|
Vichy
178 km
Tuesday 10 March
CHAVANEL Sylvain (QST)© Presse Sports
CHAVANEL Sylvain (QST)© Presse Sports
Sylvain Chavanel took Paris-Nice by storm in a rainy 178-kms third stage from Orval to Vichy, winning his first race in his new Quick Step colours and claiming back the yellow jersey he had held for one day last season.
The Frenchman (Quick Step) can thank Dutch team Rabobank, who smashed the peloton to pieces with 43 kms to go, scattering a frozen bunch all over the place and taking first stage winner and yellow jersey holder Alberto Contador and his Astana team-mates off guard.
Yet Chavanel was not really grateful, outsprinting two Rabobank riders, Juan-Antonio Flecha and Sebastian Langeveld, to bag the stage victory.
Overall, the Frenchman also leads two Rabobank men, Spain’s Juan Manuel Garate, by 33 seconds, and Flecha by 36 seconds. Contador is now 1:03 adrift.
Five-man breakaway
The start was given at 12:14. Stephane Auge (Cofidis) was the first in action and the Frenchman later joined the right break, launched at kilometre 15 by Poland’s Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas), and joined by Belgian champion Jurgen Roelandts (Silence Lotto), France’s Christophe Le Mevel (FDJeux) and Dutchman Tom Veelers (Skil Shimano).
The break quickly gained momentum and reached four minutes at kilometre 30 and six minutes at kilometre 40.
Le Mevel won the first sprint in Lurcy-Levis (Km 35.5), ahead of Roelandts and Auge, while Anthony Charteau (Caisse d’Epargne) called it quits.
Like yesterday, the Astana team-mates of yellow jersey Alberto Contador maintained a stable lead which reached a maximum of 7:15 at kilometre 66.
Auge takes polka-dot jersey
Auge was first at the top of the Cote de la Croix du Chene (Km 81.5), ahead of Le Mevel and Veelers as the average speed considerably decreased in the rain and cold (44.8 kph in the first hours and 36.4 kph in the second).
The Frenchman was also first at the top of the Cote de Chavenon (km 87.5), which allowed him to claim the polka-dot jersey.
As the gap stabilised around six minutes, Astana started receiving support from the sprinters teams and especially the Cervelo team-mates of second stage winner Heinrich Haussler.
Auge was again first at the top of the Col de la Bosse (125.5 kms), bringing his tally in the mountain classification to 12 points.
Rabobank smash the peloton
Fourty three kilometers from the finish in Vichy, the Rabobank suddenly raised the pace and smashed the peloton to pieces. A group of 15 riders took shape, including Gilbert (Silence Lotto), Flecha, Garate, Hayman, Langeveld, Tankink, Tjallingii (Rabobank), Chavanel and Seeldrayers (Quick Step), Burghardt (Columbia), Taaramae (Cofidis), Colom and Steegmans (Katusha), Haussler (Cervelo) and Timmer (Skil Shimano).
Race leader Alberto Contador was trapped in a second group while some other favourites like Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto) or Bradley Wiggins (Garmin) were even further down.
While Bodnar had been dropped by the break, his four former companions were caught by the leading chasing group with 31 kms to go. After the junction, Roelandts, Flecha, Garate, Langeveld, Chavanel, Seeldrayers, Le Mevel, Burghardt, Auge and Veelers found themselves in the lead with a 20 seconds lead over the Contador group.
The full monty for Chavanel
Chavanel made his plans clear by winning the second sprint of the day in front of Garate and Seeldrayers
While Veelers, Le Mevel and later Burghardt, on a puncture, were dropped, the seven leaders regularly increased their lead and reached Vichy with a 1:09 lead over the Contador bunch.
In the last kilometer, Langeveld then Flecha tried their luck but Chavanel was the strongest and he overpowered them both to snatch the stage victory, as well as the yellow and the green jerseys.
CHAVANEL Sylvain (QST)© Presse Sports
In the finale, I thought about the stage victory because I had held the yellow jersey so briefly last year. I asked my team-mate Kevin Seeldrayers to lead the way. I went for it, I kept my head high.
I was not feeling great in the beginning of the stage. I was really cold. But when the Rabobank made their move, I was on my guard and we manage to collaborate. When you see how hard we worked, it’s only natural we should have taken 1:10 off Contador.
To have a chance I really needed to be part of such a move. On the Montagne de Lure, I only hope to limit the damage. My goal is half achieved. Now it’ll be bonus. We’ll see what happens in the Montagne de Lure, it will the key moment.
The Contador group finished 1:10 behind. Chavanel will seize the race lead away from Alberto Contador.
Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabodabk) was second and Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank) was third.
Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) wins the 178-kms third stage between Orval and Vichy.
Chavanel surges with Flecha under the red flame.
With five kilometres to go, the gap is 1:20.
Every morning, before the start, Bernard Hinault gives his views about the day’s stage and the riders to keep an eye on:
I was impressed by Haussler finishing power. When he surged, he left everybody else ten metres behind and he kept his lead until the finish line. It was a beautiful move. But I would have loved to see an attack in the final kilometre, an attempt by a puncher. What Pierre Rolland tried to do, 15 kms from the finish, was useless. He did not have a chance from so far. If you have to take that sort of risks, you have to do it in the finale, without looking back. That’s what Willy Teirkinck used to do in my time.
Had I been with Astana, I would have gambled a little bit. Of course they did not work for the whole stage, but if they keep working the way they do, they will have to do it everyday. And if they do, they will spend a lot of energy. The best thing to do would be to have a rider in the break. These days nobody
