Paris-Nice: Michael Albasini wins stage 4

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Former Tour of Britain winner Michael Albasini of Orica-GreenEdge wins stage 4 whilst Talansky holds on to the leader’s jersey in the mountains

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Swiss rider Michael Albasini timed his move perfectly to surge to the front on the final stretch of the 199.5-kms 4th stage of Paris-Nice in St Vallier and take the day’s laurels on one of the trickiest courses of this edition.

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The Orica-Greenedge rider, one of his country’s greatest cycling talents, outwitted Kazakh Maxim Iglinskyi and Slovak Peter Velits on the line to add another prestigious line to a personal record already including stage wins in the Vuelta and the Tour de Suisse. On a nervous day with seven treacherous climbs, Garmin’s Andrew Talansky stayed calm and collected and retained the race leader’s Yellow Jersey despite finding himself without a team-mate in the final ascents.

He kept his three seconds lead over Ukraine Andryi Grivko while Velits climbed to third overall, four seconds adrift.

On a good day for the Swiss, Johann Tschopp seized the polka-dot jersey after leading the way on the climbs in the long breakaway of the stage. On the first climb of the day hree riders, Johann Tschopp (EUC), Javier Moreno (MOV) and Gianni Meersman (OPQ) broke clear after only five miles. They were joined by Thomas Voeckler (EUC), who finished second at the top of Cote de Lachaud (2nd cat) behind Tschopp whilst Moreno was dropped in the descent.

While Tschopp was again first at the top of the 2nd cat Cote de Condat (Km 27.5), four riders chased behind the leading trio. They were Hubert Dupont (ALM) and Romain Sicard (EUS) and later joined by Michael Morkov (TST) and Warren Barguil (ARG). At the first intermediate sprint (Km 40.5), won by Voeckler, the peloton was four minutes adrift. The four chasers caught the break after 22 miles when the lead topped at 4:55. Tschopp kept collecting KoM points along the climbs, finishing first on top of Cote de la Chomasse (km 87.5), Cote de Laprat (km 105.5) and Col du Rouvey (km 136) to take the polka-dot jersey away from Martijn Keizer (VCD).

Video of final kilometres (Flemish)

On the ascent of the Col du Rouvey, teams Sky and Astana increased the pace at the front of the peloton and the gap came down to around 1:30 as Voeckler won the second sprint on the descent (km 157). The breakaway group split on the penultimate Cote de Talencieux (Km 176.5) when Voeckler and Dupont sensing the peloton were on their heels upped the pace. Voeckler was first at the top but Meersman and Tschopp came back on the descent. While the four held out for a while, they were reined in 14 kms from the finish line as the BMC team upped the tempo.

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Final battle
The big battle took place on the final Cote de la Sizeranne when most of the leading contenders fought to stay in the front. While Michele Scarponi (LAM), Sylvain Chavanel (OPQ), Jerome Coppel (COF) and Robert Gesink (BLA) attacked in turn in the finale, the laurels finally went to Albasini, who pipped Maxim Iglinskyi on the line for the stage win. As for Andrew Talansky, he rode safely at the front all day with the calm of an experienced leader to retain the Yellow Jersey ahead of a potentially decisive ride to Montagne de Lure in stage 5.

Yellow Jersey holder Andrew Talansky (GRS) told www.letour.fr how he thought he outwitted his main rivals in today’s finale to St Vallier. “Well today you had to be smart and I was smart. They were not. Today we knew it would be the trickiest stage of the race and I would be alone towards the end. We knew what kind of team we brought here.”

“Last night we talked about it and we knew I was going to be on my own in the last 30 kms. It wasn’t a surprise, we were prepared for it. We wanted to keep the jersey but I wasn’t stressed. If I lost it I could always take it back the next day. The way it worked out, I felt good and you can play off the guys who fight for the jersey and the ones who want a stage win. It worked out perfectly. The only way to keep it today was smart tactics.”

“I think just having guys in the team who have been doing this for so many years like David Millar, Andreas Klier or Johan van Summeren, they told me to stay calm. Andreas told me last night don’t get upset in the finale, you’ll be all alone but you stay calm. If you don’t, you’ll waste a lot of energy. So you just stay calm, it’s always better.”

“Tomorrow, we’re really going to see. We’ve gone up a lot of climbs but for me, 10 or 15 minute climbs are hardest. Once it’s going over 20 minutes, it’s better and it’s going to be around 35 minutes. Contador climbed it in 34 minutes in 2009 so it’s going to be 35 minutes at least for us at 1,600 metres which is pretty high. It’s going to me a high time trial for me and we’ll see what it means. Today was stressful but when you get to a climb like this all you have to do is to go as hard as you can and whatever happens happens. It’s that simple.”

