2010 Paris – Nice: Stage 5 Results

March 12th, 2010 by Al Fresco View Comments

Peter Sagan wins the 5th stage of Paris-Nice in Aix-en-Provence, his second stage win of the race.

Today’s 5th stage of Paris-Nice traveled 157 kilometers between the towns of Pernes-les-Fontaines and Aix-en-Provence. Both towns were hosting a stage of the race for the first time, but race organizers are saying that one or both may be slated for a Tour de France spot sometime in the future.

There are 4 rated climbs in today’s stage, but nothing totally challenging. At km 40 is the Category 2 Col de Murs, then there are three Category 3 climbs: Km 75.5 – Cote de Lacoste (km 75.5), Cote de Bonnieux (km 84.5) and Cote de St. Canadet (km 127).

The day started out cold, but the sun was shining, taking a little of the sting out of it. Serge Pauwels (Team Sky) abandoned overnight and Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) quit shortly after the start of the stage.

You could tell that the race was nearing the end today as some bigger names such as Sylvain Chavanel and Dmitri Champion made attacks, but it is much harder for guys like that to get away, and the peloton shut down any breaks fairly quickly. Speeds were a little higher today, too, as evidenced by the large group of 30 or so riders hanging off the back of the peloton. Among them were polka-dot jersey holder Laurent Mangel (Saur Sojasun) and Tony Martin (Columbia).

Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox) made a go of it at km 72, and while he picked up some mountain points on the Cote de Bonnieux, he never got more than 30 seconds off the front. He was caught at km 88.

Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) attacked at km 97 and was joined by about 10 others. Sylvain Calzati (Team Sky) attacked out of that group and Volodymir Gustov (Cervelo) and Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) are able to make the bridge. By km 113, there were four riders at the front: Calzati, Gustov, Barredo and Reine Taaramae (Cofidis). Luis Basamontes (Caisse d’Epargne), Pierre Rolland (BBox), Joan Horrach (Katusha) and Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step) were chasing, 35 seconds behind and the peloton trailed the leaders by one minute.

At km 122, Basamontes, Rolland, Horrach and Seeldrayers gave up the chase. With the peloton all back together, they stepped up the pace and started eating into the advantage of the leaders. Taaramae found the pace too much and soon dropped back to the gruppo as well.

AG2R moved to the front to help Caisse d’Epargne with the chase. Calzati, Gustov, Barredo are soon caught and the speeds are so high that the peloton splits, with all of the favorites at the front. Levi Leipheimer, Thomas Voeckler and Sandy Casar among others were stuck back in the second group and were dangling 35 seconds off the lead group.

Alberto Contador (Astana) , Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) , Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) , Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel), David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas) were all in that front group, who lead the chasers by a minute and a half with just 2 km to go.

Peter Sagan attacked with about 1.5km to go with Nicholas Roche in hot pursuit, but Sagan was able to hold on for the win, giving it all for his second victory of the race.

Brief Results:

Pos	Rider	Bib	Team	Time	Gaps
1.	SAGAN Peter	55	LIQUIGAS-DOIMO	3h 34′ 15″
2.	LORENZETTO Mirco	145	LAMPRE – FARNESE	3h 34′ 17″	+ 00′ 02″
3.	VALVERDE Alejandro	8	CAISSE D’EPARGNE	3h 34′ 17″	+ 00′ 02″
4.	LADAGNOUS Matthieu	87	FRANCAISE DES JEUX	3h 34′ 17″	+ 00′ 02″
5.	VOIGT Jens	18	TEAM SAXO BANK	3h 34′ 17″	+ 00′ 02″
6.	GERRANS Simon	171	TEAM SKY	3h 34′ 17″	+ 00′ 02″
7.	FERNANDEZ DE LARREA Koldo	132	EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI	3h 34′ 17″	+ 00′ 02″
8.	ROCHE Nicolas	118	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	3h 34′ 17″	+ 00′ 02″
9.	GOSS Matthew Harley	42	TEAM HTC – COLUMBIA	3h 34′ 17″	+ 00′ 02″
10.	CONTADOR Alberto	31	ASTANA	3h 34′ 17″	+ 00′ 02″

General Classification:

Pos	Rider	Bib	Team	Time	Gaps
1.	CONTADOR Alberto	31	ASTANA	20h 41′ 39″
2.	VALVERDE Alejandro	8	CAISSE D’EPARGNE	20h 41′ 59″	+ 00′ 20″
3.	KREUZIGER Roman	51	LIQUIGAS-DOIMO	20h 42′ 04″	+ 00′ 25″
4.	SANCHEZ Luis-Leon	1	CAISSE D’EPARGNE	20h 42′ 05″	+ 00′ 26″
5.	SANCHEZ Samuel	131	EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI	20h 42′ 08″	+ 00′ 29″
6.	VOIGT Jens	18	TEAM SAXO BANK	20h 42′ 13″	+ 00′ 34″
7.	RODRIGUEZ Joaquim	157	KATUSHA TEAM	20h 42′ 15″	+ 00′ 36″
8.	SAGAN Peter	55	LIQUIGAS-DOIMO	20h 42′ 21″	+ 00′ 42″
9.	MILLAR David	121	GARMIN – TRANSITIONS	20h 42′ 41″	+ 01′ 02″
10.	TAARAMAE Reine	188	COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE	20h 42′ 45″	+ 01′ 06″