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61st Paris-Nice - 2.HC
France, March 9-16, 2003
Main page Course map Start list Latest Live report
Stage 5 - March 14: Aix-en-Provence - Toulon (Mont Faron), 152.5 km
Complete Live Report
Start time: 12:25 CET
Estimated finish time: 16:20 CET
Welcome to the live coverage of stage 5 of Paris-Nice, a short parcours of 152.5km, but one containing no lack of difficulty. Riders will tackle three Category 3 climbs, two Category 2, and the 1st Category drag up the Mont Faron. Today's finish on Mont Faron is the only mountaintop finish of Paris-Nice.
Italian Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo), who took the race lead yesterday after winning the stage 4 time trial, is out of the race due to stomach problems. This comes as a surprise given his strong performance yesterday, and Frigo was considered a favourite for the overall title. The change puts Telekom's Alexandre Vinokourov into the race lead, something the Kazakh is extremely motivated to keep, having said that he wants to win Paris-Nice to honour his fallen friend Andrei Kivilev.
15:05 CET
Two men are out in front: Frank Vandenbroucke (Quick-Step) and Santiago Perez
(Phonak). They have a 3'30" advantage over the field.
15:15 CET
As the gap to the leaders increases to 3'40", Vandenbroucke has become
the virtual race leader, since he started the day only 2 minutes behind Vinokourov.
Telekom won't likely let VDB get too far today.
15:21 CET, 42km to go
Vinokourov, wearing the green points jersey rather than the leader's yellow
jersey, is showing his face at the head of the field.
At the first sprint, it was Vandenbroucke who went through ahead of Perez. With time gaps between the GC leaders quite small, the bonus sprints are of greater importance now.
15:24 CET
At the head of the field, Cofidis and Telekom are taking responsibility for
setting the pace. Telekom's Bobby Julich is currently the man up front.
15:28 CET
Vandenbroucke and Perez are still well out front, working well together. They've
been clear since the 25 km mark, eventually moving clear of a larger break of
around 15 riders (Virenque, Casar, Miguel Martinez, Rous, Chavanel, Parra, Oriol,
Pradera, among others).
The gap is starting to fall, down to 2'28".
15:32 CET
The pressure from Cofidis and Telekom is working, and the break's advantage
has dropped to 2'20". The final 25km of the course will be tough, including
four climbs, finishing with the Cat. 1 Mont Faron.The climb to Mont Faron this
year goes up the side of the mountain less frequently used in Paris-Nice and
the Tour Med, and is considered slightly less difficult than the climb won by
Cofidis' David Moncoutié in the Tour Med earlier this year.
15:34 CET
Cofidis and Telekom continue to work together, with slightly different ambitions.
Telekom is obviously thinking of Vinokourov's overall lead, Cofidis will focus
more on positioning Moncoutié for the Mont Faron climb, thinking of a
possible stage victory.
15:37 CET, 29 km to go
The gap to the two leaders is down to 1'50" and dropping quickly. Vandenbroucke
continues to look good, even if this particular move is not likely to win the
stage. VDB has said he lacks the form to truly compete this year, but he believes
he can win Paris-Nice in 2004.
15:41 CET, 26 km to go
Still status quo at the head of the field, with Cofidis and Telekom doing most
of the work. The gap to the two leaders is down to 1'20", as the two escapees
hit the slopes of the Côte du Beausset.
15:44 CET, 24 km to go
Fassa Bortolo has begun to work a bit at the front of the field. Even though
Frigo is out, Volodomir Gustov sits in 5th position overall, less than a minute
behind Vinokourov.
Vandenbroucke and Perez won't last too much longer out front.
15:46 CET
The mountain points at the summit of the Côte du Beausset went to Vandenbroucke,
Perez, then current mountains leader Jérôme Pinot of Brioches la
Boulangère.
Pinot's Brioches la Boulangère have also started to work at the head of the field.
15:49 CET
The peloton is closing in on the two leaders, though there's been a crash at
the back of the field going through a corner. An ONCE rider and a Cofidis rider
are down, but the look to be up and not seriously hurt. Marek Rutkiewicz is
the Cofidis rider, and he's had to wait for a new bike.
Three riders are trying a counter attack just before VDB and Perez get reeled in. Just one is getting across to the lead duo now, a Gerolsteiner rider, but just as quickly the peloton has completely regrouped.
15:53 CET
The race has hit the Cat. 2 climb of Ste. Anne Evanos, and an attack by Alexandre
Moos (Phonak) has caused quite a few riders to blow at the back of the field.