Triumph for the Swiss in the Aussie Green and Gold
Joint leader of the Orica Greenedge team with Simon Gerrans, Michale Albasini was looking for a stage win in this Paris- Nice and on stage 4 it was mission accomplished. “I don’t know if I had the better legs but I was more clever” he explained afterwards. “I was at the right place at the right time.”

“At first I thought I would try to get Jens up there in the sprint,” added Albasini. “Then, the attacks started. As I covered them, I knew I had a chance for the finish. At the end, there was a roundabout 500 metres or so from the finish,” noted Albasini. “There were two guys about 50 metres ahead at the point. They started sprinting, and I knew I had to go. If I didn’t, it would have been too late. I opened my sprint and went full gas. Once I overtook them, I was able to maintain control all the way to the line.”

“It was a long sprint,” he noted. “But it worked out in the end.”

“I suffered a lot on the last two climbs. On the first, I had problems to change gears and I told myself it was over. I stayed on 53 but in the finish it was flatter so I managed to stay in the front. In the finale, I looked left and right, I didn’t have a lot of time to think. I went and I took my chance.”

“I actually wasn’t sure of my condition when I came here,” admitted Albasini. “I was feeling good, but we couldn’t race Lugano and my last race before that was three weeks ago last Wednesday. Without racing, it’s hard to understand what’s going on with your body. I’m super happy to start the season with an early, important win. I’m a bit surprised, too.”

“It’s even nicer to win on a day when we also won with [Matt] Goss in Tirreno,” Albasini added. “It’s really perfect. It’s important to keep the wins going like we did last year.”

“I only came for a stage win and I’m happy to have confirmed the fine work we did in the winter has worked. We didn’t race a lot, there was snow back home so it was hard to know what the condition was. I’m very happy.” Looking ahead, the former Tour of Britain winner says “the Ardennes classics and Pays Basque mean a lot to me.”

“The Tour de Suisse is also an objective. Since my second place in Fleche Wallonne last year I realised I had possibilities. I trained even harder for the long distances in the winter because I’m OK for stages in stages races like this but I was struggling when it goes over 200 kms. I worked on this in the winter and I think I’m ready.”

Omega-Pharma-Quickstep’s Peter Velits moved up to 3rd overall with the bonus seconds earned by his podium placing, trailing race leader Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) by 4 seconds. Sylvain Chavanel, who was a protagonist for the final kilometres by pushing the pace and causing the peloton to shatter behind him, is 4th in the GC (4″). Peter Velits: “I’m happy about my legs and my condition, but have a bittersweet feeling with my result. I did a mistake in the final meters and lost my position in the sprint. I couldn’t contest the win because of this. But OK, overall I am happy with my condition and my position in the GC. I will try and fight for the position tomorrow, along with Chavanel.”

Sylvain Chavanel: “Today I had really good legs. I’m happy about my race so far. Today I tried, but when I attacked there was headwind. So I decided to not really go deep. At the sprint I was a little bit too far, but it’s OK for the moment. The gaps between the riders at the top of the GC are really close. Tomorrow there will be another difficult stage, but I think the classification will be determined on the last TT at Col d’Eze.”

