Sanchez wins Paris-Nice stage to Sisteron

Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) won the sixth stage of Paris-Nice beating fellow escapee Jens Voigt (RadioShack) in a close-fought sprint. Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda) won the bunch sprint for third, while Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) retained his yellow jersey lead over Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) by six seconds.

Sanchez, a revered breakaway specialist, joined Voigt in a two-man break in the closing kilometres of the stage to Sisteron, having already formed part of the day's earlier break.

With a lead of over a minute heading into the final 10 kilometres the pair pushed on, their distinctive style present: Voigt, eyes forward as he pounded on the pedals while Sanchez, the cannier of the two, carefully watched his opponent as he spun a lighter gear.

As the pair raced through the final kilometre the Spaniard took one final turn before giving way for Voigt to lead out. The German barely flinched under the pressure, only deviating from his line and throwing a glance sideways in an attempt to anticipate Sanchez's inevitable move on the left.

When it came, Voigt was powerless to prevent the Spaniard from coming around, and on the line Sanchez had just enough time to raise his arms in victory before the bunch thundered home 14 seconds later.

Voigt and Sanchez were part of the day's breakaway, which formed when Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil), Voigt and Simon Geschke (Project 1T4i) jumped away on the second climb of the Cote du Pas du Ventoux. They were joined by Mickael Cherel (AG2R), Anthony Geslin (FDJ), and Sanchez, before Daniel Navarro (Saxo Bank) finally made contact.

Earlier, a larger group of 28 riders had freed themselves from the field in a tricky section of crosswinds. Wiggins and most of his closest rivals had made the split but Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was caught out, and as the gap blew out to 40 seconds he was forced to chase.

Once contact had been made and the seven-man group established their lead, the race dynamic changed.

Sanchez, who won Paris-Nice in 2009, started the stage just 3:51 down on Wiggins and so it was up to the Sky team to marshal a chase. And when the lead topped four minutes the British team ventured forward. So far in this race the British team have used and relied on the likes of Omega and Movistar to chase down a number of moves and control the tempo of the field but Sky proved up to the task, reducing the gap to 2 minutes with 30 kilometers to go.

With yellow safe, Sky could now relax, although Wiggins was ever-present on the front during the final climb.

Up the road Voigt could smell blood. After Sanchez set the pace on the early slopes of the Cote des Marquises, Voigt accelerated with purpose and only Cherel and Sanchez could follow. Geslin, Geschke, Navarro and Veuchelen – who had been in yesterday's break – all crumbled and when Cherel lost contact with Voigt's next push the stage was set.

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