Moos has a small advantage, about 150 metres.
15:55 CET
Moos, the current Swiss national champion, is pressing ahead but not gaining
any ground on the peloton, while a Milaneza-MSS rider is trying to bridge across.
15:58 CET, 15 km to go
Moos is provoking reactions in the field. Laurent Brochard (Ag2R), Sandy Casar
(FDJeux.com), and Rui Sousa (Milaneza) have joined Moos and formed a break of
four on the descent of the Ste. Anne Evanos climb.
16:00 CET
The four leaders are climbing the Cat. 2 Côte du Corps-de-Garde, the penultimate
climb of the race. The Quick-Step and Gerolsteiner teams have men up front setting
the pace in the peloton.
16:08 CET, 7 km to go
After Rui Sousa pushed the pace on the last climb, the four leaders are still
away with an advantage of only 10". Moos is having a bit of trouble holding
onto the lead group.
Lotto-Domo's Axel Merckx is leading the field as it descends the Côte du Corps-de-Garde. It's a winding descent, which could help the four leaders, though Moos is clearly not the best descender of the bunch. He's still hanging on the back of the break.
16:10 CET
The descent of the Côte du Corps-de-Garde is done, and the peloton has
shut down a bit as everybody waits for the final climb of the Mont Faron. Virenque
is in first position in the field, looking around to see who will launch the
inevitable attack.
16:12 CET
It's critical to be well-positioned before the start of the Mont Faron, which
at times is an exceedingly narrow climb.
Sousa is attacking the lead group of four and looks to be going it alone as he hits the lower slopes of the climb. He's already got a gap of 100 metres over Casar and Brochard, and Moos is still hanging on. Brochard is now pushing the pace.
In the field behind, the first attack comes from Euskaltel-Euskadi rider Gorka Gonzalez.
Moos is toast.
16:14 CET
Brochard has caught Sousa, with Casar on his wheel. Moos is doing a good job
of keeping them in his sights, but another acceleration won't help Moos' chances.
Brochard has attacked and is now off the front.
The field is not far behind, taking a tight hairpin.
16:15 CET
Brochard is going well, as Casar attempts to claw his way back up to the Ag2R
rider. Moos and Sousa are being absorbed by the field, as one of Moos' Phonak
teammates launches a counter attack. He gets small gap but is back in the bunch
which is being led by ONCE.
16:17 CET, 3 km to go
Brochard is still up front, putting Casar in difficulty. In the field, Rebellin
is marking Vinokourov at the front, but no attacks yet as the riders out ahead
are of no concern for the general classification.
ONCE's best placed rider, Mikel Zarrabeitia has tried an attack. Vinokourov sits on Rebellin's wheel as Zarrabeitia is pulled back.
16:19 CET
The attacks from the field, the latest coming from Euskaltel's Samuel Sanchez,
are not getting very far. The peloton is dwindling in size and the leaders are
always vigilent.
Casar is hanging tough and working his way back to Laurent Brochard, who's still in the lead.
16:23 CET, 1.7 km to go
Vinokourov is pushing the pace, with Rebellin on his wheel. Kelme's Davide Latasa
has upped the pace, taking a group of about 15 with him. Vino and Rebellin each
look relatively comfortable.
Vinokourov attacks! Sylvain Chavanel takes up the chase and the group is splintering behind.
Vino has caught Casar and passed him straight away. Chavanel is blowing up as Vino has just reeled in Brochard as well, passing him as well. Vino's on a mission.
16:24 CET
Vinokourov is flying up the climb with about 1 km to go. Rebellin is chasing
and working to close the gap. Vino gets out of the saddle to keep it going,
knowing that Rebellin could be closing in.
16:25 CET
Vinokourov is still powering away, with 500 m to go. He should get it, but has
only 10" advantage.CSC's Sastre has caught and passed Rebellin.
16:27 CET - finish
Vinokourov is grinding up the final metres. He gets the win!
Simoni and Moncoutie have come from nowhere to catch Sastre and finish just behind Vinokourov.
Vinokourov said at the finish that he had a "double force" today, his own and that of his friend Andrei Kivilev. In tears on the podium, this has clearly been an enormous day for Vinokourov.
Provisional results
1 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom 3.46.23
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saeco 0.06
3 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis Credit Par Telephone
4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC
5 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 0.10
6 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
7 David Bernabeu (Den) Milaneza-MSS 0.12
8 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.18
9 Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONCE-Eroski
10 Ivan Parra (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca
General classification after stage 5
1 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom 14.26.11
2 Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 0.42
3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 0.53
