THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Steegmans wins in war of attrition
Quick Step's big Belgian scores another win at Paris-Nice
Crashes and nasty weather are turning the 66th Paris-Nice into a war of attrition as Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) sprinted to his second straight win Tuesday in an exciting, attack-riddled 201km soggy march.
The big Belgian didn’t want to wait for the bunch and made easy work of a four-up sprint on a slight rise into Belleville, three seconds ahead of a 44-rider chase group that was missing several GC contenders, among them Fränk Schleck (CSC – 76th at 2:56) and Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi – 53rd at 1:15) and José Angel Gómez Marchante (Saunier Duval – abandon).
“I saw (Philippe) Gilbert attack and I realized I couldn’t wait for the sprint because he’s very dangerous if you let him go,” said a happy Steegmans. “It’s true I like these kind of slightly rising finishes. I’m probably the heaviest rider who likes the hills.”
Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) finished second in the sprint ahead of Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) and Michael Albasini (Liquigas) to conserve the race leader’s yellow jersey.
The Norwegian prologue winner went on a daring solo flier on the foggy, cold descent off the day’s fourth and final climb with 20km to go, but hitched his wheel on a three-man counter-attack when he bonked with about 4km to go.
“It was a long and cold day with a lot of rain. I followed an attack on the descent and then I found myself alone,” said Hushovd, who now leads Steegmans by three seconds. “Then I understood I could not stay away alone. Then there were four of us and the best man won. Today was tough enough; tomorrow I’ll be happy just to make it to the finish.”
The stage was marked by cold temperatures and persistent rain, though wind conditions improved greatly from Monday’s tempest that forced organizers to halve the stage.
A major crash with about 60km to go KO’d the hopes for several riders, including Schleck and 2005 winner Bobby Julich. Seven out of eight Team CSC riders either crashed or were tangled up in the pileup.
“Our entire team crashed except (Karsten) Kroon. It’s very bad for us,” said Team CSC sport director Kim Andersen. “We’ve dominated this race before, maybe it’s payback now for us. Fränk is hurt and he’s lost too much time. Now we will think about stage wins.”
American Craig Lewis (High Road) crashed in a second spill about 5km later and missed out on the first group to finish 55th at 2:04 back.
“I was feeling good today, but when you crash like that, it kind of takes the fight out of you,” said Lewis, who was drenched and shivering at the line. “The stage was really hard. It was very cold and everyone was fighting for position.”
An epic solo breakaway by local rider Thierry Hupond (Skil-Shimano) nearly worked when the sprinters’ teams almost waited too long to chase after he built up a 15-minute lead.
Quick Step led the chase and attacking riders caught him just 150 meters short of the last of four rated climbs pocking the day’s lumpy profile. The effort, although ultimately unsuccessful, easily earned the Frenchman the climber’s jersey.
Trent Lowe earned Slipstream-Chipotle some quality podium time after taking the best young rider’s jersey away from Andriy Grivko (Milram), who also crashed and finished 74th at 2:56 back.
“I didn’t even know there was a crash until later. I don’t know if (Grivko) crashed or what happened to him. It wouldn’t be nice to take the jersey because he crashed, but Paris-Nice is an important race and it’s nice to be in the jersey,” Lowe said after the podium ceremony. “It was brutal out there. It’s not easy for me to fight these winds. I’ve been chasing the summer between Australia and Europe the past five years. My team really helped me out a lot.”
David Millar (Slipstream-Chipotle) crashed for the second day in a row, going down in the same spill that derailed the Team CSC train, but he safely rejoined the front group along with Lowe and teammate Christian Vande Velde.
“David’s mad and now he’s got bruises on both hips,” said Slipstream-Chipotle manager Jonathan Vaughters. “These stages have been very hard, but we’re satisfied because we have both of our GC guys (Lowe and Millar) still in position. Let’s see if we can get through tomorrow and get to the base of the Ventoux with options.”
Long break home
The 158 remaining riders woke up Tuesday morning to find less extreme conditions after the winter tempest that forced organizers to shorten Monday’s stage had blown through, leaving behind milder temperatures in the 50s, light rain and light westerly breezes.
Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) abandoned in Monday’s stage and 2006 Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne), who already lost 13 minutes Monday, didn’t take the start after coming down with symptoms of bronchitis.
Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) was feeling a little worse from wear and tear after crashing Monday and losing more than two minutes to the front group, but Silence-Lotto sport director Hendrik Redant said the 2007 Tour runner-up would still try to win a stage.
“Cadel crashed in a bad moment (Monday), just when the echelons were forming. It took a big effort for him to get back and that cost him in the final stages of the race. Losing that much time in GC makes it complicated, even for Cadel on Ventoux!” Rendant said before the start of the stage. “(Yaroslav) Popovych just made it to the front group in the final 8km when he bridged across. So now we will ride for him. He’s also feeling good.”
Evans’ problems continued Tuesday. He got tangled up in a crash with about 60km to go when it appeared a rider in the middle of the pack slipped on a white painted traffic line on the road and sent a dozen or more riders skittering to the ground. He eventually chased back on to the main pack going into the day’s final climbs along with Popovych, who now emerges as one of the favorites.
It was young Hupond who hogged all the TV time. The 23-year-old from Decines, a small village not too far from the finish, uncorked an attack typical for a “regional,” a local rider who wants to make a show for family and friends.
The Ski-Shimano rider, perhaps extra motivated after the team missed out on the decisive lead group in Monday’s stage, made it tough for the peloton. A French junior time trial champ, he quickly built up a huge lead of more than 14 minutes.
He gobbled up the points in the opening three of the day’s rated climbs to take over the climber’s jersey and still held a five-minute lead at the base of the day’s final Cat. 2 Col du Fut d’Avenas with 25km to go, but soon started pedaling squares.
Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) attacked over the top of the Cat. 3 Col de Crie and made a daring bid for the stage and race leader’s jersey. Starting the day 15th at 26 seconds back, the Spanish rider opened up nearly a minute on the 7km climb, but Quick Step upped the pace in another day that looked more spring classics than the Race to the Sun.
Just when Flecha’s chances looked slim, Benat Intxausti (Saunier Duval) peeled out of the pack to bridge up, but the main pack never lost sight of them. Hupond was dying on the final ramps of the climb and was reeled in just 150 meters short of the Avenas summit.
From there, it was absolute treacherous descent through fog down to the final charge to the line in Belleville. It was none other than Hushovd leading the way until Steegmans raised his big, burly head.
Race Notes
● Stage winner: Gert Steegmans (Quick Step), wins second stage in a row
● Race leader: Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole), retains lead at 3sec ahead of Steegmans.
● Best climber: Thierry Hupond (Skil-Shimano).
● Points: Steegmans leads Hushovd, 69-51
● Best young rider: Trent Lowe (Slipstream-Chipotle)
● Best team: Quick Step
● Peloton: 154 riders remain – DNS: Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne); DNF: Dario Cioni (Silence-Lotto), Benat Albizuri (Euskaltel-Euskadi), José Angel Gómez Marchante and Arkaitz Duran (both Saunier Duval)
● Wednesday’s stage: The 66th edition of Paris-Nice continues Wednesday with the 165.5km third stage from Fleurie to Saint-Etienne. The difficult stage will further reduce the list of would-be winners with a grueling, five-climb course that includes the Cat. 1 Col de la Croix de Chaubouret some 18.5km from the finish.
To see how the race unfolded, click here for our live coverage.
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