A long and flat stage is what awaits the riders in the second day of racing in the Paris - Nice. If the wind does not make an appearance today the stage could be quite dull and end up in a mass sprint for the line. The best sprinters in the World have shown up in France, so the chances are that a lot of teams will be willing to control de pace of the bunch.
It took a lot of time and effort to form the break of the day but in the end two Frenchman managed to break the grip of the pack and broke away: Sylvain Chavanel (Giant) and Julien Simon (FDJ). They had a gap of 3' 15'' on the main bunch halfway through the stage but in truth their chances of making it to the finish were slim at best. Belkin is setting the pace in the main bunch to protect the yellow jersey that is on the shoulders of Kenny van Hummel.
The main bunch reached the Cote de la Ferte-Loupierre (44 kilometers to go) with the race completely controlled. Belkin was still controlling the pace and the gap had grown to 3' 40'', although the 100 kilometers that the riders had been away were already weighing on their legs. Geraint Thomas took the chance to take 2 points in the KoM sprint and will be wearing the dotted jersey tomorrow.
The second intermediate sprint was placed in the first passage through the finish line. The break had been almost caught by then, as their gap was a mere 25 seconds with 19 kilometers remaining. In the sprint of the bunch Ben Swift took the points ahead of Kenny van Hummel and Francisco Ventoso. The work at the front of the peloton was now being shared by Astana, in a bid by the Kazakh team to win the stage with Marcel Kittel.
Chavanel and Simon were reeled back in soon but the sprint preparation was a bit chaotic. The 200 kilometers of the stage were starting to weigh on the riders and Trek was the only real train that had taken shape so far. As usual, Giacomo Nizzolo was going to work for Andre Greipel. Meanwhile, Marcel Kittel was trying to find Anthony Roux's wheel and Alessandro Petacchi had lost Kenny van Hummel. Among the other sprinters in the front positions Matthew Goss, Jurgen Roelandts and Tyler Farrar were the best positioned.
Giacomo Nizzolo did the only decent job as a lead out man today and delivered Andre Greipel to the best position ahead of the last kilometer of the stage. However, it seems like Greipel is starting his sprint too early, with 1.3 kilometers remaining. Belkin is on the right hand side of the road launching the leader, while Stefan van Dijk, Ben Swift and Jurgen Roelandts are all threatening Andre Greipel.
Andre Greipel took off and with 500 meters to go only Stefan van Dijk seemed ready to follow him towards the finish line. It would be a great result for the Pro Conti team to get a good result in a stage of the Paris - Nice. Behind them, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Michael Matthews were making progress and had overtaken Ben Swift.
Michael Matthews wins in Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche! This is a surprising win by the Lotto sprinter, who came from behind to take a clear win. The Australian had only managed to win once last year, in the Tour of Beijing, and this is a win of much more quality. In the final meters a lot of riders paid for their efforts and Francisco Ventoso took the second place ahead of Simone Ponzi. The Italian managed to take 1 bonus second that could well serve him later in the race.
The top 5 of the stage was completed by Jose Joaquin Rojas and Andre Greipel. The German had everything in his favor, but could not deliver a win for his team. Kenny van Hummel retained the yellow jersey thanks to the bonus second that he got in the first intermediate sprint of the day. Tomorrow he might retain the lead again, as the stage is again very flat.
We already talked about Tejay van Garderen in here
The last time we dedicated an article to Tejay van Garderen he was on the way to stardom in the World of cycling, a status that he finally reached last year, when he won the Tour de France after a very solid performance. In truth, he had already been outstanding in 2013, when he won the Tour de Romandie, was in the podium in the Giro d'Italia and finished 2nd in the World Tour standings. However, last year was special for him as the win in the Tour de France changes the life of a cyclist forever. Only 3 riders have won the French race, Bauke Mollema and Hubert Dupont being the others, and all of them are stars of the sport.
The last 2 years in the life of Tejay van Garderen were the best in his career so far but he also managed to get on surprisingly well with his teammate Peter Stetina. They are two of the best Grand Tour riders of the World, as Stetina won the Vuelta a España last year, but complemented each other so well that the World Tour rankings were won by Peter Stetina last year with Tejay van Garderen 3rd. That is a very difficult achievement to get from a team.
However, Van Garderen has been tempted by a very strong offer by Trek this year. Both Stetina and Van Garderen finished their contracts last December and BMC knew that they could not afford to renew both of them. Tejay chose the Trek team probably because he would have no rival inside his team for the mountains while he could enjoy the help of good supporters like Michael Rogers and Damiano Cunego. The only surprising feature of his calendar is that he gave up on the Giro in order to focus on his defense of his title in the Tour de France.
