August 24, 2006 – After his impressive ride Tuesday that saw Francois Parisien (TIAA-CREF) ending up fifth in overall placing and pick up the jersey for best young cyclist, Parisien took it easier Wednesday and finished in the peloton; he also gave up his jersey.

The Canadian road racing champion from Repentigny, Quebec, finished 63rd in Wednesday’s stage. Apparently Parisien wasn’t the only one taking it easy; the peloton crossed the finish 36 minutes behind winner Jussi Veikkanen (Française des Jeux). Veikkanen’s time was 4.28.36

In overall points, Veikkanen now leads, but is only 8 s ahead of Italian Stefano Cavallari (Acqua Sapone РCaffe Mokambo) and only 11 s ahead of Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis, Le Cr̩dit Par T̩l̩phone). Parisien is now in 35th place (at 36min 39s).

“The break formed around 30 kilometres and included representatives of most of the teams, including three from my team,” recounted Parisien. “Nobody wanted to chase them and so everyone lifted their feet and we pedaled quietly to the finish line. I was rather tired because I had exhausted my reserves the previous day (Tuesday), so this arrangement suited me!”

Race officials were not so happy with events. Normally, the members of the peloton should have been classified without delays, but they all received a 20 Swiss franc fine from officials but without being disqualified.

The third stage of the Tour de Poitou-Charentes takes place Thursday between Parthenay and Chauvigny over a distance of 164.8km:

Stage 1 – August 22: Saintes – Cognac, 187.1km

1 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Auber 93, 4:39:02
2 Samuele Marzoli (Ita) Team LPR
3 Denis Bertolini (Ita) Acqua Sapone – Caffe Mokambo
4 Hans Dekkers (Ned) Agritubel
6 Stéphane Pouhlies (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance
6 Stéphane Bonsergent (Fra) Groupe Sportif Bretagne-Jean Floc’h
7 Vincent Jérôme (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
8 Tyler Farrar (USA) Cofidis-Le Crédit par Téléphone
9 John Nilsson (Swe) Auber 93
10 Steffen Radochla (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Akud
—
73 Francois Parisien (Can) Team TIAA-CREF, all s.t.

GC

1 Saïd Haddou (Fra) Auber 93, 4:38:52
2 Samuele Marzoli (Ita) Team L.P.R., at 0:04
3 Elio Aggiano (Ita) Team L.P.R., s.t.
4 Denis Bertolini (Ita) Acqua Sapone – Caffe Mokambo, 0:06
5 Fran̤ois Parisien (Can) Team Tiaa РCref, s.t.
6 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Agritubel, 0:07
7 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise Des Jeux, 0:08
8 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) Team L.P.R., 0:09
9 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
10 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Auber 93, both s.t.

Stage 2 – August 23: Cognac – Partheny, 191km

1 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise Des Jeux, 4:28:36
2 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Acqua Sapone – Caffe Mokambo, at 0:02
3 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit Par Téléphone, 0:03
4 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Credit Agricole, 0:19
5 Steffen Radochla (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Akud, 0:43
6 Tyler Farrar (USA) Cofidis, Le Crédit Par Téléphone
7 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne – Jean Floc’h
8 Nicolas Rousseau (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
9 Cédric Herve (Fra) Bretagne – Jean Floc’h
10 Kilian Patour (Fra) Credit Agricole, all s.t.
—
63 Fran̤ois Parisien (Can) Team Tiaa РCref , 36:31

Overall

1 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise Des Jeux, 9:07:26
2 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Acqua Sapone – Caffe Mokambo, at 0:08
3 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis, Le Crédit Par Téléphone, 0:11
4 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Credit Agricole, 0:31
5 Cédric Herve (Fra) Bretagne – Jean Floc’h, 0:50
6 Steffen Radochla (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Akud, 0:52 7 Nicolas Rousseau (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance, s.t.
8 Tyler Farrar (USA) Cofidis, Le Crédit Par Téléphone, 0:55
9 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne – Jean Floc’h
10 Kilian Patour (Fra) Credit Agricole, both s.t.
—
35 Fran̤ois Parisien (Can) Team Tiaa РCref, 36:39