Westra prevails on Mende mountain finish

Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) came into Paris-Nice as an outside favourite for the overall win but after a blistering performance on the stage to Mende the Dutchman could yet be Bradley Wiggins's most dangerous rival.

Westra won the queen stage of Paris-Nice, attacking out of a small group of favourites inside the last kilometre of the climb to the finish. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) pushed out Bradley Wiggins (Sky) for second place, six seconds later.

“I felt good in the last hour and the goal was not to lose time on the final climb," Westra said. "But with one kilometer to go Wiggins attacked and he didn’t get away so I decided to attack myself. I took 100 meters on the group and they didn’t catch me, unbelievable!”

"The team did a great job and this win is fantastic. Until Sunday I must try not to lose time and then we will see what happens in the time trial.”

An exhausted Wiggins narrowly held on to his leader's yellow jersey, with Westra moving up to second place, six seconds down thanks to both a ten second time bonus for the stage and the deficit he inflicted by the time Wiggins crossed the line.

If Westra had not sat up with 15 meters to go and freewheeled over the line he would have pulled on yellow but his desire to slow and wave to the cameras allowed Wiggins enough time and space to keep a narrow lead but with three more stages remaining, including the final time trial up the Col d'Èze, Wiggins is far from secure in winning his first stage race since last year's Dauphine Libere.

"It was a case of just time trialling to the summit really and I think that put everyone in the red," Wiggins said on TeamSky.com. "There was only one guy able to attack off that pace so it was a perfect day.

"I think the next two days should be kinder. Hopefully the weather will be warmer, but today was the dangerous day. I think we’ve shown we’re the strongest here so I think it’s going to come down to Sunday barring any crashes and stupid splits tomorrow. So there’s still a bit of concentrating to do but the harder stages are behind us."

The stage was marked by a long break comprised of Simon Clarke (GreenEdge), Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil-DCM), Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar) and David Le Lay (Saur-Sojasun), who broke clear two kilometers into the day. Their gap reached a maximum of 6:50, but three of the escapees were ultimately caught again on the penultimate climb of the day. Veuchelen held out until three kilometers to go, when he was gobbled up on the narrow road of the steep, closing climb in Mende.

It was Movistar, yesterday's most aggressive entourage, which began the serious chase inside the final 50 kilometers. For much of the stage the talk had centred on how much the final climb suited Valverde and his punchy accelerating style. Clearly he felt confident, sending his men to the front to aid BMC's earlier efforts, but on stage 4 he lacked his pre-Puerto kick.

Wiggins, who had not put a foot wrong all week, remained near the front but his task and that of his team was clear: allow the break to gain time, and then allow their rivals to chase. A perfect tactic, perfectly executed and even when Kevin Seeldrayers (Astana) and Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank Cycling Team) gained close to a minute Sky remained relaxed and in check.

Positioning became paramount on the approach to the final climb, as the already splintered peloton traced the summit of the Cote de Chabrits, before descending to the foot of the final climb. Veuchelen, the new leader of the king of the mountains competition, final relented on the lower slopes into but there was no sign of Valverde's expected attack.

Instead it was Sky, who for so long had remained patient, who took up the challenge. Wiggins moved closer to the front, just as his teammate Richie Porte set to work. The Volta ao Algarve winner is clearly enjoying both his form and freedom at Sky and he strung out the remnants of the bunch. Pretender after pretender slipped from the back, Rein Taaramae (Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne), Bauke Mollema (Rabobank Cycling Team), Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Andreas Klöden (RadioShack-Nissan) and Fränk Schleck, all unable to follow.

Ahead, Wiggins, Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma QuickStep) and Tejay Van Gardeneren (BMC) gritted their teeth and when Porte finally swung over with one kilometre to go the pace finally eased. But the truce was momentary.

Wiggins, as race leader, took to the front, but Westra, lying 18 seconds down overnight, attacked. In no time he had a gap as Van Garderen ran out of steam and Valverde could do nothing but follow.

Seeing his lead slip, Wiggins turned on the throttle in the final few hundred meters but in reality his lead partly due to Westra's decision to slow his efforts when approaching the line. Paris-Nice is far from over. It's wide open.

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