Chavanel takes sprint victory in Nice

Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) added a third Paris-Nice stage win to his career palmares with a crafty sprint victory from a 60-rider front group which arrived together in Nice. World champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC) finished second followed by Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) in third on the longest stage of Paris-Nice, a mountainous 220km route starting in Manosque.

With five categorised climbs included in the parcours, including a pair of category 1 ascents in the latter portion of the stage, the peloton's pure sprinters were well off the pace in the gruppetto, leaving a mix of Classics riders and general classification contenders vying for victory in the bunch sprint. BMC Racing Team's Daniel Oss provided a strong final lead-out for Gilbert, with Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale), Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) and stage 4 winner Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) all prominent in the finale.

The timing of the sprint wasn't perfect for Gilbert, however, as the Belgian hit the front slightly too soon, providing a window for Chavanel to speed past in the closing metres to steal victory.

"I am super happy," said Chavanel. "It's the second time I won here in Nice, after my victory in 2008. It's always a great emotion to raise the arms here.

"Today I decided to do the sprint because I was looking for some points for the green jersey. There was a headwind in the final, so I asked Kevin De Weert to stay near me. He did a great job and he left me in the perfect position on the wheel of Gilbert and Dumoulin."

"Dominik Nerz and Daniel Oss did a very big job, but we were missing one guy in the finale, so I did a very long sprint – about 300 meters," Gilbert said. "To hold this effort is not easy. It's a big disappointment because losing by that close is never good."

Race leader Richie Porte (Sky) finished in the lead group to retain the yellow jersey with just one stage remaining - tomorrow's 9.6km time trial up the Col d'Eze.

"I'd already been in that position before in the Giro," said Porte of defending his leader's jersey. "It was extremely stressful. But Kiryienka and López did such a brilliant job. Full credit to them, they really made my life easier.

"From the start, the team controlled the race brilliantly and showed we were the strongest team in the the race."

Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) remains second overall at 32 seconds while bonus seconds earned by Chavanel at the finish and second intermediate sprint move him into third overall at 42 seconds.

"Tomorrow will be difficult for me, but I will try to do my best to stay in the top 10," said Chavanel.

Five climbs on tap for penultimate stage

The stage's opening climb, the category 3 Cote du Bois de Rousset just 6.5km into the route, provided a launch pad for Egor Silin (Astana) to attack solo and the Russian was quickly joined by compatriot Eduard Vorganov (Katusha). The two were later joined by seven, then nine riders, forming a group of eleven escapees. Joining the two Russians in the break of the day were Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge), Gatis Smukulis (Katusha), Brent Bookwalter (BMC), Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ), Julien El Fares (Sojasun), Borut Bozic (Astana), Jerome Pineau (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and polka-dot jersey holder Johann Tschopp (IAM Cycling).

After finishing second to Silin on the opening ascent, Tschopp did not miss his chance to collect maximum points on the second category Cote des Tuilieres at 87.5km. By the time the peloton hit the first feed zone at 91km a number of riders had abandoned, including Robert Gesink (Blanco), Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM), Yoann Offredo (FDJ) and Andreas Klier (Garmin-Sharp).

The break's advantage topped three minutes which meant Jeannesson, who started the day in 20th overall at 1:49, became virtual maillot jaune on the road. Race leader Richie Porte's Sky team, however, was vigilant at the front of the peloton and kept the break from being a runaway.

While the break remained together over the third category Côte du Mont Méaulx at 103km, where Tschopp earned maximum points again, the first of two concluding first category climbs, the Côte de Cabris, proved too difficult for several escapees. Smukulis was the first to lose contact, followed by El Fares as Tschopp reached the summit first.

Tschopp again earned maximum points on the 1st category Col du Ferrier, the final categorised climb, to emphatically seal his mountain classification title, but 71.5km still remained for the break, primarily downhill to the finish in Nice

On the descent of Col du Ferrier only six men were left in the leading group: Tschopp, Jeannesson, Silin, Clarke, Bardet and Vorganov. Under the impetus of Sky and BMC, their lead quickly melted as a diminished peloton sped frantically down the descent towards Tourrettes-sur-Loup and with 41km to go the break was absorbed into the peloton.

Approaching the second intermediate sprint in Tourrettes-sur-Loup, Omega Pharma-Quick Step's Sylvain Chavanel and Peter Velits jumped off the front accompanied by Andriy Grivko (Astana), but they were quickly reeled in by Team Sky.

Sky's Vasil Kiryienka and David Lopez took control of the bunch, Richie Porte on their heels, for most of the finale, with Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) and Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) marking the yellow jersey-clad Australian.

Inside the final kilometre Philippe Gilbert looked ideally placed to grab the laurels with a lead-out from his BMC teammates, but an early jump by Gilbert proved fortuitous for Chavanel, who edged the world champion for the stage victory.