Paris-Nice

Stage 7: Nice,119km/74mi

By Cathy Mehl

The memories of bad weather earlier in the week faded from the minds of the 97 riders who crossed the finish line in Nice under blue skies and warm sunshine.  A break on the last of three climbs set up a mad chase to the line with Frenchmen Amaël Moinard (Cofidis) and Thomas Voeckler of Bbox Bouygues Telecom able to hold their lead to cross one-two for the stage victory, followed three seconds later by Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne).  But the final podium belonged to the Spanish with Alberto Contador securing his second Pairs-Nice victory by 11-seconds over Valverde and another 14-seconds to Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne). 

The final stage was a strong one for Team RadioShack with Jani Brajkovic putting in a solid attack to chase down the leaders.  Coming up short in the final kilometer, he was joined by teammate Chris Horner who sprinted for 8^th with Jani just behind him in 9^th.  Brajkovic was the best-placed team rider with 12^th-place overall. 

After the race Jani said, “I tried in the end to make the jump from the chasing group to Moinard and Voeckler.  Finally I felt good for the first time this week.  I arrived a bit sick in Paris-Nice, but now I am ok.  The fact that Luis Leon Sanchez came with me condemned my breakaway.  He was too dangerous for Contador.  Anyway, I end this Paris-Nice with a better feeling than I started the race.”

Team Director Alain Gallopin added, “When we attacked on the last climb, all six of our riders were still in the first peloton.  The good weather helped us to recover.  All of our sick riders feel better now. Without a small mistake in one stage we would even have won the Team’s Classification here.  It can only become better from now on.  We are confident.”

Tiago drills the pace

Various early attacks were quickly brought back, including one that included Team RadioShack’s Tiago Machado.  Machado rode well all week, consistently putting himself in the right place on many of the stages.  Today’s effort didn’t stick but bodes well for Tiago’s upcoming races.  With time bonuses available on course, the sprints were hotly contested throughout today’s short stage and the final top ten on general classification shifted during the race.  Voeckler and Moinard managed a gap over the top of the first climb and made up the break of the day.  They held almost three minutes over the top of the second climb, but the gap began to fall with 28km and one climb to go.

In the final 20km attacks came fast and furious.  With the two riders off the front, Team RadioShack’s Jani Brajkovic made his move to chase down the duo.  He was followed by Sanchez who sat in third place behind Contador.  Valverde and Contador both responded, shutting down the effort from the very real threat of Sanchez.  More attacks followed all the way to the line and Contador was forced to respond, but he did each time to protect his race lead.

Voeckler started his sprint early with Moinard on his wheel, but the latter easily came around and took the stage win along with the polka dot jersey for his consistent effort in the mountains all week. 

Next up for The Shack is Milan-Sanremo on Saturday.  The long, difficult, one-day race is a crowd pleaser and sure to attract plenty of attention when Lance Armstrong shows up on the line with a strong team around him.  Stay tuned!

Beyond the Finish Line:  Nice was Italian until 1860, and the pastel facades and balconies of the Old Town have a distinctly Italiante feel.  It lies at the foot of a hill still known as the Château for the castle which once stood there.

Top Ten Results

1          Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne     2:52:09             

2          Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom                   

3          Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:00:03             

4          Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale                     

5          Reine Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne                 

6          Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha                     

7          Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank                  

8          Christopher Horner (USA) Team RadioShack                        

9          Jani Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack                       

10        Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana

Team RadioShack on Stage 7

21        Levi Leipheimer (USA) 0:00:59

33        Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) 0:01:43

47        Tiago Machado (Por) 0:02:48

53        Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)

Final General Classification

1          Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana          28:35:35           

2          Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:00:11             

3          Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne   0:00:25             

4          Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas - Doimo     0:00:26             

5          Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi     0:00:30             

6          Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank     0:00:35             

7          Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha        0:00:37             

8          Reine Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne    0:01:07             

9          Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Omega Pharma - Lotto            0:01:16             

10        Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun    0:01:17           

Team RadioShack on Final General Classification

12        Jani Brajkovic (Slo) 0:01:57

23        Levi Leipheimer (USA) 0:04:54

50        Christopher Horner (USA) 0:18:39     

51        Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) 0:18:50

57        Tiago Machado (Por) 0:20:35

80        Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) 0:38:21

Photos courtesy of Graham Watson