Two-time defending champion Alexandre Vinokourov dedicated his win in the 215km fifth stage of Paris-Nice to his friend Andrei Kivilev who was killed in last year's event.

"It's fantastic. I wanted to win for him," said the 30-year-old Kazakh rider of the stage he was determined to win in memory of compatriot Kivilev, who died after a fall on March 11, 2003.

Winner of the last two editions of Paris-Nice, Vinokourov missed a key break on Monday and now sits more than five minutes down in the overall standings. But on Thursday, Vinokourov managed to join a key CSC-driven break that resembled Monday’s decisive move.

"Vino'" arrived at the finish alone, just four seconds ahead of second-placed German CSC rider Jörg Jaksche who holds the overall race lead. Jaksche finished just ahead of his teammate Michele Bartoli, who edged Davide Rebellin for third, denying the Gerolsteiner rider any shot at time bonuses at the finish. Rebellin remains in second place in the overall standings, 10 seconds behind Jaksche.

Aided by the Mistral, the cold northerly wind of southern France, the CSC team of Jaksche gained the edge in the Rhone valley with his two leading rivals Frank Vandenbroucke of Belgium and Australian Michael Rogers losing 25 seconds to the German.

Photo: Graham Watson

The day started under cold conditions, only slightly better than those that forced the cancellation of Wednesday's fourth stage.

The stage was marked by the early breakaway of Unai Etxebarria, Dariusz Baranowski and Aitor Osa at the 15km mark and the trio of Spanish team riders built up a seven minute advantage before being caught 28km from Rasteau.

Osa picked up the mountain classification points atop the Category 3 Côte de Prévenchères, reaching the top ahead of Baranowski and Extebarria. The three breakaway companions built their maximum gap on the peloton atop the Cat. 2 Col du Mas de l’Ayre, a full 6:55 ahead of the field.

It was at that point that the Quick Step and Crédit Agricole teams took up the chase. Jaksche’s CSC team joined and the trio's lead was cut by more than three minutes over the course of just 10km.

Extebarria was the first to be picked up (km 188), but the other two were soon swept up and CSC launched an attack, again, timing a key move right as the course turned, creating a crosswind.

On narrow roads, the peloton broke up into three main groups. And, as on Monday, CSC had its riders right where they needed to be, Of the ten men in the lead group, six were clad in the CSC kit: Jaksche, American Bobby Julich, Jacob Piil, Jens Voigt, Michele Bartoli and Frank Schleck. There, too, were Rebellin, Vinoukourov, Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com) and American George Hincapie (U.S. Postal).

Rebellin, chasing Voigt in the sprinter classification, was in the group and won the points -- and key bonus seconds -- in play at the second intermediate sprint, in front of Voigt and Jaksche, twelve kilometers from the finish.

Just 8km from the finish, Vinokourov launched a quick charge off the front. Jaksche tried to follow, but eased off when he saw that Rebellin was on his wheel.

Vinokourov was then on his own.

“I absolutely wanted to win a stage here for Andrei,” Vinokourov said. “Coming to the finish, I knew that today was the occasion because one never knows how things can turn out over the next few days. Those last kilometers were very hard for me because I am not yet in my best form. This year, I am focusing my program on the Tour, the Olympics and maybe the world’s, so I didn’t come to Paris-Nice thinking I would win (the overall) again, but I did want to win to honor Andrei.”

Kivilev died during Paris-Nice last year when he fell without warning on flat roads while he was reaching into his back pocket. His death from serious brain injury prompted the UCI to impose a mandatory helmet rule for all professionals.

Vinokourov held off his pursuers to finish just four seconds ahead of the chase group, led by Jaksche.

The German CSC rider now holds a 10-second advantage over Rebellin in the overall standings with difficult stages slated the next three days. Jaksche said he and his team are aware of Rebellin’s potential, but are up to the task of defending the jersey.

Jaksche's had a good week.

Photo: Graham Watson

“Today and Monday are both good reminders of the importance of staying alert,” Jaksche said. “Davide, too, has been there both times. He’s ridden very well, but it’s pretty evident that we have a very strong team here."

Rebellin said he still rates his own chances as quite good.

“It was a big thing to see Vandenbroucke lose time, today,” he said. “I am now the biggest threat to CSC and Jaksche has a large team around him. It will be hard but there are still three days left here, no?"