Paris-Nice: Porte wins atop Croix de Chaubouret

Richie Porte led home a Team Sky one-two on stage 4 of Paris-Nice from Varennes-sur-Allier to the summit of Croix de Chaubouret, with Geraint Thomas second Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) in third.

The Sky duo jumped clear of a select group of race favourites inside the final two kilometres of the climb with Porte leading the pair home. Kwiatkowski delivered a determined solo chase to finish eight second in arrears – an effort that saw him reclaim the race lead with Porte now just one second back, and Thomas in third at three seconds.

“It is a fantastic day for the team," Porte said. "We took it on from the bottom and it wasn’t an easy climb but to finish first and second like that is fantastic.

“Two years ago I took the jersey on the mountain stage, so I know that it’s not easy with two hard days coming up and then the Col d’Eze. I love the Col d’Eze, and I would love to have a good time trial there if I can. I have a great team here and now with Geraint and I up there on the general classification, it’s good to have two cards to play.”

Overnight leader Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge) was an early casualty on the final climb after Team Sky took charge on the 10-kilometre ascent with a textbook display of control and prowess.

After Lars Petter Nordhaug positioned his teammates at the head of affairs the Norwegian set a steady tempo for four kilometres. It was not enough to split the biggest race favourites but it softened many of them up and isolated riders like Andrew Talansky (Cannondale Garmin) and Kwiatkowski.

And when the Norwegian finally pulled off, his legs almost coming to a complete standstill in the process, the team's other new signing Nicolas Roche took over. The former Irish road champion provided another flavour to Sky’s menu of talents, and whereas Nordhaug remained rooted to his saddle, Roche stood, churning his way up the climb and distancing Talansky, Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Wilco Kelderman (Team LottoNL-Jumbo).

Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Rui Costa (Lampre Merida) Kwiatkowski, Jakob Fuglsang, Fabio Aru (both Astana) and Rafael Valls Lampre Merida) were all present and accounted for, but Sky was determined to remain on the front foot and Thomas launched an attack with 3km to go. Fuglsang was the first to follow with Simon Spilak (Katusha) later making contact.

Bardet, van Garderen and Ruben Fernandez (Movistar Team) attempted to make the juncture, but the Spanish rider suffered an embarrassing crash as he turned his head to assess the opposition behind him and rode straight into van Garderen.

Porte marshaled each surge as the leaders held a small advantage, and it was only after an acceleration from the world champion Kwiatkowski did the main favourites merge once more.

The peace lasted only a short while as Porte took up the reigns. Thomas was able to find the Australian’s slipstream and although Fuglsang was near the front he was powerless to stop the Team Sky tandem.

Porte barely looked back, leading all the way to the line with both men raising their arms. Kwiatkowski bravely fought to the finish to limit his losses with Fuglsang, while van Garderen, Rui Costa, Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal), Aru, Valls and Spilak rounded out the top ten.

How it unfolded

After the prologue and three hotly contested sprint stages it was time for the overall favourites of this year’s Paris-Nice to lay their credentials for success on the line. Eight climbs, six of them dotted inside the final two hours of racing and the finale atop the Croix de Chaubouret would not seal overall victory, but it promised to at least determine a genuine pecking order in the race.

Antoine Duschesne (Europcar), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Chris Anker Sørensen (Tinkoff-Saxo) were early escapees, and built up a healthy seven-minute lead but by the time the trio hit the slopes of the Côte de La Gimond their advantage had been halved with Orica GreenEdge setting pace at the front of the peloton.

Although the Gimond, at 1.8km in length and with a gradient of 6.5 per cent, was still some way from the finish it caused a dynamic shift in the race. AG2R La Mondiale seized control, and their aggression – a clear response after Mondory’s positive A sample for EPO – was more than sheer bravado. The peloton briefly split in two as Johan Van Summeren and Samuel Dumoulin traded turns on the front.

Majka was among those caught out and the Tinkoff man had to rely on his team’s efforts to bring him back into contention, albeit briefly.

The leaders – now down to two with Duschesne distanced – held just over two minutes on the Col de la Gachet, but by the time they reached the Côte de la Croix Blanche, which came immediately afterwards, the gap was down to a minute. Majka was force to change bikes, and Talansky suffered a puncture just after the summit.

Etixx-Quickstep, aware that the race lead was in their grasp, hit the front on the run into the final climb and the leading pair were caught just before the lower slopes. A crash took out Warren Barguil (Team Giant-Alpecin) and slowed Costa, but the Portuguese champion chased back valiantly.

As the slopes of the of Croix de Chaubouret a number of teams vied for control, but most of them need not have bothered. Team Sky, fresh from the stage racing successes in the Volta ao Algarve and the Vuelta Andalucia simply adjusted their trajectory, lifted the pace and carried off the stage win.

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