Contador wins Paris Nice
Alberto Contador became only the second Spaniard to
win Paris-Nice when he toppled Italian veteran
Davide Rebellin with a blistering attack in the Col d’Eze, the last climb in the 7th and
final stage around Nice. The Spaniard won the stage on his own ahead of three
compatriots while Rebellin, without a team-mate in the finale, had to be
content with finishing 22 seconds adrift.
Overall, the veteran Italian finished 26 seconds behind Contador for his third
Paris-Nice podium. Luis Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) who had won Saturdays stage,
was third, 42 seconds adrift.
The only previous Spanish winner of the Race to the Sun was Miguel Indurain, an
indication of the sort of talent which can be expected from the young Discovery
Channel rider, winner in Mende of the toughest stage in this 65th edition
and grabbing his second stage win in Nice today.
Discovery manager Johan Bruyneel was extremely proud
of his team, stating that the win was: "definitely well deserved since he
tried yesterday and almost made it. The team was aggressive and all followed to
plan. We saw a super performance by Alberto. We really had to fight for this,
there were no presents. That makes this victory so much sweeter."
Overall winner Contador said: "I’m very satisfied
with the team’s work. This morning we were really impatient for the stage to
start to show what we were capable of doing. And we had great fun all
day."
Contador continued by saying: "Two kilometres from the finish, I had
doubts about Rebellin’s chances to make it back. But as soon as I reached the
red flame indicating the last kilometre, I knew I had won. You cannot imagine
how happy I am. " Contador is very happy with his overall win:
"This is the greatest win in my career so far. I had won other stage races
and other races, but the stature, the history and the profile of this
Paris-Nice make it especially great."
Results finals stage Paris-Nice
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery
Channel
3.15.47 (39.686 km/h)
2 David López García (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
0.19
3 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
4 Samuel Sánchez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
0.22
5 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit
Agricole
6 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
7 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
8 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
9 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
10 Cadel Evans (Aus)
Predictor-Lotto
11 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
12 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
1.00
13 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
14 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
15 David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
16 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)
Quickstep-Innergetic
17 Patxi Vila (Spa)
Lampre-Fondital
18 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery
Channel
19 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery
Channel
20 Chris Horner (USA)
Predictor-Lotto
21 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
1.05
22 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
Cofidis
1.45
23 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
24 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery
Channel
25 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Milram
Final General Classification Paris-Nice 2007
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery
Channel
29.55.22
2 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
0.26
3 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
0.42
4 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
0.49
5 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
0.57
6 David López García (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
1.00
7 Cadel Evans (Aus)
Predictor-Lotto
1.01
8 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
1.08
9 Samuel Sánchez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
1.12
10 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
1.22
11 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit
Agricole
1.29
12 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
1.36
13 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir
1.46
14 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
15 Patxi Vila (Spa)
Lampre-Fondital
2.10
16 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
2.20
17 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis
2.29
18 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
2.35
19 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
2.41
20 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery
Channel
2.55
21 Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana
3.02
22 Maxime Monfort (Bel)
Cofidis
3.26
23 Bobby Julich (USA) Team
CSC
3.41
24 Chris Horner (USA)
Predictor-Lotto
4.02
25 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel)
Predictor-Lotto
4.15
Discovery win again
Emulating team-mate Alberto Contador in Mende,
Yaroslav Popovych gave his Discovery Channel team their second stage win in as
many days thanks to a great effort between Sorgues and Manosque over 178 kms.
The Ukrainian former under-23 world champion completed a successful 169-kms
breakaway to take the 5th stage on his own after parting company with his
former companions in the last climb. Thirteen men had gone nine kilometres
after the start. Also winner of a Tour de France stage in Carcassonne last summer, Popovych retained a
slim lead at the finish but not enough to dislodge Davide Rebellin
(Gerolsteiner) from the top of the overall standings.
Dave Zbriskie was one of the riders who was in the 13
men breakaway group. Zbriskie could not follow Popovych when he attacked. CSC
sports director Alain Gallopin said: "It was just a bit too soon for
Dave today. We have to keep in mind that he's only had a few days on the road
after his crash in Tour of California, so this race is part of his
rehabilitation really." Gallopin continued by saying: If Dave hadn't
suffered that crash and had been able to do the whole Tour of California, I
think he'd been able to keep up with Popovych and given him a run for his
money. He was strong out there today, but not quite strong enough yet
though."
