Race leader Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) won the sixth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, a 185km race from Monte San Pietrangeli to Torre San Patrizio.Bettini was awarded the stage win after a photo-finish, claiming precious bonus seconds at the finish ahead of Tuesday's final stage over 162km around Benedetto Del Tronto.

He now has an seven-second lead over Freire, the Rabobank rider whom the diminutive Italian will have to keep a close eye on Tuesday.

Monday's stage came to life after 60km of racing shortly after Italian veteran Mario Cipollini had called it a day, climbing into the team car with a view to resting up ahead of the Milan-San Remo World Cup opener this weekend.

Five riders, including Frenchman Mederic Clain (Cofidis), Spain's Carlos Barredo (Liberty-Seguras), Dutchman Karsten Kroon (Rabobank), Swiss Gregory Rast (Phonak), and Italian Michele Gobbi (Colpak-De Nardi) attacked and went on to build a lead of over four minutes.

However a Quick Step-led peloton gave chase and caught the escapees less than five kilometers from the finish.

Stefano Zanini, did a good job in leading out his teammate, Bettini, before the World Cup champion went for the finish line with 400 meters to ride, holding off Freire - who made a late but futile surge - by a whisker.

"It was a mistake to raise my arms (in triumph) four meters from the finish and I had to wait for the photo finish before I felt comfortable," said Bettini.

Tirreno-Adriatico, Italy's first major stage race of the season, is atraditional warm-up for Sunday's World Cup opener, Milan San-Remo.
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Jaksche jubilant following Paris-Nice triumph
German rider Jörg Jaksche said his Paris-Nice victory was like “a dream come true.”

“It’s been an amazing week, where my team mates have backed me all the way. We knew we were up against some of the world’s greatest riders, which makes the victory all the sweeter,” Jaksche said on the team’s web page. “ I owe Bjarne (Riis) a big thanks that he in such a short time, has managed to change me from a good helper, to someone who can win races on my own.”

Team CSC rocked Paris-Nice, putting five riders in the top 11 and winning the team classification as well. American Bobby Julich finished third overall.

“It's been a fantastic week for the whole team,” Riis said. “Everyone has worked together well and to win this race in such a way, takes both team spirit and discipline. We are now harvesting the fruits of our hard work during the winter break and pre season, and all our riders have a hand in this victory.”

Zabel still leads UCI points
Germany's Jörg Jaksche has reaped the benefits of two recent wins early in the season by hitting the top 50 in the UCI’s world rankings, released Monday.

The 27-year-old CSC rider won Paris-Nice on Sunday, a month after his victory in the Tour of the Mediterranean to make a leap of 54 places to number 50.

Germany's Erik Zabel, (T-Mobile), still leads the rankings while reigning World Cup champion Paolo Bettini of Italy is in second place.

Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov, of T-Mobile, dropped two places to eighth despite him winning three stages in Paris-Nice while Russian climber Denis Menchov, of the Baleares team, moved 37 places to 66th after his stage win.

UCI points standings, as of Sunday March 14, 2004
1. Erik Zabel (G), 2134 pts
2. Paolo Bettini (I), 2077
3. Alessandro Petacchi (I), 1899
4. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), 1807
5. Gilberto Simoni (I), 1643
6. Davide Rebellin (I), 1601
7. Lance Armstrong (USA), 1591
8. Alexandre Vinokourov (KZK), 1445
9. Iban Mayo (Sp), 1425
10. Michael Boogerd (Nl), 1421
11. Tyler Hamilton (USA), 1296
12. Francesco Casagrande (I), 1277
13. Jan Ullrich (G), 1258
14. Danilo Di Luca (I), 1239
15. Isidro Nozal (Sp), 1160
16. Mirko Celestino (I), 1150
17. Peter Van Petegem (B), 1138
18. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), 1121
19. Dario Frigo (I), 1082
20. Robbie McEwen (AUS), 1080
21. Baden Cooke (AUS), 1044
22. David Millar (GBR), 1027
23. Stefano Garzelli (I), 1019
24. Jens Voigt (G), 992
25. Igor Astarloa (Sp), 980
26. Laurent Brochard (F), 973