The year could not have started better for the American as he managed to get a top 10 finish in the Tour Down Under, a race that does not fit him at all. Van Garderen is showing that he has plenty to give this year, so don't be surprised if you see him in the podium of the Tour de France again.
The third stage in the Paris - Nice looks very similar to the second one. If the wind does not make an appearance it will be almost impossible to avoid the mass sprint. The curiosity about the stage is that it finishes in the Formula 1 circuit of Magny-Cours, close to the city of Nevers. The favorites for the day should be the usual sprinters: Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel and Kenny van Hummel.
The break of the day was on the large side for the taste of the teams with an interest for the mass sprints. The 6 riders in front included several good flat riders, such as Mark Renshaw (Discovery), Greg van Avermaet (Vacansoleil), Geraint Thomas (HTC) and Alessandro Ballan. Even though Ballan and Thomas were the leaders of the mountains' classifications, Renshaw was the first at the KoM sprint in the Cote de la Chapelle Saint-Andre ahead of Greg van Avermaet. Ballan will be the leader of the classification tomorrow. They had a gap of 5' 45'' with 106 kilometers to go.
The second intermediate sprint was placed in La Machine (38 kilometers to go). Marcel Kittel easily won the sprint ahead of Kenny van Hummel and Andre Greipel and the preparations for the sprint reduced the gap of the break to 1' 30''. However, the bunch still would have to chase hard in order to reel them back in. Belkin has done a good job but they are burning quite a few riders. Meanwhile, Mark Renshaw has taken 4 bonus seconds in the sprints.
Arnaud Demare tried to make the break last but he was about to be caught with 6 kilometers remaining. Belkin, Trek and Astana were very committed in bringing them back and forcing the sprint. The bad news came from a crash shortly before in which Simone Ponzi, Simon Gerrans and Matthias Frank were involved. It seems like they were going to lose their chances in the GC.
The sprint trains were running at full speed with 3 kilometers to go, already inside the Formula 1 track. Astana has taken the lead with Anthony Roux already ahead of Marcel Kittel. Mark Cavendish was the quickest to take the German's wheel. Next up was Trek, with the best lead out man, Giacomo Nizzolo, ready to take Ander Greipel to the best position ahead of the last kilometer and Matthew Goss behind. Meanwhile, Belkin was a bit more to the back as Alessandro Petacchi will lead the leader, Kenny van Hummel, while Michael Matthews has taken their wheel. Ben Swift and Tyler Farrar are well placed in a sprint with only half of the bunch.
Alessandro Petacchi launched Kenny van Hummel to the first position on the road but he run out of gas very early and Van Hummel had to launch himself with 1.5 kilometers to go. It was not the best of the lead-outs. Andre Greipel is a bit further back still protected by Giacomo Nizzolo but he has been overtaken by the likes of Michael Matthews and Tyler Farrar. Marcel Kittel seems to be a bit far behind.
Kenny van Hummel is still holding the lead with 500 meters remaining to the finish line in Magny-Cours. However, Michael Matthews has started gaining on him and is threatening to win two consecutive stages in the Paris - Nice. Tyler Farrar is the third on the road and he is followed by two lead out men: Giacomo Nizzolo and Anthony Roux. It seems like the stage win must be among the three riders in the front right now.
Francisco Ventoso wins in Magny-Cours! That was a great comeback by the Euskaltel rider to take his second stage win of the season. The three riders that were leading had launched themselves too early and ended up being narrowly passed by the Spaniard. Michael Matthews was really close to repeat his win but had to settle for second. The third place went to the British Ben Swift, while Kenny van Hummel and Marcel Kittel completed the top 5.
The GC has completely changed and Fran Ventoso takes over the lead of the race with the same time as Michael Matthews. David Lopez will not like this, as this will wear out his team before the most important stages. The crash today left some of the favorites for the final podium out of the chase, such as Simon Gerrans and Simone Ponzi.
Even though the fourth stage is classified as flat it will be very difficult that the pure sprinters get a mass sprint this afternoon. The route from Nevers to Belleville is very flat in the first part of the route but very bumpy afterwards, especially considering the Mont Brouilly, which is crowned with 14 kilometers remaining. A sprint of a reduced group will be the most likely outcome of the stage.
The teams of the sprinters refused to let a big break go away and only 5 riders made the break of the day: Pablo Lastras (Discovery), Sonny Colbrelli (Lampre), Alberto Contador (Movistar), Maxime Vantomme (Vacansoleil) and Maxi Iglinskiy (Tinkoff). They made it to the sprint in Vitry-sur-Loire (143 kilometers to go) with a gap of only 2 minutes on the bunch but it would grow along the day. Astana, Euskaltel and Belkin were the teams setting the pace at the front of the bunch.