Koos Moerenhout was also in the breakaway group, Frans
Maasen, Rabobank sports director said: "Popovich was clearly the best of
the group of escapees. I hoped Koos [Moerenhout] would be able to follow
Popovich when he initiated his attack at the thirty kilometers mark from the
finish, but he, unfortunately, could not," recaptured Maassen, who saw his
team perform reasonably well. He, for instance, observed that Joost Posthuma
again raced with the best. "I am in shape, but the arrival on Thursday was
just a little too steep for me. These are my limitations. If the climbing
percentage is above 15, it is too steep for me," reported Posthuma on his
personal website.
Asked if his attack was planned, Popovych said:
"Not really. In the beginning, it was very hard. I found myself in the
break thinking I would work for Levi [Leipheimer] and Alberto [Contador].
Little by little, I gained confidence." About his early attack
"Popo" said:" I attacked because I saw that the others were
tired. It’s the kind of stages I like, with bumps and changes of pace but not
so hard as yesterday when the last climb was too gruelling for me." About
the team strategy he said: "What we’re going to do now? I have no idea…"
and smiled.
Results stage 5 Paris-Nice
1 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery
Channel
4.11.51 (42.406 km/h)
2 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
0.14
3 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2r
Prévoyance
4 David López García (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
5 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
6 Samuel Sánchez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
7 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
8 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
9 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
10 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
11 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
12 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
13 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery
Channel
14 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit
Agricole
15 Patxi Vila (Spa)
Lampre-Fondital
16 Cadel Evans (Aus)
Predictor-Lotto
17 Patrick Calcagni (Swi)
Liquigas
18 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas
19 Roger Hammond (GBr)
T-Mobile
20 David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
21 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
22 Jesús Del Nero (Spa) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
23 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
24 Iban Mayo (Spa) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
25 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux
General Classification after stage 5
1 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
21.52.39
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery
Channel
0.06
3 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
0.23
4 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
0.31
5 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
0.32
6 Cadel Evans (Aus)
Predictor-Lotto
0.35
7 David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
0.42
8 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
9 David López García (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
0.43
10 Samuel Sánchez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
0.46
11 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
0.48
12 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
Cofidis
0.49
13 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery
Channel
0.50
14 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des
Jeux
0.51
15 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
0.54
16 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
0.55
17 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
0.58
18 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
1.03
19 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit
Agricole
1.05
20 Patxi Vila (Spa)
Lampre-Fondital
1.06
21 Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz)
Astana
1.13
22 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
1.15
23 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
1.17
24 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel)
Predictor-Lotto
1.20
25 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
1.26
Marichal abandons
FD Jeux rider Thierry Marichal abandoned Paris-Nice
after he heard that he was on the frontpage of Belgian newspapers because of
his role in the 10 year old Lotto doping case.
According to German website radsportnews.com, Marichal
is charged for dealing with the so-called "Pot Belge", a mixture of
amphetamines and heroin. The 33 year old Belgian rider road from 1998 until
2004 for the Belgian Lotto squad. Marichal told a Wallonnian journalist:
"I really don't know what happens to me, " Marichal said.
His current team mannager, Marc Madiot told
sportwereld.be: "He wasn't able to race." Madiot
continued by saying: "He had spoken with his mother and his wife. They
were both in a state of shock. I hope he will return fast. What happened 10
years ago, is not of my concern. I absolutly don't want to judge him. I signed
him from Cofidis for the classics after Philippe Gilbert asked me. I know
Thierry as an honest, descent man. I did not have doubts about him for a single
second. After 1998 the world of cycling realized that we have to do it
different. Riders, organisers, team manager. We try to get out of this but now
the court of Doornik comes with something from the past. We should not give up
because of this event. That's exactly the paradox: They dig up something from
10 years ago while the Spanish court files the Operacion Puerto which is much
worse and is only from last year, just like that."
Madiot did not say why Puerto was much worse in his
opinion. The FD Jeux manager also signed the much critisized code of conduct or
(un)ethical code, which says that a rider who is under suspicion in a
doping case has to be suspended by his team.
