THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Stage 1: Nazon wins at Paris-Nice, Millar stays in yellow
It was expected to be a showdown between Daniele Bennati and Tom Boonen in the first stage of Paris-Nice, but it was French sprinter Jean-Patrick Nazon who surprised everyone with a long charge to the line in Buzançais on Monday.
Nazon, who’s been all but invisible since winning a pair of Tour de France stages in 2003-04, burst down the left side of the peloton after sniffing out a hole with 200 meters to go.
“It’s been a while since I won something,” admitted the 30-year-old Nazon. “But I felt my confidence growing in the past few days. I took the decision to attack with 200 meters to go. I went for it and I saw nobody coming back at me. I had this stage in mind.”
And Boonen and Bennati? That showdown will have to wait. The Lampre sprinter – fresh off winning three of four sprints against Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) last month at the Tour of Valencia – came through fourth to grab the points jersey while Boonen, complaining of a cold, gave up his sprint with 50 meters to go and finished eighth.
Brilliant spring weather and a pre-race protest marked the start of the first road stage of the Race to the Sun. David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodiro) held onto his yellow jersey, which he won by less than a second in Sunday’s opening prologue, after finishing safely in the bunch.
A four-man breakaway featuring an energetic Romain Feillu (Agritubel) - the U23 silver medalist who stole away with the best climber’s jersey – dominated the stage across the rolling farm country south of Paris.
The Feillu group was reeled in with less than 3km to go after Lampre, Quick Step and Milram snuffed the move to set up the sprint.
A hard left turn that doubled back to the finish with 700 meters to go disrupted many a sprinter's rhythm, but Quick Step was flawless in slipping through. But then it was Nazon who exploded out of the pack to take a long sprint to score the win, the first by a Frenchman since Laurent Jalabert in 2002 to win a stage in Paris-Nice.
Millar relishes yellow
Paris-Nice leader Millar relished his time in the yellow jersey Monday following his dramatic prologue victory Sunday in the outskirts of Paris. The 30-year-old Scot finished less than one second faster than Czech phenom’ Roman Kreuzinger to grab the overall leader’s jersey going into Monday’s 186km stage to Buzançais.
Millar’s victory served as a powerful symbol of hope for cycling as the sport struggles with its image following a string of high-profile doping scandals. Millar, who served a two-year ban until July 2006 after admitting to using the banned blood booster EPO, is now an outspoken proponent of clean racing.
The once-cocky time trial specialist is now using his eloquence to promote a new image for cycling and spoke last week at an anti-doping conference sponsored by the British government.
“I want to be an example to young people,” he said after winning. “I want to talk to them so they know they don't need syringes to win. There is so much work to do in cycling at all levels, and not just getting rid of doping. We have some difficult years ahead of us but these problems need to be sorted out for future generations.”
The long shadow of doping won’t be easy to shake, however. Angry riders were slow out of the gate Monday morning in protest of in the official closure of the Operación Puerto doping investigation that didn’t result in any criminal charges in Spain.
Many categorized the police probe as a witch-hunt and team managers delayed the start of Monday’s stage in protest.
“This symbolic action is explained by the fact that the teams and riders do not expect to forget the Puerto affair and that all the teams have signed the code of conduct,” said a press release by the team’s association. “It asks that the judge in the Puerto case use his power until justice is done.”
Riders also held a moment of silence in honor of Kazakh rider Andrei Kivilev, who died in a crash at Paris-Nice four years ago.
Break in the wind
By the time the peloton finally collectively clicked into its pedals, most were expecting a sprint finish. The rolling stage across the Indre region south of Paris featured only one climb – the relatively easy Category 3 Côte de Saint-Aignan at 100km.
Temperatures were ideal for racing, with many riders able to do without arm or leg warmers, a marked contrast to the past few years when the early stages of Paris-Nice were marred with cold, wind, rain and even snow.
Two years ago, a stage across the Massif Central was canceled due to heavy snow, prompting race organizers to push the route along the western and southern edges of the central highlands this year in an effort to avert the higher altitudes.
Weather forecasters are calling for sunny skies and mild temperatures through the weekend; by then, the peloton will be well into Provence and nearing the Cote d’Azur.
It didn’t take long for the aggression to begin, and by 15km, the first breakaway of the 2007 ProTour season stuck. Leading the charge out of the bunch was last year’s U23 silver medalist Romain Feillu (Agritubel), who hails from the region. Hot on his tail were Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel), Christophe Laurent (Crédit Agricole) and Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis).
The quartet worked well against the sluggish bunch and quickly opened up a 10-minute gap. Saunier Duval put its yellow jackets on the front of the bunch and got some help from Bennati’s Lampre posse to keep the gap hovering at a safe gap of about five minutes for the meat of the stage.
Feillu was determined to make the most of his moment in the sun. The young Frenchman won the points up the Côte de Saint-Aignan to snag the best climber’s jersey.
The stage unfolded perfectly for Saunier Duval, which wanted to keep Millar in the jersey despite the play of time bonuses at the finish line favoring the sprinters.
“We let a breakaway go for these guys to pick the bonuses away from the sprinters and for the sprinters teams to take responsibility of the chase,” sport director Matxin Fernandez told www.letour.fr. “Now Quick Step and Lampre will have to take control for the final part of the stage and I’m confident we’ll succeed in our goal to keep the jersey.”
And that’s exactly what happened. Quick Step and Milram surged to the front in the final 15km to help close down the break. There was a last-ditch effort by Duclos-Lassalle with about 7km to go and another by Feillu with 3km to go, but the peloton ended their adventure shortly thereafter.
There were no major shakeups in the overall standings. Paris-Nice continues Tuesday with the 177km second stage from Vatan to Limoges.
For Millar, it was one more day in yellow. There’s no better soapbox than one perched atop the podium.
[Watch Paris-Nice Video Highlight]
To see how the first stage of this year's "Race to the Sun" developed, simply ClickHere to bring up VeloNews.com's Live Update Window.Results, Stage 1
1. Jean-Patrick Nazon (F), Ag2r Prevoyance
2. Sebastian Siedler (G), Milram
3. Mathew Hayman (Aus), Rabobank
4. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre
5. Vicente Reynes (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne
6. Igor Astarloa (Sp), Milram
7. Murilo Fischer (BRA), Liquigas
8. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic
9. Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus), Astana
10. Jérôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom
Overall
1. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval
2. Roman Kreuzinger (Cz), Liquigas, at 00:01
3. Sanchez Luis-Leon (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 00:02
4. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 00:02
5. Sébastien Joly (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 00:02
6. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, at 00:03
7. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 00:04
8. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, at 00:04
9. Reinbert Wielinga (Nl), Saunier Duval, at 00:04
10. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, at 00:05