Alberto Contador was the first to go through the Col de la Crie, the third categorized climb today, and moves into the first place of the KoM classification provisionally. However, the gap of the break has dropped to 2' 40'' as Euskaltel wants to defend the leader jersey of Fran Ventoso. With 37 kilometers to go the chances of the break are slim, especially now that Trek has started to collaborate at the front of the pack.
The climb to the Mont Brouilly started quickly, as all the route was a descent from the Col de la Crie. Maxim Iglinskiy took the lead in the break with 1 kilometer to the top of the climb followed by Sonny Colbrelli. However, Philippe Gilbert started to set the pace in the main bunch and that meant that the gap to the break was dropping steadily. It was 1' 05'' at that time.
Matthias Frank, Mark Renshaw and Frank Schleck attacked in the last kilometer of the Mont Brouilly and caught up with the break at the top of the climb. They had a gap of 35'' over the main bunch at the top. It seems a bit too late for an attack, as they might have made a bigger selection attacking 1 kilometer earlier. Philippe Gilbert was pacing the bunch but he did not want to leave Andre Greipel behind. There will surely be a selection today as lots of riders are dropping behind in the climb.
The break was caught soon and an attack by David Lopez and Hubert Dupont in the descent was quickly reeled back in. The last attacker of the day was Rob Ruijgh, who attacked with 6 kilometers to go and had a gap of 15'' 1 kilometer later. The Belkin climber tried to make profits from the chaos that the bunch suffered after the tough climb. Among those that couldn't make it in the front group are important riders like Simone Ponzi, Andre Greipel and Chris Sutton. Ponzi is most surprising but he crashed yesterday and probably hasn't completely recovered.
Astana was the only team that managed to build a sprint train for Marcel Kittel and with Anthony Roux as lead-out man. However, with 2 kilometers remaining Rob Ruijgh was still 10'' seconds ahead of the bunch. Among the other sprinters that made it through the climb and into the group of around 90 riders are Tyler Farrar, Tony Gallopin, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Giacomo Nizzolo.
The lead for Marcel Kittel from his teammates was really poor but they were about to catch Rob Ruijgh with 1 kilometer remaining. The sprint will most likely be a big chaos with teammates that are sprinting for themselves and few good wheels to follow. Fran Ventoso and Michael Matthews, who both go past the hills easily, seem to be a bit behind in the preparation for the sprint.
As anticipated the sprint was really strange. Marcel Kittel was out of gas very early and disappeared from the front of the race, while 3 riders from Lotto were sprinting for themselves. Jelle Vanendert was leading the way with 500 meters remaining but his teammate Michael Matthews was charging from behind and easily overtaking riders. Francesco Gavazzi was third on the road ahead of Anthony Roux and Robert Kiserlovski. We have a mixture of puncheurs and sprinters that go well through the hills fighting for the stage today.
Michael Matthews wins in Belleville! The Australian takes his second stage win in the Paris - Nice and the leaders' jersey ahead of the hilliest stages in the south of France. The show of strength from the Australian was amazing as no rider came close to him in the end. The day was perfect for Lotto, who took the second place in the stage with Jelle Vanendert and the fifth with Robert Kiserlovski.
Other sprinters that are able to go past the hills like Jose Joaquin Rojas and Tony Gallopin took the 4th and 5th positions. Matthews now has a few seconds over a group of riders that can fight for the overall win that is steadily decreasing and below 70 riders. The toughest stages of the race will take place in the final 4 days, especially the uphill finish in Fayence, when the GC could be clearer.
The sprinters have had their time in the Paris - Nice and from now on it is the time of the hills. Today's stage is not too hard so we may witness a sprint of a reduced group, even though the Cote de Sainthe-Catherine is only 13 kilometers from the finish line in Rive-de-Gier. Michael Matthews will have a good chance of retaining the leader's jersey against the attacks of the puncheurs.
It was easier to form the break of the day than in previous days, but in the end it only had 5 riders: Rein Taaramae (Katusha), Michele Scarponi (Movistar), Bart de Clercq (Sky), Lars Nordhaug (Ag2r) and Tony Gallopin (BMC). They reached the first intermediate sprint, in Brindas, with a not too big gap on the bunch of 2' 30'' as Lotto was controlling the gap to defend Matthews' jersey. Laurens Ten Dam suffered a crash a bit earlier in the stage and the whole Cannondale team was helping him get back into the peloton.
The peloton took it easier in the first serious climb of the day, the Cote de Saint-Martin-en-Haut. Jurgen Roelandts and Jan Bakelants were nevertheless always present at the front of the pack. The gap to the break had risen to 3' 45'' at the top of the climb (49 kilometers to go). Lars Nordhaug won the mountain sprint and was threatening Contador's lead at the KoM classification. Meanwhile, Laurens Ten Dam suffered a little bit but managed to get back in the bunch at the beginning of the climb.
The riders descended towards the first passage through the finish line and started the last climb of the day, the Cote de Sainte-Catherine. Halfway through the climb Matthias Frank and Anthony Roux had managed to open a gap on the bunch. With 20 kilometers to go they were 1 minute behind the break and the peloton was 1' 20'' behind led by the Euskaltel riders Igor Anton and Lloyd Mondory. Discovery had tried to filter into the break but neither Joaquim Rodriguez nor Thibaut Pinot managed to follow the two riders.
The adventure by Matthias Frank and Anthony Roux didn't last long, as Euskaltel was determined to chase them down. At the top of the climb Rein Taaramae was the first, ahead of the rest of the members of the break, although Bart de Clercq had lost some ground with his 4 companions. Meanwhile, a very serious attack by Bjorn Leukemans motivated a break of 10 riders, including Simon Gerrans, Frank Schleck and David Lopez. They were only 50 seconds behind, while the rest of the bunch soon dropped to 1' 50'' behind of the head of the race. This group might make a time difference at the finish line.
A group of as many as 19 riders was formed at the front of the race already in the descent towards Rive-de-Gier. Simon Gerrans and David Lopez tried to break free from the group at the start of the descent but they are too dangerous to be given a chance. Among those trying to make contact with this group are Hubert Dupont and Matthias Frank. Meanwhile, Michael Matthews seems to have given up on his yellow jersey as the biggest part of the bunch looks not interested in following this break.
Hubert Dupont managed to catch the leading group just when the descent finished, with 2 kilometers to go. Janez Brajkovic was the rider that spent most of the descent pulling at the front of the group, clearly working for Frank Schleck. The Luxembourgish was the first to start the final sprint towards the finish line in Rive-de-Gier, but the fastest men in the group should be Mark Renshaw and Tony Gallopin. However, with the French in the break the whole day it is difficult to see him fighting for the win.
Mark Renshaw easily took the lead ahead of the last 600 meters of the stage. The Australian looks strong and could take his first win of the season. Bjorn Leukemans is progressing behind him as he has already gotten past Frank Schleck, while Miguel Angel Rubiano and Simon Gerrans are right behind. Hubert Dupont is dropping from the back of the group after the big effort he did to connect and might still lose a few seconds at the finish line.
Mark Renshaw wins in Rive-de-Gier! This is the first win of the season for the Australian and for the Discovery Channel team. In truth, it is surprising that Renshaw was able to join the selected group of 20 riders that made it to the finish line ahead but once he was there he was the quickest by far. Jelle Vanendert was second, taking 3 precious bonus seconds, ahead of Bjorn Leukemans. Rinaldo Nocentini and Miguel Rubiano completed the top 5 in the stage.
Renshaw is also the new leader of the race in a day when the group of riders that might win the race has decreased to only 16. The second group lost more than 5 minutes and, therefore, the chances that some of those who did not make it to the front today are slim at best. The stage tomorrow will also be quite hilly and the day will finish in the uphill finish in Fayence.
Today is probably the most attractive stage in this year's Paris - Nice. The stage is quite hilly and the biggest climb of the day is the Col de Bourigaille, which is climbed after the first passage through the finish line. The usual uphill sprint in Fayence will probably make some extra differences among the group that gets in front to the final kilometers of the race.
None of the riders in today's break was dangerous in terms of the GC, so they might have a bit more breathing space than usually. The group of 5 was formed by Anthony Roux (Astana), Przemyslaw Niemiec (Movistar), Tom Boonen (Sky), Oscar Freire (Lampre) and Kanstantsin Siutsou (Cannondale). With 100 kilometers to go they enjoyed a quite big gap of 8' 30''. The rain might make the peloton warier and give them a chance.
The peloton was taking it quite easy but they would be waken up by an attack by Simon Gerrans in the Cote des Tulieres (57 kilometers to go). The Australian was followed by Matthias Frank and Bart de Clercq. All of them had lost time in previous stages and were looking to get back in the race with an attack from far away. The break still had 6 minutes at the top of the climb as Discovery was not finding any other teams to collaborate with.
