All classifications
| 1 | Jean-Patrick NAZON |
| 2 | Sébastien SIEDLER |
| 3 | Mathew HAYMAN |
| 4 | Daniele BENNATI |
| 5 | Vicente REYNES |
| » overall rankings |
All classifications
| Stage |
|---|
 |
• Individual time• Individual points • Best young • Best climber • Best team |
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| Overall |
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• Individual time• Individual points • Best young • Best climber • Best team |
Starters' list | Time schedules
The race
Monday 12 March 2007Cloyes-sur-le-Loir > Buzançais - 186 km
The newsflashes
17:05Millar keeps yellow jersey
Briton David Millar kept the leader’s yellow jersey ahead of Czech Roamn Kreuzinger and Spain’s Luis Sanchez.
17:04Top five placings
Top five placings in the first stage between Cloyes sur le Loir and Buzancais (186 km)
1. Jean-Patrick Nazon (France, AG2R)
2. Sebastian Siedler (Germany, Milram)
3. Matthew Hayman (Australia) Rabobank
4. Daniele Bennati (Italy) Lampre
5. Vicente Reynes (Spain, Caisse d’Epargne)
Siedler second and Hayman third
Germany’s Sebastian Siedler (Milram) was second and Australian Matthew Hayman (Rabobank) was third.
16:59Nazon wins the first stage
Splendid sprint by France’s Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2R), who surges with 400 metres left to win the stage!
16:57Breakaway finished
Feillu is caught in turn with 1.5 kms left. The stage will end in a mass sprint.
16:57Feillu left alone
Feillu is now alone in the front as his three breakaway companions are caught with two kilometres to go.
16:56The Quick Step take control
Tom Boonen’s Quick Step team-mates have seized the reins of the peloton as the lead is now down to 15 seconds (km 185).
16:54Duclos caught by Feillu
Duclos is caught by the three other escapees, led by Feillu. The bunch is 35 seconds behind (km 183).
16:51Duclos-Lassalle tries his luck
Sensing the peloton were making it back, Duclos-Lassalle parted company with his three breakaway companions (km 182).
16:50Less than a minute with 7.7 kms left
The lead of the four is now under the minute with 7.7 kms before the finish.
16:49Milram and Lampre lead the chase
Teams Milram and Lampre, working for Marco Lorenzetto and Daniele Bennati, lead the peloton as the gap narrows steadily and is now down to 1:20 with 9 kms left!
16:47Only 1;30 left with 10 kms left
The bunch is now but 1:30 behind the four breakaways with 10 kms to go.
16:44Gap under two minutes with 13 kms left
The gap is now under two minutes (1:55) with 13 kms left before the finish line.
16:41The four fight hard to keep their lead
The four do not lose hope and keep fighting to keep their lead. But it will be hard with a two-minute edge and some 15 kms to go.
16:39Duclos wins second intermediate sprint
Herve Duclos-Lassalle won the second intermediate sprint in Buzancais (km 169), ahead of Christophe Laurent and Romain Feillu. The bunch is 2:15 behind.
16:23Gap just over three minutes
The gap between leaders Romain Feillu (Agritubel), Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole), Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis) and Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel) and the peloton was down to 3:05 with 30 kms to go.
16:08Gap under four minutes
Km 147 - The gap has now melted down to 3:45
16:03Matxin Fernandez: "Everything goes according to plans"
Matxin Fernandez, David Millar’s team chief at Saunier Duval said everything was going on according to their plans at the start: "We let a breakaway go for these guys to pick the bonifications away from the sprinters and for the sprinters teams to take responsibility of the chase. Now Quick Step and Lampre will have to take control for the final part of the stage and I’m confident we’ll succeed in our goal to keep the jersey," he told www.letour.fr
15:47Lead now under five minutes
The peloton is slowly making up for lost time. The gap is now under five minutes with 42 kms to go before the finish in Buzencay.
15:38Lead under six minutes
With less than 60 kms to go, the lead of the four breakaways has diminished and is now under six minutes.
15:22Saunier Duval and Lampre lead the bunch
David Millar’s Saunier Duval team-mates and the Lampre riders of Daniel Bennati lead the bunch with the gap stable at just over eight minutes.
15:18Feillu takes polka dot jersey
France’s Romain Feillu was first at the top of the 3rd category Côte de St Aignan (km 103), ahead of compatriots Duclos-Lassalle and Laurent. Feillu (Agritubel) will take the best climber’s jersey at the finish in Buzencay.