Philippe Gilbert told sportwereld.be: "I find it
a pity for Thierry Marichal. It was as if he got a concrete block on his head.
He didn't expect this, he knew nothing. We did not talk a lot. I hope he will
recover fast from this mental blow."
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme also
reacted on Marichals case and said: "I guess that if you look for
mistakes among all people you will have succes on two out of three."
In the Belgian daily newspaper La Dernière Heure a
chemist, who is also charged, admits that he delivered the
clenbuterol wherewith Abdoejaparov was tested positive in the 1997 Tour de
France. The chemist told La Dernère Heure that he delivered steroids,
testosteron and growth hormones to Jean-Luc Vandenbrouckes Lotto squad during
two seasons. The chemist said: "I was convinced that everything was being
applied under the control of the team doctor."
Jean-Luc vandenbroucke, Lotto team manager during
the years of the doping case, said: "At that time a soigneur of our
team must have bought a forbidden substance, cortisone. The invoice came to me
and because I was out of the country my wife paid it. In good faith because we
have no bad payment practices. I will wait how this case develops."
We reported yesterday that 19 people are
charged, we have to rectify that as we found out that only 12 people are
being charged. Seven people cannot be charged anymore as the offenses they were
accused of are time-barred.
Rebellin moves into the Lead
Alberto Contador showed he had come of age at 24 when
he won the toughest stage in this year’s Paris-Nice at the top of the Montee
Laurent Jalabert in Mende. Italy’s
Davide Rebellin, who was second behind the Spaniard at the end of the 169.5-kms
4th stage, took the race leader’s yellow jersey, but Contador, Discovery
Channel’s new recruit, was the most impressive rider on the day, surging in the
final kilometre for one of his best victories so far. Contador has for long
been considered as a great hope. He has now matured and the final weekend of
this Paris-Nice looks especially exciting with only six seconds between the two
leaders.
The Discovery team worked hard for Contador and the
young rider was really happy with his new team: "I’m really glad with the
win. I felt super today in the last climb but I must pay homage to the whole of
the Discovery Channel team, who worked hard all day. They did an amazing job.
Now we’ll see what happens. It’s far from finished, especially as we have two
leaders in the team, myself and Levi Leipheimer," Contaodor said.
"It was a nice day, a nice race today," said
Sports Director Viatcheslav Ekimov after the race. "The team was
great. I cannot signal out one rider today, they all did a great job. There are
three more stages," "Eki" continued. "We are not done
yet."
Fränk Schleck came in sixth and told reporters: "Everything
went according to plan until about 300 meters before the end, where I couldn't
quite keep up with the other five guys in the front. The team had worked hard
for me and lined me up perfectly, so I had hoped to be able to get a bit closer
to the victory, but I just didn't have anything left to give at the end,"
said Schleck. But Schleck is not the kind of guy who gives up easily: "We
have a strong and diverse team and we're able to challenge in so many ways, so
we still have some moves left for the next few days. This race is far from over
yet," determined Fränk Schleck.
Results stage 4 Paris-Nice
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery
Channel
4.07.26 (41.101 km/h)
2 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
0.02
3 David López García (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
0.12
4 Cadel Evans (Aus)
Predictor-Lotto
0.13
5 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
0.17
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
0.28
7 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux
0.33
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery
Channel
9 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des
Jeux
10 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
0.40
11 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
12 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
0.43
13 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
Cofidis
14 David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
0.45
15 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
0.51
16 Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz)
Astana
0.53
17 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit
Agricole
0.54
18 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
0.56
19 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux
20 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit
Agricole
21 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
22 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
23 Iban Mayo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
24 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
25 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre-Fondital
General Classification after stage 4
1 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
17.40.34
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery
Channel
0.06
3 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
0.23
4 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
0.31
5 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
0.32
6 Cadel Evans (Aus)
Predictor-Lotto
0.35
7 David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
0.42
8 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
9 David López García (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
0.43
10 Samuel Sánchez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
0.46
11 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
0.48
12 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
Cofidis
0.49
13 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery
Channel
0.50
14 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des
Jeux
0.51
15 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
0.54
16 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
0.55
17 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
0.58
18 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
1.03
19 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit
Agricole
1.05
20 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre-Fondital
1.06
21 Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz)
Astana
1.13
22 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
1.15
23 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit
Agricole
1.16
24 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
1.17
25 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel)
Predictor-Lotto
1.20
Kolobnev takes Stage Three
Alexandr Kolobnev delivered a fantastic performance,
when he won his first victory as a Team CSC rider on Wednesday. The Russian was
part of a break for 213 of the 216 kilometers from Limoges to Maurs, which made up the third
stage of Paris-Nice, and finished by crossing the line solo with about 15
seconds to the main peloton. Tom Boonen had to be content with second place, 12
seconds behind, winning the peloton’s sprint ahead of Daniele Bennati (Lampre).