The group that Simon Gerrans had formed made the bunch react but they still had to chase for almost 30 kilometers until they reeled them back in. They did it shortly before the first passage through the finish line. With 26 kilometers to go the break still held 4' 30'', so their chances were growing considerably for the stage. The biggest question mark of the day is whether Mark Renshaw will be able to hold with the best in the climb to the Col de Bourigaille while Igor Anton and Robert Kiserlovski are setting the pace at the front.
Kanstantsin Siutsou attacked from the break with around 2 kilometers to the top of the Col de Bourigaille and broke the group completely. The Belarusian had 25 seconds to Przemyslaw Niemiec and Oscar Freire at the top, while Tom Boonen was 40 seconds behind. Meanwhile, Robert Gesink and Dries Devenyns attacked in the main group and have 35 seconds over a group led by Andy Schleck. There are around 55 units in the group of the favorites and the leader, Mark Renshaw, is still holding on in the middle of the pack.
David Lopez got tired of seeing how the group of the favorites could not bring Robert Gesink and Dries Devenyns back and attacked inside the last kilometer of the climb. He crossed the KoM sprint some 30 seconds behind them and 15 seconds ahead of the group. The leader of the race had already dropped back from this group so all the riders within a few seconds of the lead started thinking who would take over the lead. Meanwhile, Tom Boonen recovered in the descent and lead the charge of the rest of the break to chase Kanstantsin Siutsou.
The 4 riders chasing Kanstantsin Siutsou got back together with 10 kilometers to go and soon started relaying. It was going to be hard for the Belarusian to hold on in the short flat section, as he only held a mere 15 seconds. Meanwhile, Robert Gesink, Dries Devenyns and David Lopez were caught by the favorites group. There were around 40 riders around 2' 30'' behind Siutsou. The last news from Mark Renshaw put him 1' 30'' behind, most probably without any chances of making it back to the front.
Siutsou managed to start the uphill finish in Fayence with a few seconds on his chasers but Anthony Roux was very keen on the stage and overtook him under the flame rouge. At that point they had 15 seconds with the rest of the break but they should be wary especially of Oscar Freire, who can be as fast as them in this kind of finish. In the group of favorites there was an attack by Bjorn Leukemans in the flat that didn't go anywhere and they still have not started climbing to Fayence.
Some of the riders of the break, especially Przemyslaw Niemiec, seemed very tired and the charging Dries Devenyns and Rob Ruijgh started leaving them behind with 500 meters to go. However, Anthony Roux was clearly ahead and ready to take the win in the stage. He had 35 seconds on Oscar Freire and the group of the favorites was 1 minute behind.
Anthony Roux wins in Fayence! The Frenchman wins at home after being probably the cleverest rider in the break. Roux took things easy when Siutsou attacked and kept his cool to conserve his energy until the uphill finish. This is the second win of the season for Astana. The second place went to Oscar Freire, who was immediately followed by Dries Devenyns. The two of them opened a gap of 17 seconds with the 4th rider, Jelle Vanendert. That gap will gift the leader's jersey to the BMC rider.
Other gaps opened behind a group of 11 riders who made it in the same time as Vanendert and that is helping clarify the GC a little bit. Dires Devenyns lead with 12 seconds on Jelle Vanendert and 17 on Bjorn Leukemans, but there are as many as 7 riders within 20 seconds of the lead. With the standings so tight any stage could still make a difference to decide the overall winner of the race.
The race got to the south of France and the seventh stage will take place in the Alpes-Maritimes. There are two tough climbs today, the Col de Vence and the Col de L'Ecre, but both of them in the first half of the stage. However, the race towards the finish after the climbs is nowhere close to being flat and the accumulated efforts could well cause some gaps in the final circuit around Biot.
A huge break was formed in the opening kilometers of the stage, as no team seemed keen to control the race and BMC could not care less about the size given that none of the riders was close in the GC. The group of 15 had among its most important riders Yauheni Hutarovich (Lampre), Andrew Talansky (HTC), Rigoberto Uran (Lotto), Sylvain Chavanel (Giant), Michael Rogers (Trek), Nick Nuyens (Garmin), Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) and Steven Kruijswijk (Belkin). Close to the top of the Col de Vence they had a gap of 6' 15'' on the main bunch, even though they had ridden only 50 kilometers.
Sylvain Chavanel was determined to accumulate points for the KoM classification and moved to the provisional 2nd place in the standings by taking the first place in the Col de L'Ecre (111 kilometers to go). The break lost one man as Pablo Lastras crash in one of the wet descents today. The gap had massively increased and was 12' 30'' at the top of the climb, even as BMC and Quickstep were present at the front of the pack. They weren't pushing things in the bunch.
