French and German triumph on Promenade des Anglais
On what was another dangerous, rain-splattered day in Paris-Nice, French champion Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) soled to an excellent second stage victory of the race, while Tony Martin (HTC Highroad) held on to win the overall.
Voeckler was part of a breakaway group which went in the early part of the stage, and then forged ahead on the Col d’Eze climb. He was joined by Diego Ulissi (Lampre – ISD) and together the two of them set about in building a big enough lead to hold off the inevitable charge behind. Voeckler then pushed ahead on the slippery run down towards Nice, eking out a stage-winning lead and reaching the line on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais 23 seconds ahead of Ulissi.
“I am very happy. Today was really hard…I took plenty of risks on the descent. I thought I was too old to take such risk, but I still have a good bit of passion,” he smiled, talking to France 3 television.
“Two stage wins is really great for me and the team . The season debut of the team was already good and this was confirmed in this Paris-Nice. I never had much luck in previous editions but this year I have had more success…it also helps to have very good legs.”
Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was the only general classification contender to put in a committed effort on the Col d’Eze and crested the summit with several second’s lead over Martin and the other riders. He joined team-mate Gorka Izagirre Insausti, who had been in the early break but who waited, and together they raced towards Eze. They overhauled the other remnants of the breakaway group close to the line.
Julien El Fares (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) edged out Sanchez for third, but the time gained by the latter was enough to move him up one place to fifth in the final classification. His gains didn’t trouble race leader Tony Martin, though, who never came under a real threat and finished alongside closest competitors Andreas Klöden (Team RadioShack) and Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling).
That saw him beat them overall by 36 and 41 seconds respectively, with Rein Taaramae (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) one minute and ten seconds back in fourth.
It is Martin’s biggest triumph thus far, and shows that he is a bona fide contender for the shorter stage races. It remains to be seen if he can now handle the high mountains in Grand Tours, but he is certainly improving in his consistency. Today he became the first German winner since Jorg Jaksche in 2004.
“It’s so great. It’s the biggest success ever in my career. I’m so happy but I need some time to think about it…I’m just thrilled to win now,” he said. “Yesterday, it was super cold, really dangerous in the descents and I’m very happy that I didn’t crash. I was not sure about my win today because there were strong riders in the front, but everything ended fine.
“It’s a fantastic start of the season, which gives me so much confidence for the next races. I’ll be ready for the season. For sure it’s my biggest goal to have a good Tour de France. I hope I can do it. I think I’m ready for it.”
It can be argued that Friday’s 27 kilometre time trial removed some suspense from the race, as Martin was able to eke out a very solid lead over the other riders, then ride defensively. That’s something that ASO will keep in mind for future editions, but for now it’ll be glad that Voeckler rode well in animating the final stage.
His strength is in picking select days to target top results, gambling everything on two or three maximal efforts in a stage race rather than being more cautious. He said that’s the kind of racing that he enjoys, and he plans to keep doing it. “I prefer to win two stages than finishing 10th or 11th. That’s the swashbuckling cycling I love, it’s fun,” he explained.
“Everybody deserves plaudits in such difficult conditions but I guess I deserve a little more for winning here.”
Early move leads to success:
After an early break by Andriy Grivko (Astana) was reeled back, Voeckler and Leopard Trek rider Linus Gerdemann sparked off a move of eleven riders when they went clear on the descent of the Côte de Duranus. They were joined by mountains leader Rémi Pauriol (FDJ), former race winner Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Ulissi, David Lopez-Garcia (Movistar), Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil), Laurent Didier (Saxo Bank), Matthew Busche (RadioShack), Julien El Fares (Cofidis) and Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi).
Pauriol led over the top of the second category Col de Chateauneuf (km 55.5), and then sealed his win in the KOM classification when he was also first to the top of the identically-ranked Col de Calaison (km 70).
Gerdemann was feeling good but had the misfortune to puncture out on the climb. “It was the right move, and he was feeling very, very strong,” said directeur sportif Kim Andersen afterwards.
“The commissaire did not allow any cars behind. Linus got a flat. Mavic came to him with a neutral wheel, but he was over one minute behind the group at that point. He tried to come back, but it was impossible. He lost a lot there. He had really good legs. We only had one or two flat tires in all of Paris-Nice, and this was one we really did not need. It was bad luck…really bad luck for Linus.”
Vinkourov also dropped back on the climb, although this was due to his legs rather than his bike. He said that his strength was eroded by the cold and the rain, and he left the race.
The break built a maximum lead of three minutes and ten seconds, putting Carrara into the virtual yellow jersey by 20 seconds, but the bunch then started chasing. Pauriol, Busche and Didier dropped back heading for the climb of La Turbie, while behind the peloton was thinning out and was down to just 20 riders.
The break had a lead of one minute 25 seconds at the top of the category one La Turbie ( km 94). Voeckler and Ulissi were concerned and attacked on the Col d’Eze, crossing the summit in that order and holding a 16 second lead over those behind.
Olympic champion Sanchez (Euskaltel) attacked on the climb and joined up with Izagirre, who waited for his leader. The other GC contenders sat tight and despite a lot of work by Team Sky beforehand, Wiggins did not make a bid to dislodge Martin. Ditto for Klöden and the others, who appeared content to defend their positions rather than launch all-out attacks and try to chase yellow.
Voeckler then pushed ahead on the run into Nice, gradually building a lead over Ulissi and reaching the line 23 seconds ahead. The group containing El Fares, Sanchez, Lopez Garcia and Carrara finished just over a minute back, with Izagirre just behind this.
Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Movistar Team) led home Tony Martin’s group, one minute 22 seconds down. What threatened to be a very dangerous stage for him worked out just fine, and he held on to take the biggest win of his career.