14:43Second hour average speed
The average speed in the second hour of the stage was 40.9 kph
14:42First sprint in Contres
Classification of the first intermediate sprint in Contres (km 83):
1. Romain Feillu (Agritubel) 3 points
2. Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel) 2
3. Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis) 1
More from the press
Nicolas Tavares, in local daily La Nouvelle Republique, hinted Tom Boonen might not be as strong as in previous years despite his six wins this season: "Weakened (by a cold), Tom Boonen, winner of the first two stages in the last two editions, has come to the Race of the Sun "to prepare for the classics" and might not be a logical favourite for today’s finish in Buzencais. Unless the Quick Step sprinter uses this excuse to relieve the pressure resting on his shoulders and put it on his main rival: Daniele Bennati."
14:18Lead down to 9:25
The lead of the four escapees has gone down to 9:25 at kilometre 68.
14:14Local Feillu was keen to show off
Silver medallist at the under-23 worlds in Salzburg, Romain Feillu was keen on attacking today as he is one of the stage locals, being born in Chateaudun, close to the stage course.
"He’s a fighter, always on the move, who cannot wait for the finish line. He’s good on all terrains, a good sprinter, good in the climbs, a versatile rider", Agritubel team chief Denis Leproux told www.letour.fr
Lead over ten minutes
The lead of Romain Feillu (Agritubel), Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole), Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis) and Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel) reached 10:30 at kilometre 47.
13:50Average speed for the first hour
The average speed for the first hour of the stage was 41.4 kph
13:44In today’s press
Following are a few excerpts from what the press had to say about David Millar’s prologue victory on Sunday :
William Fotheringham, in the Guardian: "Four days after addressing a UK Sport anti-doping conference in London, David Millar set out his stall on the road yesterday. He now has a chance of the biggest stage race victory of his career after winning yesterday’s prologue time-trial in the eight-day Paris-Nice "race to the sun" with a performance that can only bode well for the Tour de France opening stage in the British capital on July 7.
The 30-year-old, who is less than 12 months into his comeback after a two-year doping ban, immediately announced that he hoped to hang on to the white jersey of race leader to the finish in Nice next Sunday. "I am going to defend the jersey. We have some riders in my team who are not known but are pretty strong, so if I don’t make it, one of them might."
Jean-Julien Ezvan, in Le Figaro, talked to Millar about the hardship of making it back after a long doping ban : "The Scot, who rides for the Saunier Duval outfit, does not want to live blindfolded anymore. He wishes to open up and share his experience. So as to exorcise the past and make sure his downfall to hell and his violent introspection can be useful to others. « How can I help ? By speaking up and by winning. By being a great rider again and a great person off the bike, a grown-up capable of expressing his feeelings and failings."
Gap stable at 9:20
The gap between the four escapees an the main pack is stable at 9:20 as the break reaches kilometre 32.
13:16Lead reaches 9:20
Km 25 - The four - Romain Feuillu, Christophe Laurent, Herve Duclos-Lassalle and Ivan Velasco - now lead the main pack by 9:20.
13:10The four lead by 7:20
Km 19 - The four lead the bunch by 7:20. David Millar’s Saunier Duval team-mates have taken the chase in their hands.
12:55Today’s sprints and climb
Two intermediate sprints are on today’s menu, in Contres (km 83) and Buzancais (km 169). The third category climb in Saint-Aignan is the only bump on the route.
12:52Lead up to 5:30
The break has quickly gained momentum and reaches 5:30 at kilometre 11.5
12:47First stage of course !
Unlike what the official website has been telling you so far, we are on the first stage of Paris-Nice, not the second... Apologies to all!
12:41Four men in the lead
The first break of the day took place on the gun, led by France’s Romain Feillu (Agritubel). He was accompanied by Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole), Ivan Velasco (Euskatel) and Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis).
12:25Start has been given
The start of the first stage has been given to 160 riders in Cloye sur le Loir. The weather is brilliant and is forecast to be all the way to Buzencay.
12:19Millar in yellow as first stage starts
Briton David Millar (Saunier Duval) holds the leader’s yellow jersey at the start of the first stage. He leads young Czech Roman Kreuzinger (Liquigas) by one second and France’s Sebastien Joly (FDJ) by two seconds.
12:17And another minute’s silence
At the initiative of the teams representative body AIGCP, another minute’s silence will be staged at the start to protest at the lack of legal decisions and sanctions eight months after the start of the so-called "Puerto" doping scandal. AIGCP demanded in a statement for "justice to be made".
12:14Minute silence for Kivilev
A minute’s silence will be observed by the riders at the fictitious start of today’s stage in memory of Kazakh Andrei Kivilev, killed in a crash on the race exactly four years ago.
12:13Welcome on the first stage
The official website welcomes you on the 186-kms first stage of Paris-Nice from Cloyes sur le Loir to Buzencais. Stay connected!