The descent back towards the southern coast of France caused a few crashes without importance in the dreadful conditions. When the break crossed the finish line for the first time Pablo Lastras had managed to come back to the front but now Moreno Moser was behind due to another crash. They had 7' 45'' with 38 kilometers remaining, what put the stage win clearly on the break's side. BMC started pushing hard at the front because Steven Kruijswijk is still the virtual leader of the race. The bad luck today was for Tinkoff, as Tiago Machado is still injured and Pieter Weening suffered a very bad timed puncture and could not come back to the pack. Rui Costa is left without his best teammates.
Jelle Vanendert was the first among the favorites to try an attack. The Lotto rider did it in the finish line hill with 1 lap to go and is 15 seconds ahead of the main bunch were BMC and Euskaltel are leading the chase. Meanwhile, Steven Kruijswijk was the first to attack in the break but the rider who managed to break away already in the last lap in Javier Moreno. It will be difficult for only 1 rider to stay in the front with many kilometers to go.
Once Javi Moreno was reeled back in a more dangerous move settled in front: Sylvain Chavanel and Steven Kruijswijk. The French had already secured the lead in the KoM classification and was looking for bigger rewards today. With 9 kilometers remaining they had managed to open a gap of 30 seconds on the rest of the break. Meanwhile, the main bunch had all the favorites together 3' 30'' behind. Simone Ponzi and Laurens Ten Dam had tried to attack but the move had not worked.
Sylvain Chavanel reached the last kilometer with 10 seconds over Steven Kruijswijk after attacking in the last hill. The French is looking for the first win for the Giant team. The rest of the break is 25 seconds behind, so they will have to ride very fast. Carlos Betancur and Michael Rogers are setting the pace in the chasing group. In the favorites group it is Janez Brajkovic who tried to attack but Oliver Zaugg and Emanuele Sella are controlling all the attacks.
Andrew Talansky wins in Biot Sophia Antipolis! The American has kept a low profile in the break but appeared to claim his first win of the season. Talansky was by far the strongest climber in the break but it was difficult to guess how he would perform in the hills. The second place in the stage went to Chris Anker Sorensen ahead of Michael Rogers and Carlos Betancur. Sylvain Chavanel had wasted too much energy in the attack and had to settle for the 5th place.
The group of the favorites reached the last hill with all of them together. Frank Schleck and Laurens Ten Dam tried to attack but they were quickly followed by Bjorn Leukemans, Simon Gerrans and Robert Gesink. It will be very difficult that gaps are opened in this last hill as all of the favorites have managed to stay together.
Bjorn Leukemans beat Simon Gerrans and Frank Schleck in the final uphill sprint but as expected no gaps appeared between the favorites. In the end as many as 60 riders managed to stay with the main group.
With only one stage to go Dries Devenyns looks very close to getting the overall win in the race. Today's stage was hard but the terrain was not hard enough in the circuit to open any gaps with an attack or in the final hill. The Col d'Eze is the final climb tomorrow and it will also be difficult to open a gap there.
The last stage in the Paris - Nice is the shortest in the race but also the hilliest one. There is as many as 5 categorized climb in the day, but it is difficult to say whether they will be hard enough for it to make any difference in the general classification of the race. The deciding climb should be the Col d'Eze, the place where last year's time trial took place.
The break of the day had 8 riders, including: Sylvain Chavanel (Giant), Tom Boonen (Sky), Kanstantsin Siutsou (Cannondale) and Matthew Goss (Movistar). They reached the second climb of the day, the Col de Chateauneuf, with a good gap of 5' 15'' on the main bunch, where Tinkoff was starting to collaborate with BMC to control the gap of the break. The French from Giant took the chance to get points to confirm his win in the KoM classification.
The main bunch was trying to control the break but it was difficult to organize in this terrain. In the climb to the Cote de Peille (40 km to go), the most difficult of the day, BMC started increasing the pace with sporadic help from Tiago Machado. Kanstantsin Siutsou was only 5' 30'' behind in the GC and the gap to the break was 4' 30''. The peloton has been decimated to around 100 riders but BMC kept his block of riders at the front.
There was a quite surprising attack with 21 kilometers to go, when Jelle Vanendert followed an attack by Matthias Frank but ended up pushing on his own. They were starting to descend the Col d'Eze before turning back to climb it. The break was already starting the climb to Eze and the gaps were 4 minutes to Vanendert; 4' 25'' to Michael Rogers; 4' 40'' to Matthias Frank and Robert Gesink and 5 minutes to the main bunch.
