Albasini wins stage of seven cols in Paris-Nice

Image 1 of 31

Orica-GreenEdge’s Michael Albasini won the fourth stage of Paris-Nice into Saint-Vallier, breezing past Astana’s Maxim Iglinskiy in the final straight for a very comfortable victory. The pair were at the head of a much reduced peloton that had been shredded over the final two of the day’s seven climbs. Garmin-Sharp’s race leader Andrew Talansky was tucked safely into that group and retains the yellow jersey going into Friday’s key stage to the Montagne de Lure.

Prior to the final two ascents, the action had been dominated by a group of seven riders who came together after the second of the day’s climbs, the Col de Condet. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma) and Johann Tschopp (IAM Cycling) led the way going up it. Coming off it, a quartet comprising Hubert Dupont (Ag2r), Romain Sicard (Euskaltel), Michael Morkov (Saxo Bank) and Warren Barguil (Argos-Shimano) joined them.

Tschopp’s clear intent was to pick up as many King of the Mountains points as possible, no doubt with a view to reminding ASO of the Swiss team’s potential while it ponders the possible destination of Tour de France wildcard spots. The breakaway group’s lead stayed at around the four-minute mark as Talansky’s Garmin teammates set a steady pace on the front of the peloton.

Approaching the penultimate climb, the second-cat Col de Talencieux, BMC started to assist Garmin with the pace-setting in the bunch, which rapidly reduced the break’s advantage. Heading up this ascent, the breakaway riders started to size each other up. It was little surprise when Voeckler darted away, although Dupont got back up to him, with the peloton now just 35 seconds down.

Tschopp and Meersman also managed to rejoin the two leaders on the tricky descent, but this group of four was caught with 14km and the final ascent of the second-cat Cote de la Sizeranne remaining. By that point, the peloton numbered around 40 riders. Among those who missed the cut were Ivan Basso, who failed to stay with the pace on the Talencieux, and Movistar’s GC hopeful Nairo Quintana, who got caught out in the tricky wind that added a further complication between the final two climbs.

RadioShack’s Maxime Monfort was the first to attack on the Sizeranne, but he was soon swallowed up when Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma) launched an aggressive counter. Almost immediately, the Frenchman had Michele Scarponi (Lampre), Richie Porte (Sky), Andreas Klöden and race leader Talansky on his wheel. As that attack stalled, another went, and so it went on all the way into the finishing straight.

Among those who tried to get clear were Nicolas Roche (Saxo Bank), Cofidis duo Jérôme Coppel and Rein Taaramäe, and Chavanel again. Blanco’s Robert Gesink made the final attempt to prevent a sprint finish, but the Dutchman was caught 500 metres from the line by speeding Iglinskiy. The Astana man went hard for the line, managing to get clear of everyone bar the very nippy Albasini, who barrelled by on the Kazakh’s right for an easy-looking win at the end of a far from straightforward stage.

"I don't know if I had the better legs but I was cleverer," said Albasini. "I was in the right place at the right time. I suffered a lot over the last two bumps. On the first I had problems changing gear and told myself it was over. I stayed in the 53 but at the finish it was flatter so I managed to stay at the front. In the finale I didn't have a lot of time to think. I went and I took my chance."

He played down his prospects for the overall title, saying he is not ready for the longer climbs yet. He admitted he came to Paris-Nice looking for a stage win and is happy to have achieved that goal.

Race leader Talansky said he felt he been very smart in his choice of tactics towards the end of the stage when he found himself without any teammates. "Today we knew it would be the trickiest stage of the race and I would be alone towards the end," he said. "We knew what kind of team we brought here. Last night we talked about it and we knew I was going to be on my own in the last 30km. We wanted to keep the jersey but I wasn't stressed. If I lost it I could always take it back tomorrow. The only way to keep it today was by using smart tactics."

He praised his older and more experienced teammates for keeping him calm. "I think just having guys in the team who have been doing this for so many years like David Millar, Andreas Klier or Johan Vansummeren is good. They told me to stay calm. Andreas told me last night: ‘Don't get upset in the finale, you'll be all alone, but stay calm. If you don't, you'll waste a lot of energy.’"

Talansky said that he will feel more at home on the longer climb of the Montagne de Lure, where tomorrow’s stage finishes. "We've gone up a lot of climbs but for me 10- or 15-minute climbs are hardest. Once they go over 20 minutes it's better for me and it's going to be around 35 minutes. Contador climbed it in 34 minutes in 2009 so it's going to be 35 minutes at least for us at 1,600 metres, which is pretty high. I am looking forward to it. Today was stressful but when you get to a climb like that all you have to do is to go as hard as you can and whatever happens happens. It’s that simple." 

Full Results