Our first road stage in this years Paris Nice is rated as flat but this is far from your simple traditional expected sprint stage with a technical ending and a very windy day. This is likely to be a nervy one with possibly a break having a chance or a strong rouler.
Swisscom - UBS have the leaders jersey on their GC leader Nibali and will be hopeful of keeping it today. Looking at the other high finishers from yesterday they need to watch for riders from Team Bpost - Vlaanderen, ING - Pro Cycling Team and Team B&O looking to snatch bonifications. The best sprinter from those teams in possibly Bonnet who constested sprints in this years windy Qatar race.
The break of the day was only allowed to be two riders Durbridge and Figueirado.
It is a very blue feel to the break and indeed the whole packs, faces are looking blue on this harsh February cold blowy day. Swisscom - UBS keep the breaks lead down to a very sensible three minutes.
Durbidge takes the only intermediate sprint from Figueirado - both teams did okay in yesterdays TTT, but neither are much of a GC threat so no headlines here.
Behind Bouhanni stretches his legs and gets French hopes up by taking a rather bragging rights claim with 3rd at the next sprint over Krieger. These two are the only sprinters who contest this.
Durbridge also claims the mountains prize rather surprising the better rated climber Figueirado, the Australian will be the first KoM in this years race.
Their chance of a breakaway win is slim with Simply Red Bull and Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank joining Rothaus - Aegon and VolksWagen-Mapei in the chasedown. Villela took third on the climb as a chaser - no-one was interested in the points really.
Following the climb we see wildcard team Gazelle doing something wild with Monfort attacking on the initial descent.
He quickly bridges to the lead duo who were just 40 seconds clear. Confusingly though they all sit up. The break guys perhaps have had enough and Monfort who knows why he didn't pursue. By sitting up these three are quickly caught by the pack.
The sprinters teams continue to pace the pack hard and it is causing some problems with several riders drifting off the back, including a well known problematic rouler Solis.
He will drop over five minutes by the finish, also in the dropped riders is a heavy presence of Lotto – Australia Post riders including good climbers IVars and Moschella. The former perhaps surprising.
Up front we have no further attacks just a heavy pace setting, in particular late on by Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank.
" Kolesnikov
"
" Vaugranard
"
Trusov
Ladagnous
Soupe
Kreder
Le Bon
Reijnan
Dumoilin
Bounanni
Oss
Sella
Kreiger is way out of it back in about 90th position. However Bonnet has taken position amongst the GC candidates in around 25th place.
You can see all the really big names here - yellow jersey Nibali, Schleck, Spilak and so on. The GC leaders are very alert today.
Up front Tinkoff have to give way to Simply Red Bull as Vaugranard hits it hard between 3km to go and 2km to go.
So much so that he burns everyone off his wheel including team-mate Soupe. Kolesnikov, Ladagnous, Kreder and Leijnan continue to power on behind.
Vaugranard having made the gap, runs out of fuel and does not sprint.
Soupe has no juice and so power men Kolesnikov and Ladagnous take up arms under the kite - this windy sprint is right down these two riders alley.
Behind these two it looks a battle for third place with Kreder trying to hang on to the coattails of the lead two ahead of Soupe, Leijnan, the fading Vaugranard and a very surprising Sella.
Note at the bottom of the screen is the Festina-Canal+ jersey of Spilak. There are no other sprinters making a late burst for glory, this wind has put the other mediocre sprinters out of touch.
Up front Kolesnikov has too much power for Ladagnous and has opened up half a bike wheel over the French rider.
He takes the win in the typical ice man pose, possibly fearful that the wind will blow him off his bike such is its ferocity.
A solid second from Ladagnous with Kreder third and Sella is a strong fourth. In the minor places Reijnen takes Soupe for 5th with Spilak taking an onimous 7th, the Slovak looks strong.
A hard day out on the roads but Swisscom can be happy enough retaining the lead - the real sprinters were denied. But their quality was relatively low here and it is no real surprise that a strongman like Kolesnikov takes the win on such a day. Reward for the general all round strength of this Tinkoff team who were very solid yesterday.
Stage result
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Sergei Kolesnikov
Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank
5h11'53
2
Matthieu Ladagnous
Pendleton's
s.t.
3
Wesley Kreder
Project 1t4i
s.t.
4
Emanuele Sella
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
5
Kiel Reijnen
Prio - Porto
s.t.
6
Geoffrey Soupe
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
7
Simon Spilak
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
8
Artem Ovechkin
Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank
s.t.
