Peter Sagan put in a dogged solo display to claim his second stage victory in three days at Paris-Nice.
The Liquigas neo-pro - who led a six-man breakaway at the line on Monday - powered clear again with just under 2km to go held on magnificently to pip Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre) and Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) at the line.
Alberto Contador was also hot on the Slovakian's heels and his 10th-placed finish ensured he retained the leader's jersey.
In contrast to the wintery weather that had plagued the opening stages, sun beamed down as the riders rolled out of Pernes-les-Fontaines and Dimitri Champion (Ag2R) was the first man to break clear on the climb up the Col de Murs.
Astana, riding in support of Contador, monitored the situation closely and Champion was swept up with around 100km of the stage still remaining.
Such was the ferocity at the head of the peloton that it eventually split in two, with Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) among the big names to be caught out by the unrelenting pace.
Further attacks came thick and fast and with 50km to go Team Sky's Sylvain Calzati was joined by Vladimir Gustov (Cervélo), Carlos Barredo (Quick-Step) and Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) as the quartet surged away from the pack.
Their advantage peaked at 1:20 before Astana, Caisse d'Epargne and Euskaltel-Euskadi worked together to reel them back in - a feat which they eventually managed with just over 20km to go.
The stage looked all set for a sprint finish until Christophe Le Mevel (Francaise Des Jeux) made his bid for glory late on. Sagan reacted brilliantly to catch the Frenchman however and then launched clear on his own as the road ascended into Aix-en-Provence.
Nicolas Roche (Ag2R) and David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) did their best to haul the 20-year-old back but their attempts proved futile as he held on by a matter of metres.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment