There were plenty of reasons for Floyd Landis to smile Thursday after enjoying his first full day in the yellow jersey in the 193km fourth stage at Paris-Nice.

Landis holds to his nine-second lead

Photo: Graham Watson

The weather had improved nicely, Tom Boonen sprinted to his third win in four days and Landis’s Phonak team didn’t have to work too hard when Quick Step-Innergetic took control late to reel in a breakaway to set up the mass gallop.

"Today was no problem at all," Landis said as he strode onto the podium to don the race leader’s yellow jersey. "It’s treating me good."

Southward, under the trees

Photo: Graham Watson

There were no major shake-ups in the overall standings, with Landis retaining his nine-second gap to Vila and 1:13 to third-place Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel).

The "Race to the Sun" lived up to its name and the peloton’s spirits seemed to rise as the course pushed south from St. Etienne to Rasteau toward milder weather after a cold and blustery start to the 64th Paris-Nice.

Marichal had a dig, too

Photo: Graham Watson

Landis said he felt fresh in the saddle despite his hard effort in Wednesday’s decisive third stage, when he dropped everyone in the peloton except eventual stage winner Patxi Vila (Lampre) to grab the yellow jersey.

"Normally the recovery is better in the early season," said Landis, after finishing 61st safely within the main pack. "I’m not so tired now as I am later."

Landis will need his reserves with the hardest stages of this year’s Paris-Nice still on tap.

Friday’s 201.5km fifth stage – with two Cat. 1 climbs from Avignon to Digne-les-Bains, with the Col du Corobin (7.8km at 6.7 percent) at 16.5km to go – is similar to Wednesday’s stage into St. Etienne, at least in the sense that the final hard climb comes in the last 20km.

Saturday’s 179km sixth stage is a potentially explosive day with eight rated climbs from Digne-les-Bains across the Alpes Maritimes to the Cote d’Azur at Cannes. The day’s final climb is the Cat. 2 Col du Tanneron (5.8km at 5.3 percent) with 20km to go before a flat charge into Cannes.

Sunday’s 135km finale features four climbs, three of them Cat. 1s. The course pushes inland from Nice to climb the Cat. 2 Cote de Duranus at 25.5km before the long climb up the Cat. 1 Col de la Porte (13.2km at 4.8 percent).

It’s the final two climbs – the Cat. 1 La Turbie and the Cat. 1 Col d’Eze – that could provide the most sparks before the fast descent to the finish line in Nice.

Landis concedes that the final three days won’t be easy, and he refuses to buy into the growing sentiment that he’s already all but won the race.

"Every day is difficult from now on, but Saturday looks like the most difficult," he said.

Still, many believe Paris-Nice is Landis’s to lose. The American is showing fine early season form with his win in last month’s Amgen Tour of California and will have the motivation to suffer in the mountainous climax.

"I think he has a good chance of holding on," seven-time Paris-Nice winner Sean Kelly told VeloNews. "The way he’s riding, I don’t believe anyone can stay with him on the climbs. He shouldn’t have any difficulty looking out for himself."

Kelly said the Phonak team will be up for the challenge of supporting Landis, especially with teammate Axel Merckx riding well Wednesday to move into 13th overall at 1:47 back.

"Because there aren’t any mountaintop finishes, I think it will be actually easier to control," Kelly said. "What they have to watch out for are riders slipping away early in the stages."

There was a flurry of attacks early in Thursday’s stage and a race stoppage due to a student demonstration before the day’s main move stuck when Eric Leblacher (FDJeux) and Bas Giling (T-Mobile) drove away at 85km.

The gap grew to 5:25 at 113km, prompting Phonak and Lampre to coordinate a chase to limit the bleeding. When the lead dropped to below three minutes, Quick Step took over to set up their man Boonen.

The Belgian world champ made another impressive display on a slightly rising finish to score the Paris-Nice hat-trick and relegated Aussie sprinter Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros) to second place for the third time.

Third-place finisher Danilo Napolitano (Lampre) was relegated to last in the front group after dangerous sprinting.