Paris-Nice: Pellizotti Wins Stage 2, Takes Yellow Jersey

By Jessica | Permalink |

No Comments | March 13th, 2007 | Trackback

franco I felt a bit like a spoiled child this morning - having done my share of bellyaching about whether Paris-Nice would happen at all, I was half-asleep on the sofa (have I mentioned how much I hate this whole “spring forward” baloney?) thinking, “Oh, great. Another breakaway stage that comes together at the end in a sprint finish. Yawn.” First of all, I’m very thankful the race is happening, and I’m also thankful I woke up enough at the end, because it was a pretty interesting final kilometer.

There was a four-man breakaway group when I tuned in that included Thomas Voeckler and Philippe Gilbert, so a pretty decent group. At one point they’d apparently had over six minutes, but the peloton had decided they wanted the gap closed. With just a few km to go, the break was down to two people, and Voeckler was the final man caught inside the final kilometer. (That little Frenchman is a joy to watch ride, I tell you. I love that guy’s heart.)

The sprinters’ teams, Lampre and Quick-Step, had been working to bring the break back, presumably so their fast men could have a shot at a sprint finish. What they didn’t count on was that the little climb in the final two km would completely thrash them to bits… Coming into the last kilometer, the pack had split and the front group, containing less than 30 guys, seemed to be going in slow motion compared to their earlier pace. In the end, Franco Pellizotti managed to leap clear of the peloton to take the stage victory ahead of countrymen Daniele Bennati and Luca Paolini.

Top ten on the day:
1. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas
2. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, at 0:02
3. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas, same time
4. William Bonnet (F), Crédit Agricole, s.t.
5. Joaquim Rodriguez (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, s.t.
6. Tomas Vaitkus (Lit), Discovery Channel, s.t.
7. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, s.t.
8. Jérôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
9. Patrick Calcagni (Swi), Liquigas, 00:02
10. Thomas Voeckler (F), Bouygues Telecom, s.t.

With today’s win, Pellizotti takes over the lead on GC as well:

1. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas
2. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, at 0:06
3. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, s.t.
4. Roman Kreuzinger (Cz), Liquigas, at 0:07
5. Sébastien Joly (F), Française des Jeux, at 0:08
6. Sanchez Luis-Leon (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, s.t.
7. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 0:10
8. Thomas Voeckler (F), Bouygues Telecom, at 0:11
9. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, at 0:13
10. Jérôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, at 0:14

Bennati retains the green jersey, but there’s a new man wearing polka dots tonight. He was one of the riders in the four-man break, and he’s on Team Cofidis, and I think he’s French. What I can’t remember is his damned name. When the news sites have more info, I’ll be back with it. For now, here’s the VeloNews coverage.

UPDATE: The mountain jersey winner after stage two was Stéphane Augé.

Photo by Graham Watson