9
Daniel Oss
Gazelle
s.t.
10
Benoît Vaugrenard
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
11
Gatis Smukulis
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
12
Rein Taaramäe
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
13
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Team Bpost - Vlaanderen
s.t.
14
Thomas Dekker
Team Vueling Airlines
s.t.
15
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
16
Nacer Bouhanni
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
17
Nikolai Trusov
Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank
s.t.
18
Romain Sicard
ING - Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
19
Nico Keinath
Team B&O
s.t.
20
Thomas De Gendt
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
21
José Angel Gomez Marchante
Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
22
Thomas Faiers
Good Energy
s.t.
23
William Bonnet
Team Bpost - Vlaanderen
s.t.
24
Peter Velits
Becherovka - Kiwibank
s.t.
25
Jacob Fiedler
ING - Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
26
José Rujano
Becherovka - Kiwibank
s.t.
27
Steve Morabito
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
28
Daniel Martin
Pendleton's
s.t.
29
Vincenzo Nibali
Swisscom - UBS
s.t.
30
Thibaut Pinot
Wikipedia
s.t.
31
André Steensen
Team B&O
s.t.
32
Tom Dumoulin
Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
33
Wen Hao Li
Wikipedia
s.t.
34
Johan Le Bon
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
35
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
36
Matej Vysna
Becherovka - Kiwibank
s.t.
37
Davide Villella
Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
38
Aleksej Kunshin
Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank
s.t.
39
Andrei Grivko
Team B&O
s.t.
40
Markus Fothen
Prio - Porto
s.t.
41
Joseph Dombrowski
Pendleton's
s.t.
42
Vladimir Gusev
Pendleton's
s.t.
43
Gianluca Brambilla
Project 1t4i
s.t.
44
Matthias Frank
Swisscom - UBS
s.t.
45
Alexis Vuillermoz
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
46
Maxime Monfort
Gazelle
s.t.
47
Florian Morizot
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
48
Pavel Brutt
Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank
s.t.
49
Chen Shikai
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
50
Stef Clement
ING - Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
51
Andrew Talansky
Wikipedia
s.t.
52
Tim Dees
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
53
Vicente Reynès
Santander
s.t.
54
Jose Goncalves
Swisscom - UBS
s.t.
55
Pierre Rolland
ING - Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
56
Jaime Suaza
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
57
Maxime Bouet
ING - Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
58
Jonathan Hivert
Team Vueling Airlines
s.t.
59
Richie Porte
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
60
Alexander Krieger
Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
61
Anton Vorobev
Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank
s.t.
62
Marcel Kittel
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
63
Wout Poels
Project 1t4i
s.t.
64
Dominique Cornu
Team Bpost - Vlaanderen
s.t.
65
Morgan Kneisky
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
66
Daniel Teklehaimanot
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
67
Sven Vandousselaere
Team Bpost - Vlaanderen
s.t.
68
Ricardo Van der Velde
Project 1t4i
s.t.
69
Florian Stalder
Swisscom - UBS
s.t.
70
Bob Jungels
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
71
Dennis Van Winden
ING - Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
72
Tim Kennaugh
Pendleton's
s.t.
73
Marc Goos
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
74
Frederik Frison
Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
75
Yoann Paillot
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
76
Ricardo Mestre
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
77
David López Garcia
Santander
s.t.
78
Rafaâ Chtioui
Swisscom - UBS
s.t.
79
Lucas Schädlich
Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
80
Matthias Brändle
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
81
Phan Age Haugard
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
82
Zakkari Dempster
Team B&O
s.t.
83
Michael Hepburn
Becherovka - Kiwibank
s.t.
84
Frederico Figueiredo
Prio - Porto
s.t.
85
Lieuwe Westra
Gazelle
s.t.
86
Sten Stenersen
Team B&O
s.t.
87
Youcef Reguigui
Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
88
Jakub Novak
Becherovka - Kiwibank
s.t.
89
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
90
Maxim Belkov
Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank
s.t.
91
Alfredo Balloni
Prio - Porto
s.t.
92
Charalampas Kastrantas
Gazelle
s.t.
93
Alexander Porsev
Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank
s.t.
94
Blake Caldwell
Wikipedia
s.t.
95
David Zabriskie
ING - Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
96
Christian Müller
Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
97
Mattia Cattaneo
Good Energy
s.t.
98
Dimitri Champion
Swisscom - UBS
s.t.
99
Teodoro Costagli
Good Energy
s.t.
