While the prologue in Issy-les-Moulineaux was accompanied by a lovely early spring sun, the sun didn't really come through the clouds in Nice today. Too bad for Paris-Nice, also called the race to the sun!!
At the start of the last stage from Nice to Nice, over a distance of 129,5 kilometre, a difference of only 6 seconds between the first (Davide Rebellin) and second (Alberto Contador) in the individual rankings, promissed some excitement for this last stage. The other cyclists in the top 10 of individual rankings also had very small time differences.
In the last climb Alberto Contador's attack gave him a good lead on Davide Rebellin and with the 10 seconds of bonification for the stage winner, he quickly became virtual yellow jersey.
Alberto Contador at the start of the prologue of Paris-Nice
It was all finally decided in the center of Nice, because at 2 kilometres of the arrival, the distance was reduced to only 17 seconds while Rebellin left the group trying to get back to Contador.
The individual rankings finally are:
- 1- Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel)
- 2- David Lopez-Garcia (Caisse d'Epargne)
- 3- Joaquim Rodriguez (Caisse d'Epargne)
- 4- Samuel Sanchez (Euskatel - Euskadi)
- 5- Alexandre Botcharov (Crédit Agricole)
First French in the rankings is Sébastien JOLY at 01' 36' on the 12th place, first Dutch Joost POSTHUMA at 12' 20' on the 36th place, while the prologue winner David Millar finishes on the 13th place at 01' 46'.
by Thomas Vergouwen
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