Paris-Nice: Lutsenko wins on Ventoux stage

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23-year-old Kazakhstani rider Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) put on an impressive show of strength to escape the clutches of the sprinters' teams, and solo to victory on stage 5 of Paris-Nice.

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) led race leader Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) to the line 21 seconds later. The solo attack moved Lutsenko up into second overall, just six seconds behind the Australian.

“This is my second victory in WorldTour race and I think it is a very good way to start the season. I want to dedicate today's win to my family, who make many sacrifices when I’m away from hom for long periods. Tomorrow we will race in Nice, that is my home here in France, I’m so proud about today's performance and now I’m second on the GC, just 6 seconds from the yellow jersey: let’s see how the race will develop in the last two stages," he said.

Lutsenko, a former U23 world champion, and current Kazakhstan time trial champion, made his move after the Col de Séze, and ran down the last rider of the early breakaway, Antoine Duchesne (Direct Energie) with 17km to go.

“I was feeling quite good on the last climbs of the day so, when my teammates Lars Boom was caught by the bunch, I tried a couple of times to go. The first time, the group caught me. On the second I escaped and I knew there was still one guy at the front, but, honestly, I thought to go as fast as possible and that was the right choice.”

With Katusha riding flat out behind, Lutsenko left Duchesne in the dust with 15km to go and continued to put down the power, knowing that because he started the day just 33 seconds behind race leader Matthews, every second would count. At 10km to go, he had 40 seconds on the peloton.

A virtual leader on the road, the chase from Katusha was barely eating into Lutsenko's advantage, which was 32 seconds with just 3km to go. The Russian team was getting little help from the other teams, and lost one rider in a roundabout in the run-in, but motivated to deliver Kristoff to the stage win, they pulled back another 10 seconds at the line. Although missing the stage win, the effort managed to keep Matthews in the race lead.

“In the final kilometers, I knew the bunch was pretty close to me but I had good feelings from my legs so I continued to push at maximum on the pedals, and my determination has been rewarded with this incredible victory," Lutsenko said.

Matthews explained that his Orica-GreenEdge team used too much energy early in the stage to contribute much to the chase in the finish.

"I think I used a bit too much energy staying at the front the whole day," Matthews said. "Congrats to the Astana rider - that was a really strong ride. He was too far away and I used all my teammates to put me in the best position earlier but we had no riders to bring him back, so we sat back and let the other teams come forward, Katusha came to chase but they didn't have the legs to bring him back either."

How it unfolded

Stage 5 of Paris-Nice started out with Alberto Contador losing one of his main lieutenants, Sergio Paulinho on a day that saw the race traverse five categorised climbs, including the category 1 Mont Ventoux (though not to the very top). Though the Ventoux was placed in the first half of the 198km stage from Sanint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Salon-de-Provence, two category 2 ascents in the final 40km would sort the pure sprinters from the puncheurs.

Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx-QuickStep), Arnaud Courteille (FDJ), Lars Boom (Astana), Wouter Wippert (Cannondale), Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling) and Antoine Duchesne (Direct Energie) were the first attackers on the day, hitting out from the gun, and were joined a few kilometers later by Movistar's Jesus Herrada.

Once they were gone, the peloton saved its strength, allowing the eight riders a huge 11:05 lead in the first 30km. Boom took out the first sprint at km 23.5, while Herrada attacked on the Col de la Madeleine to take maximum mountain points, a feat he would repeat on the Ventoux.

Brandle quickly decided he was in no mood to remain in the breakaway as the leaders tackled the Mont Ventoux, and back in the peloton the big sprinters like Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), Marcel Kittel (Etixx-Quickstep) and Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) lost contact and never rejoined. Greipel would abandon along with six other riders on the day, including Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) who was ill, Frank Schlek and Boy van Poppel (Trek-Segafredo), Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar), Stefan Denifl (IAM) and Marko Kump (Lampre).

Wippert and Theuns were also distanced on the Ventoux, as were Boom and Vandenbergh. While the latter two rejoined Courteille, Herrada and Duchesne, the former did not, and by the next climb there were just five up front with a 3:25 lead at the Col du Pointu after 131 kilometers of racing.

Herrada secured the polka dot jersey with second places on the Pointu and Cote de la Roque d'Antheron before returning to the peloton.

Duchesne decided to go it alone as the peloton closed in on the category 2 Cote de la Roque d'Antheron, and over the top had a 33 second lead on the peloton.

In the descent, Lutsenko jumped away, using his skills to bridge across to the young Canadian, and quickly dispatching him in pursuit of the maillot jaune.

With 10km to go, Lutsenko was the virtual leader, but the pace from Katusha was too quick and he missed overthrowing Matthews, the leader since stage 1, by a slim six seconds.

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