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Porto-Vecchio
75 km
Sunday 28 March
Belgium’s Gianni Meersman (FDJeux) will be the first to start at 13:46.
Welcome on the third stage of the Criterium International, a 7.7-kms individual time trial around Porto-Vecchio.
Briton Russell Downing (Team Sky) outsprints the bunch to win the 75-kms second stage ahead of Swiss Michael Albasini (Columbia) and race leader Pierrick Fedrigo (BBox).
Under the red flame, the final sprint takes shape and the bunch is still led by Team HTC Columbia.
Only three kilometres left and Team Vacansoleil are the most active at he front of the peloton.
Five kilometres to go and the break is over.
As the bunch enter Porto-Vecchio, the gap has gone down to seven seconds.
Sky are teaming up with Columbia in the chase behind the six escapees. The gap is now 12 seconds.
The gap went down thanks to a great team-effort by team HTC-Columbia.
... and the lead has gone down to 15 seconds.
....and Veikkanen, Hupond, Dion, Gonzalo-Ramirez, Martinez and Fofonov lead the main pack by 50 seconds.
... and the lead of the six escapees over the peloton is one minute.
The BBox team of Pierrick Fedrigo are leading the chase along with Tiago Machado’s RadioShack team-mates.
The average speed in the first hour of the stage was 43.3 kph.
Km 45 - The gap between Martinez, Veikkanen, Fofonov, Dion, Hupond and Gonzalo Ramirez and the peloton remains stable at 55 seconds.
Results in the Pagliaggiolo climb (km 24)
1. Dion 6 points
2. Martinez 4 pts
3. Veikkanen 2 pts
Km 31 - The six lead the peloton by 1:05.
Involved in a crash, Simon Gerrans (Team Sky) has given up.
Thanks to the six escapees, who climbed the last hill in the front, Pierre Rolland (BBox) will keep the polka-dot jersey.
Km 17 - The six escapees lead the pack by 55 seconds.
RadioShack team director Alain Gallopin told www.letour.fr he was not surprised by Tiago Machado’s performance in this Criterium International: “He was second in the climb in the Tour d’Algarve behind Contador and third overall. On Paris-Nice, he stole the show in the penultimate stage. His level is impressive but he’s where he should be. We sincerely hope to win this Criterium.”
Km 11 - The six lead the bunch by 45 seconds.
Km 10 - The six lead the peloton by 35 seconds.
The six riders in the front are Dmitry Fofonov (Astana), Jussi Veikkanen (FDJeux), Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) Thierry Hupond (Skil Shimano), Renault Dion (Roubaix Lille Metropole) and Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Bretagne-Schuller).
BMC team director John Lelangue said he was happy with Cadel Evans’ performance yesterday: “We did the race we had to do. We stayed relaxed until the last climb, knowing it was very windy on it. We remained in the hiding until the last two kilometres when it was possible to make a difference. Cadel could not reply to every attack but he sprinted for third place to try and get a much needed bonus. Unfortunately, Sanchez was fastest.”
About today’s two stages, Lelangue said: “We must beware of the short tricky stage in the morning and try to do a good time trial in the afternoon. Fedrigo is not the only one to beat. Sanchez or Rogers are riders to watch as well. It’s going to be a good fight.”
Alberto Contador said a pollen allergy explained his mishap in the climb to L’Ospedale yesterday but vowed to do his best in today’s time trial: “We must continue calmly with the preparation, think about recovering and nothing more, wait what I can do tomorrow, because we have a good time trial,” he said yesterday after the finish.
“What happens (today) will depend on how I recover and how I feel about the allergy, but it’s a good course for me and today I allowed myself to be more relaxed at the end than other riders”.
Km 3.5 - Five riders have parted company with the main pack and were joined by another rider. Six men are in the front.
Pierrick Fedrigo (BBox) holds the yellow jersey thanks to his victory on the Col de l’Ospedale yesterday. His lead is a rather comfortable one at the start of such a short stage since the Frenchman leads Portuguese Tiago Machado (RadioShack) by 15 seconds and Spaniard Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) by 21 seconds.
The leading trio will share the distinctive jerseys between them Sanchez holding the green one for points classification while Machado will wear the white jersey as the best young rider, being 24.
Fedrigo’s team-mate Pierre Rolland will sport the best climber’s polka-dot jersey, which will be decided on the only hill of the day, the Pagliaggiolo climb at km 24. Rolland leads compatriot Cedric Pineau (Roubaix Lille Metropole) by two points with French champion Dimitri Champion third another two points behind.
Km 24 – Pagliaggiolo
Km 34 - Porto-Vecchio
The start of the 2nd stage was given at 9:21.
Welcome on the 75-kms second stage of the Criterium International between Porto-Vecchio and Porto-Vecchio.
