August 26/10 15:43 pm - Tour International du Poitou Charente: Stages 3 and 4

Posted by Editoress on 08/26/10
 

A 2 stage day in France at the Tour International du Poitou Charente. Stage 3 was won by Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur - Sojasu).

Stage 4 a 22 km Itt was won by Markel Irizar Aranburu (Team Radioshack) who also assumed the overall lead in the GC.

Dominique Rollin (Cervélo Test Team) finished 10th on stage 3 and 14th on stage 4, and now sits 9th in the overall

First victory for Markel Irizar since recovery from cancer

Team RadioShack's Markel Irizar was the fastest rider in the 4th stage of the French stage race Tour du Poitou-Charentes (August 24-27th). In the 22 K time trial he was just 33- hundredths of a second faster than Swiss national road champion Martin Elmiger (Ag2R). Teammate Haimar Zubeldia finished third at one second back. Teammates Jesse Sergent, Sérgio Paulinho and Yaroslav Popovych all finished in the Top Ten. For Irizar (30) it is his first victory in seven years of professional cycling. Tomorrow he will start in the white leader's jersey in the last stage, a flat run from Niort to Poitiers.

“I still cannot believe it,” commented the TT winner from the Basque Country. “My emotions on the podium were so strong. I was thinking of my first trainer, my family, my friends, my former and current team mates, Johan Bruyneel and Lance Armstrong who gave me a spot in this Team. This is the reward for hard work.”

Like RadioShack teammate Lance Armstrong, Markel Irizar is a testicular cancer survivor (2002). After six years in the Euskaltel team, Irizar followed his friend Haimar Zubeldia to Team RadioShack in 2010. The teammates train together and are normally workers not winners. However both recently found themselves in the winners circle.

“Maybe this all happened with a bit of luck,” continued Irizar. “Because Haimar broke his wrist in the Critérium du Dauphiné, he missed the Tour. The only thing he and I could do was train. So we trained hard for two months in the Pyrenees. Team Director Alain Gallopin gave us a new roster for the rest of the year. We were motivated to perform well in the races that suit us, namely the Tour de l'Ain, the ProTour races in Canada and the Italian classics at the end of the season. The Tour du Poitou-Charentes was too flat for us but there was a time trial. So we saved our strength in the early stages to do well today and we succeeded. Alain Gallopin told me that we had a chance to win. He was right!”

“After the Tour de l'Ain, Irizar and Zubeldia didn't go home,” explained Team Director Gallopin. “They continued their training in the mountains. Already last Sunday in Plouay, I saw that Markel was in superb shape. He had to take advantage of this situation. I think we can see other nice things this year from our two Basque riders.”

Haimar Zubeldia finished third in the prologue at one second behind Irizar. “I was hindered by a rider I caught up with. It might have cost me that one second, but honestly I am more happy with the victory of Markel than I would have been with a win of myself,” said Zubeldia.

Two years ago Markel Irizar finished second in the prologue of Paris-Nice, showing his TT skills. In 2009 he won the overall mountains classification in the Tour Down Under.

“But this is my first real victory in my professional career,” concluded Irizar. “It is my job to help my teammates. A time trial is the best opportunity for me to land on the podium. I am more than happy today but I will continue working for the others.”

Irizar will defend his jersey in tomorrow's last stage. “It will be hard,” said Gallopin. “Martin Elmiger is second within the same second as Markel. Elmiger is fast and there are bonification sprints. It will be hard, but not impossible.”

Team RadioShack press release