Stage 4
1 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE 04h 55′ 41”
2 IGLINSKIY Maxim ASTANA PRO TEAM
3 VELITS Peter OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
4 GASPAROTTO Enrico ASTANA PRO TEAM
5 ULISSI Diego LAMPRE – MERIDA
6 TALANSKY Andrew GARMIN – SHARP
7 BARDET Romain AG2R LA MONDIALE
8 KEUKELEIRE Jens ORICA GREENEDGE
9 KLÖDEN Andréas RADIOSHACK LEOPARD
10 FLORENCIO CABRE Xavier KATUSHA TEAM
11 JEANNESSON Arnold FDJ
12 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM
13 KELDERMAN Wilco BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM
14 LOSADA ALGUACIL Alberto KATUSHA TEAM
15 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF
16 GRIVKO Andriy ASTANA PRO TEAM
17 PERAUD Jean-Christophe AG2R LA MONDIALE
18 CHAVANEL Sylvain OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
19 PORTE Richie SKY PROCYCLING
20 SORENSEN Nicki TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF
21 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI
22 VORGANOV Eduard KATUSHA TEAM
23 WESTRA Lieuwe VACANSOLEIL-DCM
24 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA TEAM
25 MENCHOV Denis KATUSHA TEAM
26 BOUET Maxime AG2R LA MONDIALE
27 MOINARD Amaël BMC RACING TEAM
28 DE WEERT Kevin OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
29 DE CLERCQ Bart LOTTO-BELISOL
30 MONFORT Maxime RADIOSHACK LEOPARD
31 GESINK Robert BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM
32 LÖVKVIST Thomas IAM CYCLING
33 KISERLOVSKI Robert RADIOSHACK LEOPARD
34 NAVARRO Daniel COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
35 TAARAMAE Rein COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
36 COPPEL Jérôme COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
37 SCARPONI Michele LAMPRE – MERIDA
38 MALACARNE Davide TEAM EUROPCAR + 00′ 55”
39 RATTO Daniele CANNONDALE + 01′ 58”
40 GILBERT Philippe BMC RACING TEAM
41 MATTHEWS Michael ORICA GREENEDGE
42 NERZ Dominik BMC RACING TEAM + 02′ 00”
43 LOPEZ GARCIA David SKY PROCYCLING
44 DE GREEF Francis LOTTO-BELISOL
45 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM
46 VANDENBERGH Stijn OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
47 PINEAU Jérôme OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
48 HAUSSLER Heinrich IAM CYCLING
49 SILIN Egor ASTANA PRO TEAM
50 HUPOND Thierry TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO
51 HIVERT Jonathan SOJASUN
52 ASTARLOZA Mikel EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI
53 LE MEVEL Christophe COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
54 MATE MARDONES Luis Angel COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
55 TROFIMOV Yury KATUSHA TEAM
56 NIEVE ITURRALDE Mikel EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI
57 ELMIGER Martin IAM CYCLING
58 DENIFL Stephan IAM CYCLING
59 FRANK Mathias BMC RACING TEAM
60 GALLOPIN Tony RADIOSHACK LEOPARD
61 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Ion EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI
62 SANTAROMITA Ivan BMC RACING TEAM
63 JEROME Vincent TEAM EUROPCAR
64 VOECKLER Thomas TEAM EUROPCAR
65 BASSO Ivan CANNONDALE
66 ADUPONT Hubert AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04′ 57”
67 DUMOULIN Samuel AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04′ 57”
68 ROJAS Jose Joaquin MOVISTAR TEAM + 06′ 29”
69 GARCIA ECHEGUIBEL Egoitz COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
70 LONGO BORGHINI Paolo CANNONDALE
71 MEERSMAN Gianni OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
72 HAEDO Lucas Sebastian CANNONDALE
73 PETROV Evgeni TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF
74 BONNAFOND Guillaume AG2R LA MONDIALE
75 TSCHOPP Johann IAM CYCLING
76 BARGUIL WARREN TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO
77 TURGOT Sébastien TEAM EUROPCAR + 06′ 49”
78 BOOKWALTER Brent BMC RACING TEAM + 08′ 26”
79 DE GENDT Thomas VACANSOLEIL-DCM
80 LINDEMAN Bert Jan VACANSOLEIL-DCM
81 COOKE Baden ORICA GREENEDGE
82 TANNER David BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM
83 VUILLERMOZ Alexis SOJASUN
84 PETACCHI Alessandro LAMPRE – MERIDA
85 OFFREDO Yoann FDJ
86 DURASEK Kristijan LAMPRE – MERIDA
87 LARSSON Gustav IAM CYCLING
88 LEUKEMANS Bjorn VACANSOLEIL-DCM
89 BELLEMAKERS Dirk LOTTO-BELISOL
90 OSS Daniel BMC RACING TEAM
91 WILLEMS Frederik LOTTO-BELISOL
92 VANENDERT DENNIS LOTTO-BELISOL
93 KRUIJSWIJK Steven BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM
94 BEPPU Fumiyuki ORICA GREENEDGE
95 PEREZ MORENO Ruben EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI
96 IRIZAR Markel RADIOSHACK LEOPARD
97 MAES Nikolas OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
98 SMUKULIS Gatis KATUSHA TEAM
99 RAST Gregory RADIOSHACK LEOPARD
100 DIDIER Laurent RADIOSHACK LEOPARD
101 WEGMANN Fabian GARMIN – SHARP
102 VOIGT Jens RADIOSHACK LEOPARD
103 EL FARES Julien SOJASUN
104 PAURIOL Rémi SOJASUN
105 BOZIC Borut ASTANA PRO TEAM
106 SICARD Romain EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI
107 TIERNAN LOCKE Jonathan SKY PROCYCLING
108 SIUTSOV Kanstantsin SKY PROCYCLING
109 KIRYIENKA Vasili SKY PROCYCLING
110 BAK Lars Ytting LOTTO-BELISOL
111 BRESCHEL Matti TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF
112 MORENO Javier MOVISTAR TEAM
113 MORKOV Michael TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF
114 PLAZA MOLINA Ruben MOVISTAR TEAM
115 HERRADA LOPEZ Jesus MOVISTAR TEAM
116 DE MARCHI Alessandro CANNONDALE
117 ZEITS Andrey ASTANA PRO TEAM + 12′ 36”
118 DE BACKER Bert TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO
119 CATTANEO Mattia LAMPRE – MERIDA
120 VEELERS Tom TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO
121 CURVERS Roy TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO
122 BAUER Jack GARMIN – SHARP
123 SIMON Julien SOJASUN
124 BILLE Gaëtan LOTTO-BELISOL
125 SOUPE GEOFFREY FDJ
126 FEILLU Romain VACANSOLEIL-DCM
127 DEBUSSCHERE Jens LOTTO-BELISOL
128 HINAULT Sébastien IAM CYCLING
129 HUGUET Yann TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO
130 ERVITI Imanol MOVISTAR TEAM
131 ZANDIO Xabier SKY PROCYCLING
132 MORI Manuele LAMPRE – MERIDA
133 VEUCHELEN Frederik VACANSOLEIL-DCM
134 BOONEN Tom OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP
135 KEIZER Martijn VACANSOLEIL-DCM
136 DA DALTO Mauro CANNONDALE
137 BANDIERA Marco IAM CYCLING
138 VIVIANI Elia CANNONDALE
139 CHRISTENSEN Mads TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF
140 GERRANS Simon ORICA GREENEDGE
141 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas SOJASUN
142 VERDUGO Gorka EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI
143 TJALLINGII Maarten BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM
144 KITTEL Marcel TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO
145 ZINGLE Romain COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
146 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA TEAM
147 STAMSNIJDER Tom TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO
148 RENSHAW Mark BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM
149 LEMOINE Cyril SOJASUN
150 TALABARDON Yannick SOJASUN
151 FLENS Rick BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM
152 SUTHERLAND Rory TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF
153 LEMARCHAND Romain COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
154 HUTAROVICH Yauheni AG2R LA MONDIALE
155 MINARD Sébastien AG2R LA MONDIALE
156 LUND Anders TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF
157 PATE Danny SKY PROCYCLING
158 GAUDIN Damien TEAM EUROPCAR
159 VAN SUMMEREN Johan GARMIN – SHARP
160 HOWES Alex GARMIN – SHARP
161 BOSWELL Ian SKY PROCYCLING
162 KING Edward CANNONDALE
163 MILLAR David GARMIN – SHARP
164 BONNET William FDJ
165 ROY Jérémy FDJ
166 COUSIN Jérome TEAM EUROPCAR
167 HOWARD Leigh ORICA GREENEDGE
168 CLARKE Simon ORICA GREENEDGE
169 BOECKMANS Kris VACANSOLEIL-DCM
170 PALINI Andrea Francesco LAMPRE – MERIDA + 15′ 09”
171 KLIER Andreas GARMIN – SHARP + 22′ 57”