The Quick Step leader raised his arm as though he had won but it was Kolobnev’s
day. The former Russian champion had gone since kilometre 2.5. Franco
Pellizotti (Liquigas) retained the overall lead.
Kolobnev made the four-man break already after 2.5 kilometers and exactly
10 kilometers before the finish he escaped from the group on a small climb. At
that point they only had about 40 seconds to the peloton, but the hilly terrain
towards the end worked in Kolobnev's favor:
"I actually didn't think I'd make it all the way home, but I had to give
it a go because I still felt strong even though it was late in the stage.
Luckily there was a descent, which was just steep enough so the main peloton
couldn't catch me," said a happy Kolobnev after the stage.
Kolobnev didn't make a secret of the fact that this is the biggest victory in
his career so far as the peloton only managed to gain about 25 seconds on him
during the final 10 kilometers.
"I'm so proud of this. It's a great feeling and it means a lot to me to
prove to myself that I have what it takes, but it means just as much to be able
to give something back to the team, because they believed in me right from the
start," continued Kolobnev.
"It was world class what Alexandr did today. We're all so happy about
this. But we'd had a serious word with all the guys this morning, because we
weren't one hundred percent at the end of Tuesday's stage – but hey, what a
comeback," was the comment from sports director Alain Gallopin.
Results stage 3 Paris-Nice
1 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team
CSC
4.59.35 (43.159 km/h)
2 Tom Boonen (Bel)
Quickstep-Innergetic
0.12
3 Daniele Bennati (Ita)
Lampre-Fondital
4 Mathew Hayman (Aus)
Rabobank
5 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2r
Prévoyance
6 Luca Paolini (Ita)
Liquigas
7 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita)
Milram
8 Mikel Gaztañaga Echeverria (Spa)
Agritubel
9 Josep Jufré (Spa)
Predictor-Lotto
10 Romain Feillu (Fra)
Agritubel
11 Aaron Kemps (Aus)
Astana
12 Alan Pérez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
13 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus)
Astana
14 Tyler Farrar (USA)
Cofidis
15 Freddy Bichot (Fra)
Agritubel
16 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Discovery
Channel
17 Alberto Ongarato (Ita)
Milram
18 Aitor Pérez Arrieta (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
19 Jakob Piil (Den)
T-Mobile
20 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
21 Heinrich Haussler (Ger)
Gerolsteiner
22 Michael Barry (Can)
T-Mobile
23 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel)
Predictor-Lotto
24 Chris Horner (USA)
Predictor-Lotto
25 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
General Classification after stage 3
1 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
13.32.59 (43.032km/h)
2 Daniele Bennati (Ita)
Lampre-Fondital
0.02
3 David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
0.06
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
0.07
5 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
0.08
6 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
7 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier
Duval-Prodir 0.10
8 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
0.11
9 Joost Posthuma (Ned)
Rabobank
10 Murilo Fischer (Bra)
Liquigas
0.13
11 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
12 Tom Boonen (Bel)
Quickstep-Innergetic
0.14
13 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
14 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
Cofidis
0.15
15 Samuel Sánchez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
16 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
17 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel)
Predictor-Lotto
18 Aitor Pérez Arrieta (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
0.16
19 Igor Astarloa (Spa)
Milram
20 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
21 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit
Agricole
0.18
22 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team
CSC
23 Patxi Vila (Spa)
Lampre-Fondital
0.19
24 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger)
T-Mobile
25 Tyler Farrar (USA)
Cofidis
0.20
Pelizzotti takes the Lead
Franco Pelizzotti led Italy
to a formidable treble in Limoges at the end of
the 177-kms second stage between Vatan and Limoges. The Liguigas rider, a former top ten
finisher at the Giro, outwitted the rest of the bunch in the last stretch
to win the stage and take the overall leader’s yellow jersey.
