4 Jours de Dunkerque 2014 (2.HC), 07. - 11.05

[Geraint Too Fast]

Giants among men.

 

[Roude Leiw]

No Mont Cassel = screw this race.

So far a very entertaining race. You should perhaps reconsider

 

[roundabout]

Maybe it's me, but that was not a particularly entertaining "hilly stage" as a GC battle.

 

[jens_attacks]

i don't know but i liked it overall. a lot. giants attack today was entertaining too, nice win

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Liked the stage from the little I managed to see. Not in the same league as stage 2 and 3, but well above average.

Result:
1 Thierry HUPOND (Team Giant-Shimano) 05:12:24
2 Nikias ARNDT (Team Giant-Shimano) 00:00:09
3 Alexandre PICHOT (Team Europcar) 00:00:11
4 Frederik VEUCHELEN (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) 00:00:11
5 Hugo HOULE (AG2R La Mondiale) 00:00:12
6 Rudy KOWALSKI (Roubaix Lille Metropole) 00:00:18
7 Stéphane ROSSETTO (BigMat - Auber 93) 00:00:22
8 Arnaud DEMARE (FDJ.fr) 00:00:31
9 Michael Valgren ANDERSEN (Tinkoff-Saxo) 00:00:32
10 Steven TRONET (BigMat - Auber 93) 00:00:32

Demare and his team very strong.

GC:
1 Arnaud DEMARE (FDJ.fr) 18:01:46
2 Sylvain CHAVANEL (IAM Cycling) 00:00:06
3 Michael Valgren ANDERSEN (Tinkoff-Saxo) 00:00:06
4 Samuel DUMOULIN (AG2R La Mondiale) 00:00:22
5 Sébastien DELFOSSE (Wallonie - Bruxelles) 00:00:22
6 Florian SENECHAL (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) 00:00:29
7 Pieter JACOBS (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) 00:00:46
8 Yannick MARTINEZ (Team Europcar) 00:00:50
9 Steven TRONET (BigMat - Auber 93) 00:00:52
10 Jan GHYSELINCK (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) 00:00:52

Complete result: http://06.live-radsport.ch/details_...erque__Tour_du_NordpasdeCalais__Etappe_4.html

Last stage:

Unless the wind is serious during the laps, this will be a walk in the park for Demare.

 

[mortand]

Unless the wind is serious during the laps, this will be a walk in the park for Demare.

And so it was. A walk in the park, that is. Jimmy Engoulvent won solo from a break. Looks like he's on the right path toward his main goal of the year: The TT of Tour de Luxembourg

Final GC

 

[movingtarget]

The Four Days of Demare has concluded once again. Nice move by Jimmy in the final sprint. Use that traffic furniture ! Some entertaining racing.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

And so it was. A walk in the park, that is. Jimmy Engoulvent won solo from a break. Looks like he's on the right path toward his main goal of the year: The TT of Tour de Luxembourg

snipped..

lol, best dry run ever.

Overall a very entertaining race this year.

 

[veji11]

Yeah a very entertaining race, too bad for the teams of 8, which made the dominance of the FDJ team a lot stronger : Teams of 8 always help the strongest team. Here in France in a flemish type of race, the FDJ is by far the strongest team. The race might have been more open and with more movement on thursday and saturday.

Whereas on Friday Chavanel and Andersen managed to use the route in the hardest stage to attack efficiently, on thursday and saturday, both times the FDJ had just enough to bring back attacks and eventually ensure a bunch arrival for the favorites. With 2 FDJ teammates less, Thursday (the cobbles stage) and saturday (another hilly stage) would have seen big battles again.

Still overall it was very entertaining.