OVERALL
1 TALANSKY Andrew GARMIN – SHARP 19h 35′ 17”
2 GRIVKO Andriy ASTANA PRO TEAM + 00′ 03”
3 VELITS Peter OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP + 00′ 04”
4 CHAVANEL Sylvain OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP + 00′ 04”
5 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI + 00′ 05”
6 WESTRA Lieuwe VACANSOLEIL-DCM + 00′ 06”
7 PORTE Richie SKY PROCYCLING + 00′ 07”
8 IGLINSKIY Maxim ASTANA PRO TEAM + 00′ 13”
9 PERAUD Jean-Christophe AG2R LA MONDIALE + 00′ 13”
10 DE CLERCQ Bart LOTTO-BELISOL + 00′ 15”
11 GASPAROTTO Enrico ASTANA PRO TEAM + 00′ 15”
12 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 16”
13 KISERLOVSKI Robert RADIOSHACK LEOPARD + 00′ 16”
14 LOSADA ALGUACIL Alberto KATUSHA TEAM + 00′ 16”
15 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF + 00′ 17”
16 KLÖDEN Andréas RADIOSHACK LEOPARD + 00′ 17”
17 SPILAK Simon KATUSHA TEAM + 00′ 17”
18 JEANNESSON Arnold FDJ + 00′ 18”
19 ULISSI Diego LAMPRE – MERIDA + 00′ 18”
20 SCARPONI Michele LAMPRE – MERIDA + 00′ 18”
21 LÖVKVIST Thomas IAM CYCLING + 00′ 19”
22 NAVARRO Daniel COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS + 00′ 26”
23 MALACARNE Davide TEAM EUROPCAR + 00′ 58”
24 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 01′ 01”
25 KELDERMAN Wilco BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM + 01′ 05”

 

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