Daniele Bennati (Lampre) had to be content with second place, two seconds
behind, with Luca Paolini third on a great day for the Liquigas team.
The finale was a nail-biting one as the bunch only caught escapees Thomas
Voeckler of France and
Murilo Fischer of Brazil,
another Liquigas man, in the last kilometre.
Pelizzotti said about the race: "With Fischer in
the break, Liquigas did not have to work until the finale. Near the finish, I
sensed that Quick Step were very strong and were preparing the sprint for
Boonen. I found a way to move in the last few hundred metres. I’m very glad to
have won here." Pelizzotti about the success of Liquigas: "The season
is going very well for us. I think we’ve won four races so far. Personally, I
badly wanted to do something on this Paris-Nice. Two years ago, I came second
on a stage and I really wanted to win one. With the yellow jersey on top of it,
the joy is complete."
Results stage 2 Paris-Nice
1 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
3.57.36 (44.696 km/h)
2 Daniele Bennati (Ita)
Lampre-Fondital
0.02
3 Luca Paolini (Ita)
Liquigas
4 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit
Agricole
5 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
6 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Discovery
Channel
7 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
8 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
9 Patrick Calcagni (Swi)
Liquigas
10 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
11 Samuel Sánchez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
12 Patxi Vila (Spa)
Lampre-Fondital
13 Igor Astarloa (Spa)
Milram
14 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
15 Igor Abakoumov (Bel)
Astana
16 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
17 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit
Agricole
18 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
19 Roy Sentjens (Bel)
Predictor-Lotto
20 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra)
Agritubel
21 Claudio Corioni (Ita)
Lampre-Fondital
22 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger)
T-Mobile
23 David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
24 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
25 Thomas Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
General Classification after stage 2
1 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
8.33.12
2 David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
0.06
3 Daniele Bennati (Ita)
Lampre-Fondital
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
0.07
5 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
0.08
6 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
7 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
0.10
8 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
0.11
9 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
0.13
10 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
0.14
11 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
0.15
12 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
13 Igor Astarloa (Spa)
Milram
0.16
14 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
15 Joost Posthuma (Ned)
Rabobank
0.17
16 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit
Agricole
0.18
17 Murilo Fischer (Bra)
Liquigas
0.19
18 Patxi Vila (Spa)
Lampre-Fondital
19 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger)
T-Mobile
20 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
Cofidis
0.21
21 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Discovery
Channel
22 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel) Predictor-Lotto
23 William Bonnet (Fra) Crédit
Agricole
0.22
24 Aitor Pérez Arrieta (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
25 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team
CSC
0.23
Nazon takes Stage, but Millar still in Yellow
France’s
Jean-Patrick Nazon (AG2R) made up for lost time to win the 186 kms first stage
of Paris-Nice on Monday. The Frenchman, whose most important win so
far took place on the Champs-Elysees in 2003, chose the less glamourous finish
in Buzancais to remind he was still one of the best finishers in the field.
Nazon, 30, beat Germany’s
Sebastian Siedler (Milram) and Australia’s
Matthew Hayman (Rabobank) on the line. Favourite Daniele Bennati of Italy (Lampre)
had to be content with 4th place.
Prologue winner David Millar of Britain
(Saunier Duval) retained his overall lead. The stage was marked by a long
breakaway led by local favourite Romain Feillu.
Nazon told reporters after race: "Prestigious
victories.. I had my share before but I wanted this badly because it’s been a
long time since the last. This is great for confidence so early in the season
and I hope to be able to win more on this Paris-Nice." Asked if the
Tour is his main goal, the AG2R rider said: "Obviously I hope to be on the
Tour de France but a lot can happen beforehand. I can crash or be sick."
About yesterdays bunch sprint: " I surged very early with more than 200
metres to go and I was surprised no one followed suit. I held as long as I
could and fortunately I made it."
It looks like team CSC wants the overall win: "It
was actually a perfect day for us. We were just supposed to sit back and enjoy
and not work too hard, which is exactly what we did. The sprinter teams made
sure no one gained any time," Bjarne Riis said.
