It’s been a busy Palm Sunday weekend for me with family commitments and all, but here is the latest from Paris-Nice.

Stage 5:

The big news of the day was the riders who either did not start or abandoned early in the race. David Millar (Slipstream), William Bonnet (Crédit Agricole) and Leonardo Bertagnolli (Liquigas) did not start. Bradley McGee (CSC) abandoned after 15 kilometers and was followed by 13 colleagues.

Skil-Shimano worked hard to keep the peloton together before the first climb. Mountains leader Clément Lhôtellerie crossed the line first, adding to his hold on the polka dot jersey. On the descent, Christophe Moreau (Agritubel), Jérôme Pineau (Bouygues Telecom), Rémi Pauriol (Crédit Agricole) and Philipe Gilbert (Française des Jeux) broke away. Gilbert won the sprint at Saint-Saturnin-les-Apt, but shortly after, a group of 21 riders, led by Cadel Evans were able to bridge the gap.

There was some swapping of riders between the break and the peloton. Flecha, Evans, Gilbert and Pineau dropped back to the pack. 17 riders were left at the front, including Carlos Barredo, who was highest up in the GC. It took 3 attacks, but Barredo was able to break clear with 10 km to go and won the stage. Robert Gesink still held on to the yellow jersey.

Stage 6:

The day started with an early attack by Yoann Le Boulanger (Française des Jeux) and Christophe Edaleine (Ag2r). That one didn’t last long, but just 4 km later, Clément Lhôtellerie (Skil-Shimano), Chris Sorensen and Bobby Julich (CSC), Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner), Mathieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom), Gert Steegmans (Quick Step), Kevin Ista (Agritubel) and Aleksandr Kuchinsky (Liquigas) were able to make it stick.

20 km later, Sandy Casar tried to bridge to the breakaway group but never made it all of the way.

Mountains leader Lhôtellerie continued to tighten his grasp on the polka dot jersey, passing first over the Col de Lecques at 73km, then doing the same over Col de Luens and the Côte de du Mousteiret at 96km.

The break enjoyed their maximum lead of nearly five and a half minutes at the Col d’Espargon (117km). The Lampre and Caisse d’Epargne teams took up the chase and started to slowly whittle away at the gap. The break started losing riders off the back until only Julich and Sprick were left 40 seconds ahead. Sprick crashed in a corner not long after, leaving Julich all alone at the front.

A chasing group consisting of Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) and Rinaldo Nonocenti (Ag2R) and others went after Julich on the dicey descent, eventually catching him on the bottom. Rebellin and Nonocenti were too focused on each other in the final kilometer, and left the door open for Chavenel, who cruised by at the 500 km mark and sprinted for the stage win. Rebellin was able to move into the yellow jersey, but Nonocenti was only 3 seconds behind.

Stage 7:

The final day of the race started with a protest by the over the handling of doping controls on Kevin van Impe, who was forced to interrupt making funeral arrangements for his infant son when the testers showed up. If he had refused testing, he likely would have faced a 2 year suspension.

The race started after a delay of several minutes. Only 11 km out, 35 riders took off together, including Bobby Julich & Jens Voigt (CSC), Phillipe Gilbert (Francaise de Jeux), Jerome Pineau (Bouyges Telecom), Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) and Danny Pate (Slipstream-Chipotle). At the 39 km mark Charteau, Albasini, Van den Broeck and Possoni broke clear, though they were soon joined by Clément Lhôtellerie (Skil-Shimano). 11 km later, Pauriol and Possoni went off and were able to take the first and second positions over the Col de la Porte (51 km).

Nocentini and Gesink both crashed on the descent of the Col de la Porte. Rebellin tried to get everyone to slow down and wait for them to come back, but not all did. Benítez took advantage and joined Pauriol and Possoni in the lead. As the front group regrouped once more, Lhôtellerie made an attack at the bottom of the La Turbie climb (79km). Lhôtellerie built a lead of 35 seconds over the chaser and 1 minute, 35 seconds over the peloton by the time he crested the climb.  He was able to hang on to the lead as far as the climb over the Col d’Eze. Benitez joined him on the descent, but they were caught with only 8km to go. Cunego and Sanchez worked hard on the descent, and Sanchez won the day, but it was Davide Rebellin, back in 16th position who took the yellow jeresy once and for all.