Some very tough hills lead onto the finish on the Champs Elysses, there are many potential winners, so who will it be.
Its tough from the start - a 73% hill
Quite a strong breakaway goes away:
Bakelandts, Iglinski, Vastaranta and Deroo
Two circuits of the hilly route are taken before heading into Paris, and the pack endured the first circuit quite well - but from the 2nd, stretches were occuring, particularly on descents. La Gazetta were pushing the pace, while Samuel Sanchez also seemed keen
At one point Pellizotti was caught in a group off the back, but it would all come back together
With 70km to go, Bellis attacks
Astarloa follows, as does Samuel Sanchez - the latter leaving it late before a descent but just managing to get away with the other 2
These 3 close in on the initial breakaway as we reach the final hill of the day, the break drops Deroo to try and get in their way, but the groups will come together (except Deroo, who is gone for good)
Onto the Champs Elysses we go, 50km left - and the gap between the pack and the leading 6 is just over 1 minute
The peloton is still led by La Gazetta, as Kolesnikov attacks away from it
Going down the 'back' straight, the 3 original attackers attack the 3 newcomers, Bakelandts, Iglinski and Vastaranta clearly not liking the compmany
But predictably, the 6 will come back together
Iglinski tries another attack with 30km to go, but its overly ambitious and simply causes him to be dropped
By 17km to go, Vastaranta and Bakelandts have also been dropped and are to be caught by the peloton which has already recaptured Iglinski and Kolesnikov
The 3 leaders are holding out well, but as Samuel Sanchez leads onto the final lap (the group having just lapped 3 other riders), the gap is down to 30 seconds
With 8km to go they are caught, so a 92 man group looks set to contest the sprint
Looking ominous, Bennati and Davis are right up there with 4km to go
But although large, this group is quite stretched, and those 2 seem to be the only frontline sprinters left near the front. Steegmans and Hagen seem too far back, while Hushovd is well out of it
One person right in the mix going round the final turn is World Champion Franco Pellizotti
But a dozy Pellizotti falls back as he waits too long before sprinting, and so leading up front is Jerome Baugnies
But moving past Baugnies is Samuel Sanchez - how does he still have the energy?
Pellizotti has got going and moved into 4th
But its surely between the front 3 now, of Sanchez, Baugnies and Maxime Monfort
Sanchez is looking good, Pellizotti's odd behaviour continues as he stops sprinting, and on the left hand side Allan Davis is on a real charge. The other sprinter, Bennati, doesnt seem to have the legs despite his team having worked so hard for him
But whats this up front? Monfort is coming back at Sanchez!
And Monfort edges past, takes the lead and wins Seine - Marne - Seine!!
Im not sure he can quite believe how he came past Sanchez, while Baugnies is edged out for 3rd by a very fast Allan Davis, scoring crucial points for American Suzuki
