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Fayence
191 km
Saturday 14 March
Contador has lost more than 2:50 on the line. He is now 1:50 behind overall.
Colom is second and Schleck third.
Luis Leon Sanchez won the 191-kms 7th stage of Paris-Nice.
Contador has now been caught and dropeed by the peloton!
Sanchez is under the red flame. He is about to win the stage and take the yellow jersey.
With 2 kms to go, Contador is 1:30 behind Sanchez, who looks set to seize the overall lead.
Contador really struggles as four riders immediately behind him overall speed towards the finish line.
Contdor has now been dropped after a strike by Colom and another by Chavanel.
Les than five kms to go and Sanchez now leads Conrador by one minute. The yellow jersey hangs by a 13 seconds thread.
Luis Leon Sanchez leads by 50 seconds with 5 kms to go.
Sanchez increases lead as no one in the chasing group seems ready to help Contador in the chase. Contador’s yellow jersey is now in jeopardy.
The gap goes up to 40 seconds with 8 kms to go.
With 10 kms to go, Luis Leon Sanchez leads Contador, Chavanel, Colom, Schleck and Voigt by 22 seconds.
Luis Leon Sanchez, second overall 1:13 behind Contador, now leads the five riders behind him by 18 seconds with 13 kms to go.
The fight continues. Sanchez goes this time. Again, Contador is the one who chases...
Another attempt at the front, by Chavanel this time. Contador is again the one to react.
The fight calms down a little. The six leaders are together again.
18 kms to go - Voigt brings Schleck and Chavanel back on the leading trio. Colom tries to attack again twice. Sanchez counters, Contador too.
18 kms to go - Voigt brings Schleck and Chavanel back on the leading trio. Colom tries to attack again twice. Sanchez counters, Contador too.
Sanchez, Contador and Colom lead Schleck, Voigt and Chavanel by 20 seconds with 20 kms to go.
Chavanel make it back on Schleck and Voigt with 20 kms to go.
Situation of the race at the top of the Cote de Mons (Km 165, 3rd cat):
1. Sanchez
2. Contador
3. Colom
15 secs behind: Schleck and Voigt
40 secs: Chavanel group.
With 29 kms to go, Contador, Sanchez and Colom are now in the lead.
In the descent, Velits has been caught by Contador, Colom and Sanchez.
Results at the top of the Col de Bourigaille (km 160.5, 1st cat)
1. Velits 10 pts
2. Colom 8
3. Contador 6
4. Luis Leon Sanchez 4
5. Schleck 3
6. Chavanel 2
7. Voigt 1
Colom goes for it again. Contador again fills the gap.
Sanchez and Schleck are back on Contador and Colom. The four are now chasing Velits, who keeps a 30 seconds lead with 32 kms to go.
Antonio Colom (Katusha) attacks, followed by Contador.
Riblon and Kreuziger have now been caught by the Contador group, who are chasing the one and only Velits. The Slovak leads them by 45 seconds.
A group of eight riders including Contador, Voigt, Schleck, Casar, Flecha, Chavanel, Lopez Garcia, Luis Leon Sanchez and Colom is chasing behind Velits.
Luis Leon Sanchez and one of his team-mate raise the tempo with Contador in their wheel. A group of ten riders are with them.
The race now tackles the Bourigaille climb (1st cat). Auge, Horrach, Isasi have been caught by the peloton.
Australia’s Mark Renshaw (Columbia) has given up.
Kn 152 - On the line, Velits leads his former breakaway companions by 20 seconds, Isasi by 50 seconds and the peloton by 1:45.
Velits goes on the first passage on the finish line in Fayence.
1. Auge 3 secs, 3 points
2. Kreuziger 2 secs, 2 pts
3. Riblon 1 sec, 1 point
Currently leader of the points classification, Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo) just punctured.
Luis Leon Sanchez himself said his goal was now more a stage win than final victory: "Now to win the final classification is no longer within my reach but there are still two important and very beautiful stages left and we will try to win one of them.”
Results at the top of the Col de St Arnoux (Km 139.5, 3rd cat)
1. Horrach
2. Riblon
3. Pichot
…
Isasi 50 secs behind
…
Peloton 2:15 behind
Caisse d’Epargne team chief Yvon Ledanois obviously has plans for Luis Leon Sanchez to attack ALberto Contador but he obviously would not tell www.letour.fr: "There are still 60 kms left in the stage and to reveal our objective would be revealing our strategy," he said when asked if Sanchez was now going for overall victory or securing second place behind Contador.
Spain’s Inaki Isasi (Euskatel) has parted comapny with the main pack and is chasing behind the ten escapees.
Results at the top of the Col du Defens (km 126, 3rd cat)
1. Horrach 7 pts
2. Kreuziger 5
3. Pichot 3
4. Joly 2
5. Bouet 1
The average speed since the start of the stage was 41.2 kph.
Mickael Cherel (FD Jeux), Thomas Fothen (Milram), Marcel Sieberg (Columbia), Tom Vellers (Skil), Mickael Buffaz (Codidis) Javier Aramendia and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) and Romain Feillu (Agritubel) have all called it quits.
Seeing that Auge was not going for points in the climbs, Columbia left the chase in the hands of Astana and the break regains momentum.
