Team CSC just keeps rolling. After the Danish-based squad earned wins for Jörg Jaksche at the Mediterranean Tour and Paris-Nice, it was the turn this weekend of Jaksche’s fellow German Jens Voigt to dominate the Critérium International.

Voigt, 32, won both of Sunday’s two stages to take the overall victory by 12 seconds over the emerging Spanish star José Ivan Gutierrez of Balears-Banesto.

A still-improving Lance Armstrong finished third another two seconds back, with CSC’s rejuvenated Bobby Julich a further two seconds behind in fourth.

In the closing 8.3km time trial, Voigt beat Gutierrez by just two tenths of a second, with world champion David Millar of Cofidis one second back in third. Behind the top three, North Americans made a strong showing. Armstrong was fourth, Julich fifth, Postal’s Floyd Landis eighth, Phonak’s Tyler Hamilton 10th and Postal’s Michael Barry 12th.

Julich was the fastest at half-distance after 4km of mainly uphill work, five seconds faster than teammate Voigt, but lost time on the mainly flat second half.

Armstrong: 'still lacking... power'

Photo: Graham Watson

“I’m a little too light right now to compete against guys like Millar on the flats,” conceded Julich, who was just a second slower than Armstrong.

The five-time Tour de France champion is still on target for attempting that record sixth Tour victory, but Julich is likely to challenge the Postal leader at his next race, April’s Tour de Georgia. As for Hamilton, this was only his second race of the season.

“I felt stronger than I did at Paris-Nice,” he said, “but I’m still lacking quite a bit of power.”Results Stage 2 - Les Vieilles Forges > Montherme
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC – 98.5km in 2:32:19
2. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, at 00:00
3. David Moncoutie (F), Cofidis, at 00:00
4. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, at 00:06
5. José Luis Rubiera (Sp), U.S. Postal Service, at 00:09Overall Standings – After Stage 2
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC- 7:30:31
2. David Moncoutie (F), Cofidis, at 00:03
3. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, at 00:03
4. Marcus Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, at 00:06
5. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, at 00:09Click for full results

Voigt started his day right...

Photo: Graham Watson

Tough start to a cold day
The second day of the two-day Critérium International began with a difficult 98.5km climbing stage in the Ardennes that was made even more grueling by an 8:40 a.m. start and temperatures that hovered in the low 30s. The overnight leader Jean-Patrick Nazon was one of the first riders to be dropped and he would quit the race with 20 others, while another 20 finished outside the 8-percent time limit.

Much of the damage was done by Voigt’s CSC team, which made repeated uphill surges. Julich was impressive on the steeper hills — particularly the 4.2km Mont Malgré Tout, 25km from the finish. It was here that Armstrong sent Landis, Chechu Rubiera and José Azevedo — his three strongest teammates — to the front. Together with CSC’s Voigt, Julich, Luxembourger Frank Schleck and Norwegian Kurt-Asle Arvesen, the U.S. Postal quartet created the winning move of 32 riders.

It was from this group that a tactical three-man break was made by Schleck, Hushovd and Rubiera 11km from the finish, on a flat, narrow road before a long descent to the 3.7km finishing climb at Monthermé. Voigt waited until the final uphill kilometer to join French climber David Moncoutié before overhauling the three breakaways.

On the line, Voigt was less than a second ahead of teammate Schleck with Moncoutié in third. Hushovd and Rubiera followed them in, while Gutierrez led the Armstrong group to the 1135-foot summit, just nine seconds back.

Five hours later, on a warm, sunny afternoon in Charleville, Voigt went on to complete his triumph, his second at the Critérium International. His first overall win came in 1999, when the event was held in the Vaucluse region of southern France.Stage 3 - Charleville-Mézières > Charleville-Mézières
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC – 8.3km in 10:12
2. Gutierrez José Ivan (Sp), Illes Balears-Banesto, at 00:00
3. David Millar (GB), Cofidis, at 00:01
4. Lance Armstrong (USA), U.S. Postal Service, at 00:03
5. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 00:04
6. Ronny Scholz (Swi), Gerolsteiner, at 00:06
7. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, at 00:07
8. Floyd Landis (USA), U.S. Postal Service, at 00:10
9. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Brioches La Boulangere, at 00:11
10. Tyler Hamilton (USA), Phonak, at 00:11
11. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), T-Mobile, at 00:12
12. Michael Barry (Can ), U.S. Postal Service, at 00:14
13. Marcus Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, at 00:14
14. Jorg Jaksche (G), CSC, at 00:16
15. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, at 00:16
16. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2R Prevoyance, at 00:17
17. Sandy Casar (F), FDJeux.com, at 00:17
18. Isidro Nozal (Sp), Liberty-Seguras, at 00:17
19. Martinez José Alberto (Sp), Relax Bodysol, at 00:17
20. David Canada (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 00:18Final Overall Standings
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC - 7:40:43
2. Gutierrez José Ivan (Sp), Illes Balears-Banesto, at 00:12
3. Lance Armstrong (USA), U.S. Postal Service, at 00:14
4. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 00:16
5. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, at 00:17
6. Ronny Scholz (Swi), Gerolsteiner, at 00:19
7. Marcus Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, at 00:21
8. Floyd Landis (USA), U.S. Postal Service, at 00:22
9. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), T-Mobile, at 00:22
10. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Brioches La Boulangere, at 00:23
11. David Moncoutie (F), Cofidis, at 00:24
12. Tyler Hamilton (USA), Phonak, at 00:24
13. Sandy Casar (F), FDJeux.com, at 00:29
14. Martinez José Alberto (Sp), Relax Bodysol, at 00:30
15. David Canada (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 00:30
16. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, at 00:32
17. Rubens Bertogliati (Swi), Saunier Duval, at 00:33
18. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), Quick Step-Davitamon, at 00:34
19. Arvesen Kurt-asle (Nor), CSC, at 00:34
20. Sven Montgomery (Swi), Gerolsteiner, at 00:35Click for full results