De Gendt solos to victory

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Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) soloed to victory on stage 7 of Paris-Nice on a day that saw Levi Leipheimer’s overall challenge unravel on the long descent of the Col de Vence. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) retains the yellow jersey ahead of Sunday’s concluding time trial on the slopes of the Col d’Eze, and his task of sealing overall honours seems rather more straightforward now that Leipheimer is no longer within striking distance.

De Gendt was part of an early break in the company of Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) and the pair quickly established a lead in excess of 12 minutes over a peloton that was more than content to let them to it. On the slopes of the Col de Vence, De Gendt pulled away from the Estonian and went to reach the Promenade des Angalis over six minutes clear, while John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i) led the peloton home all of 9:24 behind.

“Taaramae was an ideal ally. On the Col de Vence he tried to drop me, but I felt so much stronger than him,” De Gendt said. ““At the moment, everyone on the team is in good form. It was a nice stage and a nice finish.”

While De Gendt and Taaramae were locked in their private duel up front, there was scarcely a murmur from the overall contenders on the way up the 9-kilometre climb as Team Sky controlled affairs in support of Wiggins. With 54 largely downhill kilometres then separating the summit of the Col de Vence from the finish, it appeared as though what had already been a low-key stage would simply peter out on the road to Nice.

The script was altered slightly on the way down, however, as Leipheimer fell twice on the descent and surrendered all hopes of a high overall finish. The veteran American first lost ground when he took a tumble as the peloton slowed to tackle a sharp left hand bend with 31km to go.

With Movistar setting the pace on the front for Alejandro Valverde, Leipheimer had five Omega Pharma-QuickStep teammates for company as he desperately gave chase, a minute down on the pack. In spite of taking a number of risks on the sinuous descent, they were struggling to make any inroads into their deficit, and a second crash with 16km to go put paid to any scant hopes Leipheimer had of making contact.

Leipheimer can have justifiable cause for frustration at the nature of his accident, for the crash happened as his teammate scrambled to avoid a motorbike that had stopped just beyond a blind right hand turn. While the first Omega Pharma riders managed to unclip and stay upright, Leipheimer couldn’t avoid ploughing into the back of Dries Devenyns and though he was able to remount, it was clear that his chances of regaining the peloton had come a cropper.

Understandably, Leipheimer took no further risks on the run-in to the finish, and he crossed the line almost 17 minutes down on De Gendt. Indeed, the portents for his day had perhaps been ominous from the off on a stage that saw him hit the deck no fewer than three times. At the mid-point of the stage, as the peloton ambled along behind the escapees, Leipheimer was caught up in a crash with Adrian Saez (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

Overall leader Wiggins had no such travails, however, and he was a highly visible presence on the front end of the peloton throughout the day, particularly when Movistar wound up the pace on the descent of the Col de Vence. The threatened Alejandro Valverde move never materialised, however, and Wiggins remains 18 seconds clear of the Spaniard ahead of tomorrow’s time trial, though he may yet face a stiff challenge from Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM), who is just 6 seconds down in second place.

A high speed start

The final road stage of Paris-Nice meant that there were plenty of riders looking to sniff out the early break as the peloton left Sisteron, and the pace was suitably searing. No fewer than 50.3km were covered in a hyperactive first hour of racing that eventually saw Taaramae and De Gendt establish a lead and go clear.

With the tired legs in the peloton calling for a truce, the pair quickly built up a twelve-minute lead and even though over 100km still remained, it was soon apparent that they would be left to contest the spoils. De Gendt led over the Col des Lèques, Col de Luens and Côte de Peyroules and immediately began forcing the pace on the first category Col de Vence.

Taaramae responded in kind, but when De Gendt launched a more telling attack three kilometres from the summit, the Estonian was unable to match his pace. Although he limited his losses to 12 seconds at the summit, De Gendt launched into the descent with considerable gusto and within a matter of kilometres, he was over a minute clear and on the road to victory. In spite of the exposed roads at the base of the descent, he maintained a metronomic rhythm to come home over six minutes ahead of Taaramae and almost ten clear of the bunch.

Sky controlled matters behind, after sweeping up a speculative attack from Evgeni Petrov (Astana), before Movistar took over on the way down the descent. Their pace-setting efforts were redoubled once it emerged that Leipheimer was dangling off the back of the peloton, but while Valverde was a menacing presence at the front end of the bunch on the approach to Nice, he slipped back into the peloton as the road flattened out.

Through the streets of Nice, Wiggins and Sky once again eased their way to the front end of the peloton, keen to ensure that none of his rivals snaffled up the bonus seconds for third. And so it proved, as John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i) tested his legs by seeing off Greg Henderson (Lotto Belisol) and Thor Hushovd (BMC) for third.

Wiggins has been an assured yellow jersey throughout the week, and his constant positioning near the front of the peloton seems indicative of the state of his form. With Leipheimer out of the equation, his task seems all the more straightforward on Sunday, although Lieuwe Westra remains just six seconds off the pace. After surprising all and sundry with victory at Mende, the Dutchman will seek to spring the ultimate upset on the Col d’Eze.