Paris-Nice: Contador Claims Tough Mountain Win

No Comments | March 15th, 2007 | Trackback

The road really turned its nose upwards today, and after a long breakaway was caught the big teams worked hard to keep their riders in contention. In the final kilometers when the slope kicked up yet again, Discovery’s Alberto Contador and Gerolsteiner’s Davide Rebellin were the only ones to make it look relatively easy. If the finish had been flat for even another ten feet, Rebellin probably would have come around Contador in the end - but as it was, the young Spaniard was able to save victory for himself.

The top ten finishers today:
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery Channel
2 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 0.02
3 David López García (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.12
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto
5 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 0.17
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 0.28
7 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0.33
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel
9 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux
10 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 0.40

The GC changes yet again today, with all the guys getting shelled on the climbs - Rebellin is in the yellow jersey and Contador is only six seconds behind him in second place. It could be an interesting couple of days yet to see whether Discovery can get that time back.

Daniele Bennati keeps the green jersey, and Heinrich Haussler keeps the polka dots. This is where the CyclingNews report will be when they’re done typing furiously.