Results at the top of the Col de St Andrieux (km 118.5, 2nd cat)
1. Pichot 7
2. Riblon 5
3. Horrach 3
4. Joly 2
5. Flecha 1
Peloton 2:35 behind.
Results at the top of the Cote des Tuillieres (km 125, 2nd cat)
1. Kreuziger 7 pts
2. Riblon
3. Joly
4. Bouet
5. Pichot
Peloton 1:35 behind.
Km 100 - The ten now lead the peloton by 1:05.
Results at the top the Cote de Taradeau (km 96, 2nd cat):
1. Horrach 7 pts
2. Flecha 5
3. Joly 3
4. Kreuziger 2
5. Velits 1.
Peloton 1:30 behind.
Km 93 - Only 1:40 left for the break. The Columbia riders work for Martin as Stephane Auge (Cofidis) could be a threat for the mountain’s jersey.
Km 89 - The lead goes down. The ten now only lead the bunch by 2:05.
Km 81 - The lead of the ten riders is now 3:05.
Daniel Fleeman (Cervelo) has just given up.
Kreuziger is the best-placed of the ten. He lies 16th overall, 5:12 behind Contador.
km 70 - The lead of the ten escapees is now 2:20.
The ten men in the lead are Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Juan-Antonio Flecha (Rabobank), Sebastien Joly (FD Jeux), Karsten Krron (Saxo Bank), Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas), Stephane Auge (Cofidis), Alexandre Pichot (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), Joan Horrach (Katusha), Maxime Bouet (Agritubel) and Martin Velits (Milram)
Km 66 - Velits has been joined by nine riders. The ten lead the peloton by 1:15.
Martin Velits (Milram) is alone in the front.
Seven riders have broke with the pack. They include plka-dot jersey holder Tony Martin (Columbia).
The peloton is packed again as the Lorenzetto group bridges the gap.
The first two parts of the bunch are now back together. A group including Lorenzetto and Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto) is still 20 seconds adrift.
Race leader Alberto Contador is in the first part of the peloton, which has split in three parts.
Km 33 - The peloton splits and five Astana riders are in the second part of the pack. Also in the delayed bunch feature green jersey holder Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre) and Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel).
Results on the Cote de Riez (Km 32)
1. Martin 4 pts
2. Martin Velits (Milram)
3. Nicki Sorensen (Saxo Bank)
By taking 3 points in the last sprint, Haussler now took the lead in the points classification, with a two-point lead over Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre).
Result of the first sprint in Riez (Km 29)
1. Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo) 3 points
2. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 2
3. Matthieu Perget (Caisse d’Epargne) 1
In L’Equipe, Philippe Bouvet stated the obvious : Contador is peerless in the mountains. But the Montagne de Lure was also a good test for other Tour de France contenders: “A few riders like Frank Schleck (2nd , 58 seconds behind) and Cadel Evans (4th ,1:27 behind) wished to test themselves in this unprecedented stage finish. For these leading Tour de France contenders, the lesson was that they are not doing too bad so early in the season. But they also realised how far they are from the favourite…”
Km 20 - Several attempts are taking place but they are all reined in by the Astana team-mates of race leader Alberto Contador.
Results of the Cote du Bois de Rousset (Km 6.5, 3rd cat)
1. Tony Martin (Columbia) 4 points
2. David Moncoutie (Cofidis) 2 pts
3. Matthieu Ladagnous (FD Jeux) 1 pt
The peloton are tackling the first of seven climbs in this stage, the Cote du Bois de Rousset (3rd cat).
The peloton are tackling the first of seven climbs in this stage, the Cote du Bois de Rousset (3rd cat).
Alberto Contador (Astana) ousted Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) from top spot in the overall standings thanks to his climbing lesson on the Montagne de Lure. The Spaniard claimed back the yellow jersey he had held for two days after his stage win in Amilly. He now leads compatriot Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) by 1:13 with Chavanel third, 1:24 adrift.
The climber’s jersey remained on the back of German Tony Martin (Columbia), who strengthened it on the penultimate climb of yesterday’s stage, the Cote des Mourres. He leads Jeremy Roy (FDJeux) by 15 points..
Italy’s Mirco Lorenzetto also used one of yesterday’s sprints in Forcalquier to retain his points jersey with a one-point lead over Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo).
The white jersey remained on the back of Belgium’s Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step) but he is now trailed by France’s Jonathan Ivert (Skil Shimano), who is only 28 seconds adrift.
Team Saxo Bank took the lead in the team classification with three riders in the top 10 of the stage at La Montagne de Lure.
Km 6.5: Cote du Bois de Rousset (3rd cat)
Km 32 : Cote de Riez (3rd cat)
Km 96 : Cote de Taradeau (2nd cat)
Km 110 : Cote des Tuillieres (2nd cat)
Km118.5 : Col de St Andrieux (2nd cat)
Km 126 : Col du Defens (2nd cat)
Km 139.5 : Col de St Arnoux (139.5)
Km 160.5 : Col de Bourigaille (1st cat)
Km 165 : Cote de Mons (3rd cat)
Km 191 : Cote de Fayence (3rd cat)
Km 29: Riez
Km 150: Fayence.
The weather is warm and sunny from start to finish.
The start will be given in a few minutes to 139 riders. Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank) is not starting.
Welcome on the 191-kms 7th stage of Paris-Nice between Manosque and Fayence.
