To the wire

Winner decided in final race of the Tour de France a la Voile today in Hyeres

The suspense reached its climax today in Hyères for the two last races of the Tour de France a la Voile 2006. Thanks to his victory in the first race today, Ile de France has won this 29th running of the race around the French coast, ahead of Defi Parrtage-Marseille who had been leading for most of the race. The Mumm 30 World Champions onboard Matondo Congo-Route de l'équateur climbed on the third step of the podium after finishing in 4th and 2nd place in today's races.

The 2006 Tour Voile came to an end in a very nice way this morning, south of Porquerolles, off Hyères. For the first time since the start of the race in Dunkerque on 29 June, the wind blew at more than 15 knots. The 31 teams sailed the two last windward leward races according to plan, but the pressure was on on the race course. Six boats could have won this 29th edition and until the very last legs, the final result was still unsure. After the first race, where they finished second, Defi Parrtage-Marseille was back in the lead overall, but after finishing 21st in the second race, they let Ile de France fly away with the victory. 'It was really tight," said the skipper of Ile de France, Jean-Pierre Nicol. "We had to keep an eye on many competitors and it was not easy to negotiate. This victory is magical. It's a beautiful dream that has come true".

Ile de France won the Amateur title last year and her crew were dreaming of this overall victory since the first day they took possession of the leader's Red Spinnaker on 4 July. Throughout the race, Jean-Pierre Nicol and his team led the fleet for five days but spent most of the time second behind Defi Parrtage-Marseille. "We were aiming for the top of the podium", commented Dimitri Deruelle, one of the three skippers of Defi Parrtage-Marseille. For the third time in the row in the history of the Tour de France à la Voile, the team from Marseille finished second overall. "The penalty we received three days ago destabilized us psychologically," Deruelle continued. "We tried to forget about the results today while racing, but the disappointment was too big".

Defi Parrtage-Marseille finishes 10.25 points behind Ile de France and just 0.25 points ahead of Matondo Congo-Route de l'équateur. "We finished 4th and 2nd today", said the skipper Pierre-Loïc Berthet. "We had to be ahead to win a maximum of points but the results overall also depends on the other boats. Three teams stand in 1,5 point and I think this very tight ranking is due to the light and shifty conditions we had throughout the TFV". The Italians on Joe Fly Sailing Team missed the podium by 1,25 points, finishing fourth, in front of Ville de Geneve-Carrefour Prevention and Cotes d'Armor.

In the Amateur class, Ile Maurice-Naiade Resorts-EBSCO was already assured of their first place, but still finished 8th and 14th overall today. Second and third spots were more heavily contested. Fourth yesterday, Dieppe Seine Maritim e finally took second , in front of Espoirs Aquitains and Ville du Port-BRED-La Reunion.

In the Student division, the victory went to Cap Sport-HEC-Ecole Navale by just 1.5 point, despite the good results of Mer Montagne-Les Saisies-INSA, 10th and 5th today. "They disserve to win as much as us", said winning skipper Hervé Gautier. "They did really well on this TFV. The difference was maybe in the energy, the motivation and a bit of luck. We had all these in the team and I think that's why we are finishing first". The Dutch team of VanUden TUDelft finished third overall.

Results:

