paolo Bettini, the reigning world and Olympic champion, abandoned after just 40km following a crash and suffering technical mishaps.

Spain — Caisse d'Epargne’s Joaquin Rodriguez on Sunday won Spain's road race cycling championship, held over 189.4kkm at Cuenca. Rodriguez's teammate Alejandro Valverde finished second. The 28-year-old Catalan-born rider, who made his winning move on the final climb, said: "I'd like to thank all my teammates, but especially Alejandro."