100
Pieter Weening
Gazelle
s.t.
101
Tony Martin
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
102
Christophe Riblon
Swisscom - UBS
s.t.
103
Kristof Vandewalle
Team Bpost - Vlaanderen
s.t.
104
Frederik Nolf
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
105
Michael Faerk Christensen
Team B&O
s.t.
106
Jure Zrimsek
Team B&O
s.t.
107
Davide Formolo
Gazelle
s.t.
108
Ivan Kovalev
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
109
Brent Bookwalter
Wikipedia
s.t.
110
Jesse Sergent
Becherovka - Kiwibank
s.t.
111
Welle Jallays
Team Bpost - Vlaanderen
s.t.
112
Luke Durbridge
Wikipedia
s.t.
113
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Team B&O
s.t.
114
David Claerebout
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
115
Roman Kreuziger
Becherovka - Kiwibank
s.t.
116
Bradley Wiggins
Pendleton's
s.t.
117
Mathieu Bernaudeau
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
118
Lorents Ola Aasvold
Aker-MOT
s.t.
119
Patrick Konrad
Gazelle
s.t.
120
Shane Archbold
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
121
Alexandre Geniez
Team Vueling Airlines
s.t.
122
Nelson Oliveira
Prio - Porto
s.t.
123
Kevin Predatsch
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
124
Jean-François Camier
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
125
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
Wikipedia
+ 4'07
126
Artemio Moschella
Lotto - Australia Post
s.t.
127
Silvan Dillier
Swisscom - UBS
s.t.
128
Sean Downey
Pendleton's
s.t.
129
Rick Flens
Team Bpost - Vlaanderen
s.t.
130
Vegard Stake Laengen
Aker-MOT
s.t.
131
Koen De Kort
Project 1t4i
s.t.
132
Nick Ingels
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
133
Dadi Suryadi
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
134
Philipp Walsleben
Project 1t4i
s.t.
135
Domingos Gonçalves
Prio - Porto
s.t.
136
Mads Christensen
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
137
Johan Fredrik Ziesler
Aker-MOT
s.t.
138
Rafel Majka
Project 1t4i
s.t.
139
Steven Burke
Good Energy
s.t.
140
Josh Atkins
Becherovka - Kiwibank
s.t.
141
Jaco Venter
Gazelle
s.t.
142
Lars Ytting Bak
Team Vueling Airlines
s.t.
143
Samuel Pökälä
Aker-MOT
s.t.
144
Javier Moreno
Santander
s.t.
145
Nairo Quintana
Team Vueling Airlines
s.t.
146
Tony Gallopin
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
147
Ramunas Navardauskas
ING - Pro Cycling Team
+ 5'25
148
Damien Howson
Aker-MOT
s.t.
149
Loic Desirac
Lotto - Australia Post
s.t.
150
Dion Beukeboom
Team Bpost - Vlaanderen
s.t.
151
Jonas Decouttere
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
152
Javier Aramendía
Lotto - Australia Post
s.t.
153
Emilien Viennet
Team Vueling Airlines
s.t.
154
Jurgen Van Goolen
Pendleton's
s.t.
155
Jan Ghyselinck
Lotto - Australia Post
s.t.
156
Sébastien Ivars
Lotto - Australia Post
s.t.
157
Thomas Lebas
Team Vueling Airlines
s.t.
158
Juan Carlos Rienda Segura
Santander
s.t.
159
Idan Shapira
Good Energy
s.t.
160
Jarlinson Pantano Gómez
Project 1t4i
s.t.
161
Michael Cuming
Good Energy
s.t.
162
Óscar Solis
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
163
Rafael Reis
Prio - Porto
+ 6'55
164
Niels Scheunemann
Team Vueling Airlines
s.t.
165
Jon Ander Insausti
Santander
s.t.
166
Andrea Dal Col
Good Energy
s.t.
167
Rohan Dennis
Lotto - Australia Post
s.t.
168
Stelly Robert
Wikipedia
s.t.
169
Hugues Mottin
Bouygues Telecom
+ 8'32
170
Panagiotis Vlatos
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
171
Dainius Kairelis
Control Team
s.t.
172
Aberlardo Ablenado
Santander
s.t.
173
Enrico Battaglin
Good Energy
+ 10'05
174
Ivor Bruin
Control Team
s.t.
175
Tomasz Zywer
Control Team
s.t.
176
Stephen Vicelich
Lotto - Australia Post
s.t.
GC
No changes here and UBS-Swisscom continue to count the points.