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Tot pnts
	Professional
1	ILE DE France	Jean Pierre Nicol	1146
2	DEFI PARTAGE MARSEILLE	T Bouchard / M Paul / D Deruelle	1135.75
3	MATONDO CONGO ROUTE DE L'EQUATEUR	Pierre-Loic Berthet/Philippe Monnet	1135.5
4	JOE FLY SAILING TEAM	Giovanni Maspero	1134.25
5	VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION	Loic Furher / denis Girardet	1129.25
6	COTES D'ARMOR	Michael Aveline	1111.5
7	TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE-COYCHYERES	Fabien Henry/Tugdual Becquemie	1049.75
8	COURRIER DUNKERQUE	Daniel Souben/Christophe Patou	985
9	DEFI BASSE NORMANDIE	Benoit Charon / Nicolas Jossier	980
10	NOUVELLE CALEDONIE	Damien Iehl/Vincent Portugal	961.75
11	ILE MAURICE-NAIADE RESORTS EBSCO	Sylvain Chtounder	942.5
12	CAP SPORT-HEC-ECOLE NAVALE	Hervé Gautier/Bruno Barbarin	913
13	MER MONTAGNE LES SAISIES INSA	R David / F Gaggero/ C Fleury	911.5
14	VanUden TU Delft	Gert Van Der Heijden	888.25
15	DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME	Romain Gibon	849.5
16	ESPOIRS AQUITAINS	JP Allilaire / N Radot / JJ Frebault	836
17	VILLE DU PORT-BRED-LA REUNION	Gabriel Jean-albert / Marc Guessard	835.75
18	NANTES-SAINT NAZAIRE	A. Civel / G. Gendron / S.Petithuguenin	774
19	PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE	Paul McKenzie	749.75
20	ESPOIR ILE DE France	Benoit Hochard / Mathieu Roynette	720.5
21	ALFA LAVAL	Yoann Richomme	700.25
22	PARTOUCHE-CENTRALE NANTES-RTE	Erwan Aubertin/Masson Julien	663.75
23	VAL THORENS	Lucas Millieret / Benoit Lequin	653.25
24	BIENNE VOILE	R Hartmann/L Muller/T Studer	602.5
25	PORT AUTONOME LA ROCHELLE	Jean Marc Allaire	589.25
26	DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES	Stéphane Venel	577.5
27	CENTRALE PARIS-EPF	Tanguy Leglatin	567.25
28	BREST GRANDES ECOLES-ENSIETA-ESC	Marie Riou/Eric Peron/alex Pallu de La Barriere	542.25
29	ELLES EN MER	Kiny Parade	533.25
30	EIGSI CHARENTE MARITIME-ENSAM	Bertrand Svilarich/Maximilien Coyon	520.75
31	T SERVICE INTERIM-REGION BRUXELLES CAPITALE	Laurent Declercq / JM Fobert-Noel	518
	Student
1	ILE MAURICE-NAIADE RESORTS EBSCO	Sylvain Chtounder	942.5
2	DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME	Romain Gibon	849.5
3	ESPOIRS AQUITAINS	JP Allilaire / N Radot / JJ Frebault	836
4	VILLE DU PORT-BRED-LA REUNION	Gabriel Jean-albert / Marc Guessard	835.75
5	NANTES-SAINT NAZAIRE	A. Civel / G. Gendron / S.Petithuguenin	774
6	PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE	Paul McKenzie	749.75
7	ESPOIR ILE DE France	Benoit Hochard / Mathieu Roynette	720.5
8	VAL THORENS	Lucas Millieret / Benoit Lequin	653.25
9	BIENNE VOILE	R Hartmann/L Muller/T Studer	602.5
10	T SERVICE INTERIM-REGION BRUXELLES CAPITALE	Laurent Declercq / JM Fobert-Noel	518.5
	Amateur
1	CAP SPORT-HEC-ECOLE NAVALE	Hervé Gautier/Bruno Barbarin	913
2	MER MONTAGNE LES SAISIES INSA	R David / F Gaggero/ C Fleury	911.5
3	VanUden TU Delft	Gert Van Der Heijden	888.25
4	ALFA LAVAL	Yoann Richomme	700.25
5	PARTOUCHE-CENTRALE NANTES-RTE	Erwan Aubertin/Masson Julien	663.75
6	PORT AUTONOME LA ROCHELLE	Jean Marc Allaire	589.25
7	DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES	Stéphane Venel	577.5
8	CENTRALE PARIS-EPF	Tanguy Leglatin	567.25
9	BREST GRANDES ECOLES-ENSIETA-ESC	Marie Riou/Eric Peron/alex Pallu de La Barriere	542.25
10	EIGSI CHARENTE MARITIME-ENSAM	Bertrand Svilarich/Maximilien Coyon	520.75