Results stage
1 Paris-Nice
2007
1
Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2r
Prévoyance
4.29.39 (41.386 km/h)
2 Sebastian Siedler (Ger)
Milram
3 Mathew Hayman (Aus)
Rabobank
4 Daniele Bennati (Ita)
Lampre-Fondital
5 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
6 Igor Astarloa (Spa)
Milram
7 Murilo Fischer (Bra)
Liquigas
8 Tom Boonen (Bel)
Quickstep-Innergetic
9 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus)
Astana
10 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
11 Gregory Henderson (NZl)
T-Mobile
12 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
13 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita)
Milram
14 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Discovery
Channel
15 Aaron Kemps (Aus)
Astana
16 Thomas Fothen (Ger)
Gerolsteiner
17 Jesús Del Nero (Spa) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
18 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Astana
19 Alan Pérez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
20 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Crédit
Agricole
21 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
22 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
23 Roy Sentjens (Bel)
Predictor-Lotto
24 Luca Paolini (Ita)
Liquigas
25 Tyler Farrar (USA) Cofidis
General Classification after stage 1
1
David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
4.35.40
2 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
0.01
3 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
0.02
4 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery
Channel
5 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery
Channel
0.03
7 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier
Duval-Prodir 0.04
8 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des
Jeux
9 Remmert Wielinga (Ned) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
10 Joost Posthuma (Ned)
Rabobank
0.05
11 Daniele Bennati (Ita)
Lampre-Fondital
0.06
12 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
13 Bobby Julich (USA) Team
CSC
14 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
15 Gert Steegmans (Bel)
Quickstep-Innergetic
0.07
16 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
17 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
0.08
18 Cadel Evans (Aus)
Predictor-Lotto
19 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit
Agricole
20 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux
21 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
0.09
22 Samuel Sánchez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
23 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel)
Predictor-Lotto
24 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team
CSC
25 Francisco Pérez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
It's Millar Time at Paris-Nice
David Millar won the 4.7 kilometer long prologue of
Paris-Nice on Sunday. 160 riders started at this years race to the sun.
Banned for two years for doping, the Briton had signalled
his return last season by winning stage 14 of the Vuelta Espana, a 48-km
individual time trial.
In
six minutes and one second, the Scot beat unheralded 19 years old Czech Roman
Kreuzinger by one second, Frenchman Sebastien Joly taking third place a further
second adrift.
Millar
was happy with his victory: "Its was my first objective of the season and
it’s great to achieve it. I’m very impressed myself. Last year was very hard
after two years without racing. It was tough physically and mentally. This
year, the start of the season was my objective and I had told my friends I felt
ready to win this."
Asked
if it was a tough course, Millar said: "Yes, the climb made it very
technical but I’m very satisfied as this was my first objective this
season."
Millar
hopes to keep the yellow jersey and says about his ambitions: "Defend this
jersey as long as I can and hopefully take it all the way to Nice. I have a
great team around me, one of the very best in this race. They might not be the
most famous names in the bunch but they always ride in the front. They will be
a very valuable asset. "
Results prologue Paris-Nice 2007
1
David Millar (GBr) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
6.01 (46.869 km/h)
2 Roman Kreuziger (Cze)
Liquigas
0.01
3 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des
Jeux
0.02
4 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse
d'Epargne
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery
Channel
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel
0.03
7 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
0.04
8 Remmert Wielinga (Ned) Saunier
Duval-Prodir
9 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des
Jeux
10 Joost Posthuma (Ned)
Rabobank
0.05
11 Bobby Julich (USA) Team
CSC
0.06
12 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
13 Daniele Bennati (Ita)
Lampre-Fondital
14 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Liquigas
15 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
Gerolsteiner
0.07
16 Gert Steegmans (Bel)
Quickstep-Innergetic
17 Cadel Evans (Aus)
Predictor-Lotto
0.08
18 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des
Jeux
19 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit
Agricole
20 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues
Telecom
21 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team
CSC
0.09
22 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
Cofidis
23 Samuel Sánchez (Spa)
Euskaltel-Euskadi
24 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)
Lampre-Fondital
25 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel)
Predictor-Lotto
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