Kanstantsin Siutsou attacked two kilometers before the top of the Col d'Eze and managed to break away from the leading group. The Belarusian had 30 seconds on the rest of the break at the top of the hill, he seems the strongest in the break, at least climbing. Meanwhile, the peloton had broken into pieces and Jelle Vanendert had increased his lead to 50 seconds over Robert Gesink and Matthias Frank and 1' 20'' on the leader, Dries Devenyns.
Dries Devenyns goes through the top of the climb in a group with Michael Rogers and Rinaldo Nocentini. He is going to need a miracle to win the race because he has lost too much time. Kanstantsin Siutsou is still 30 seconds ahead of the break, while Vanendert has a group of 4, including David Lopez and Frank Schleck, chasing him 50 seconds behind. Devenyns is losing 1' 25'' and Laurens Ten Dam is right behind his group.
Kanstantsin Siutsou's chasers had closed the gap to 20 seconds with 5 kilometers to go. Siutsou seems to be losing ground and the few flat kilometers towards the end could kill his options. Jelle Vanendert is 1' 15'' behind, while the group of the leader has closed the gap with the Belgian to 50 seconds. There could still be a fight for the overall classification. Among those losing time today are Rui Costa, who is 5 minutes behind and Bjorn Leukemans, who stayed in the bunch not to interfere with his teammates attack.
Vanendert is very close to winning the Paris - Nice with 2 kilometers to go. It seems unlikely that Dries Devenyns is able to close down the gap even though his group now has 7 riders and David Lopez is helping him chase. Meanwhile, Kanstantsin Siutsou's gap has dropped to only 10 seconds as they approach the Mediterranean Sea and the last kilometer of the stage. Laurens Ten Dam and Hubert Dupont are about to catch the leader's group.
Jure Kocjan wins in Nice! Kanstantsin Siutsou could not keep up with the pace of the chasing group and was caught with 500 meters to go. The strongest among the rest of the break turned out to be Jure Kocjan, who beat Matthew Goss and Chris Anker Sorensen for the win. Kocjan has gotten the first win of the season for Team Katusha and was kind of a surprising winner, as maybe Matthew Goss and Tom Boonen were seen as stronger candidates for the win in the sprint.
Jelle Vanendert managed to hold on to his lead over the group of the leader and that meant that the Belgian was going to take the overall win in the Paris - Nice. Vanendert crossed the finish line 38 seconds ahead of the group of the leader, more than enough to regain the 12 seconds he was losing in the GC.
Vanendert will be joined in the podium of the French race by Dries Devenyns and David Lopez, while Robert Gesink and Rinaldo Nocentini will complete the top 5. The signing of Robert Gesink for Ag2r has already started paying off for the French team, as they now have much more presence in the race than they did last year. The highlight of the minor classifications is the win of Sylvain Chavanel in the mountains classification. Chavanel had already won that classification in the Tour Down Under and it seems like he is specializing in that area this season.
You know the tactics of PCM. The leader has the best team in the race (BMC) but instead of using them he decides to go do the job himself and then the peloton stops riding.
It is difficult to think in the Volta a Catalunya and not in the mountains of the Pyrenees in the routes that the organization has given us lately. The route is going to be the same as last year, with the mountain stages finishing in Vallter 2000 and Port-Aine. The second one is especially difficult, as the riders will have to tackle the Port del Canto before and the stage has a total of more than 210 kilometers. As usual, the time trials are nonexistent.
The race saw the first win by a local rider last year, when David Lopez was the strongest by far in the mountains. However, the race returns to World Tour category this year after being HC last year and the field will be quite stronger.
Favorites:
- Robert Gesink (Ag2r - La Mondiale): Robert Gesink has made progress since last year and at the start of the season he decided to move to Ag2r in order to have an undisputable leading role in the mountains. His first chance to shine will be quite early in the season, as he marked this race as a season target for him. The big question mark for him is how much support his team will be able to provide.
- Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale): Laurens Ten Dam starts his first season as a clear favorite in the mountains. It is always easier for some riders to shine when their rivals don't take them into account as much and they have more of a free role. However, the Dutch already proved last year that he can fight with the best and it would no surprise if he came out on top in Catalunya.
- Andy Schleck (Omega Pharma - Quickstep): If one of the favorites of the Paris - Nice was Frank Schleck now it is the time for his brother Andy. Andy is probably one step behind the top climber in the World but the length of the queen stage, finishing in Port-Aine, should give him a chance to be among the best and maybe fight for the overall win.
