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RACE REPORTS: PARIS-NICE STAGE 6: CONTADOR IN COMMAND
Road Bike Action & AFP
March 13, 2009
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Contador's Astana team set him up perfectly for his race winning attack
(Photo: Roberto Bettini)
Spain's Alberto Contador, riding for the Astana team, won the sixth stage of Paris-Nice cycling race on Friday to take the leader's yellow jersey with two day's racing left. Contador, winner of the 2007 Tour de France and last year's Tour of Italy and Tour of Spain, finished almost a minute ahead of Frank Schleck, from the Saxo Bank team, at the finish at an altitude of 1,600-meters.
An eight-rider breakaway went away soon after the start of the stage and split the race apart, but Contador with the help of his Astana team clawed his way back into the reckoning. After a first attack by German Jens Voigt, Contador managed to break free with seven kilometers remaining and keep up his pace for his second stage win after his time trial victory on the first day.
Overnight yellow jersey wearer Sylvain Chavanel suffered in the final run-in and was 1min 50sec off Contador's pace. In the overall standings, Contador now stands 1:13 ahead of compatriot Luis Leon Sanchez, with Chavanel a further 11-seconds adrift. Earlier in the day French Bougyues Telecom rider Thomas Voeckler suffered a broken collarbone in a fall shortly after the start of the stage at Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux. Voeckler was taken immediately to a hospital in Orange where he underwent surgery. The former yellow jersey holder on the Tour de France in 2004 was standing 16th in the overall Paris-Nice standings after finishing second in Thursday's fifth stage.
Saturday sees the peloton racing a 191km seventh stage from Manosque to Fayence.
67th Paris-Nice, March 8-15, 2009
Stage 6, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to La Montagne de Lure: 182.5 km
March 13, 2009
1. Alberto Contador (SPA) Astana 4.47.46 (38.05 km/h)
2. Fränk Schleck (LUX) Team Saxo Bank at 58sec
3. Luis-Leon Sanchez (SPA) Caisse d'Epargne s.t.
4. Cadel Evans (AUS) Silence-Lotto at 1.27
5. David Moncoutié (FRA) Cofidis s.t.
6. Jens Voigt (GER) Team Saxo Bank at 1.29
7. Samuel Sanchez (SPA) Euskaltel - Euskadi at 1.31
8. Jonathan Hivert (FRA) Skil-Shimano at 1.34
9. Christophe Moreau (FRA) Agritubel at 1.44
10. Chris Sørensen (DEN) Team Saxo Bank at 1.46
General Classification After Stage 6
1. Alberto Contador (SPA) Astana 23.21.08
2. Luis-Leon Sanchez (SPA) Caisse d'Epargne at 1.13
3. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA) Quick Step at 1.24
4. Fränk Schleck (LUX) Team Saxo Bank at 1.38
5. Kevin Seeldrayers (BEL) Quick Step at 2.01
6. Jens Voigt (GER) Team Saxo Bank at 2.06
7. Samuel Sanchez (SPA) Euskaltel - Euskadi at 2.14
8. Jonathan Hivert (FRA) Skil-Shimano at 2.29
9. Antonio Colom (SPA) Team Katusha at 2.35
10. Yury Trofimov (RUS) BBox Bouygues Telecom at 3.09
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