- Rob Ruijgh (Belkin Pro Cycling Team): Rob Ruijgh had a very good season last year, almost winning the Vuelta a España, but finished the season without a single win. The Dutch is among the best climbers in the World but hasn't won anything since he took the Giro d'Italia almost 2 years ago. It would do well to his confidence ahead of the Grand Tours to start winning.
Other important riders that might fight for the podium in Catalunya are Matthias Frank (Garmin - Sharp), David Lopez and Igor Anton (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Mikel Nieve (Discovery Channel) and Jelle Vanendert and Robert Kiserlovski (Lotto - Belisol).
Among the sprinters the field will not be that strong, but the best will be Alexander Kristoff, Lloyd Mondory and Francisco Ventoso (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing), Simone Ponzi (Team Katusha) and Elia Viviani (Cannondale).
The Volta a Catalunya starts again in Calella with a stage full of small hills but that should be decided in a sprint. The sprinters that go through the hills easier will probably have a better chance today than in any other mass sprint this week, so they will probably have to make the most of it at the small town next to the Mediterranean Sea.
Only 3 riders were allowed to form the break of the day by a bunch that seems very keen to have a mass sprint in Calella. They are Wilco Kelderman (Giant), Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) and Bart de Clercq (Sky). They reached the Alt del Montseny, the toughest climb of the day, with a gap of 2' 45'' on the peloton but they still had 118 kilometers to go. Cannondale and Trek seem to be the teams most interested in controlling the race and the Italian Elia Viviani showed that he is in good shape by taking the first intermediate sprint of the day.
The second intermediate sprint was placed halfway through the stage, at the first passage through the finish line, in Calella. Elia Viviani was again the best in the sprint of the group ahead of Alexander Kristoff and Giacomo Nizzolo. Cannondale will be very hopeful about a win by Viviani today. The gap to the break seemed perfectly controlled, as the group of 3 had 4 minutes over the peloton at that point.
The Alt de Collsacreu was the last climb of the day for the riders (18 kilometers to go). Only Wilco Kelderman survived from the break at the top of the hill, but his gap was a mere 10 seconds, what left him without chances in the stage. Trek put Philippe Gilbert and Peter Kennaugh to set the pace in the last climb and that made a few riders suffer at the back of the pack.
The rain made the last descent very treacherous and there were a few crashes in the bunch. Most notably, Elia Viviani, Juanjo Cobo and Michele Scarponi were the biggest riders to fall and that meant that Viviani would not be able to participate in the sprint. HTC and Movistar left a few men behind to try to bring Cobo and Scarponi back to the bunch. There were also three abandons due to the crash: Marco Pinotti (Quickstep), Danilo di Luca (Cannondale) and Maxim Iglinskiy (Tinkoff).
With Cannondale missing from the front it was only Trek that managed to form a sprint train. Giacomo Nizzolo will enjoy a very good lead out from Daniele Bennati. Among the riders that can be seen well placed with 3 kilometers to go are Alexander Kristoff, Simone Ponzi, Jose Joaquin Rojas, Matthew Goss and Stefan van Dijk. The gap to the group of Cobo and Scarponi is now 3' 35'', what should effectively end their chances of a good GC.
Francisco Ventoso surprisingly appeared at the front of the pack to help Alexander Kristoff towards the front, but it seems that the Norwegian started sprinting way too soon. He leads the group ahead of the last kilometer ahead of Simone Ponzi, Jose Joaquin Rojas, Stefan van Dijk and Giacomo Nizzolo. It is not surprising to see that many of the sprinters towards the front are the ones that handle the hills better.
Alexander Kristoff effectively provided a good lead out to the men behind him. It also looked like it was not the day for Simone Ponzi, as the Italian faded away when Jose Joaquin Rojas blazed past the leaders. However, the Spaniard has two big threats behind: Stefan van Dijk and Giacomo Nizzolo. A win would be an amazing achievement for Van Dijk, as it would be the first for a Pro Continental team.
Giacomo Nizzolo wins in Calella! The Italian made the most of the absence of Andre Greipel in the Trek squad and takes his first win of the season. It seemed that he had lost his great positioning with 1 kilometer to go but in the end he emerged from behind Jose Joaquin Rojas to take the win. The second place for Stefan van Dijk will be celebrated in the Giant team, it is their best placing in a stage so far.
The top 5 of the stage was completed by Peter Sagan, Yauheni Hutarovich and Simone Ponzi. Sagan seemed very strong and if he had been in a better place ahead of the last kilometer he could well have fought for the win. Tomorrow's stage is one for the purest sprinters, so Nizzolo will have a good chance of defending his leader's jersey.
, But more importantly Geraint Thomas leading in the Mountains Classification 
