All classifications
| 1 | Franco PELLIZOTTI |
| 2 | Daniele BENNATI |
| 3 | Luca PAOLINI |
| 4 | William BONNET |
| 5 | Joaquin RODRIGUEZ |
| » 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
Tuesday 13 March 2007Vatan > Limoges - 177 km
The newsflashes
16:23Pellizotti takes the yellow jersey
Franco Pellizotti also took the leader’s yellow jersey with a six seconds lead over David Millar and Daniele Bennati.
16:21Top five classification
Top five placings in the 177-kms 2nd stage between Vatan and Limoges:
1. Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas)
2. Daniele Bennati (Lampre)
3. Luca Paolini (Liquigas)
4. William Bonnet (Credit Agricole)
5. Joaquim Rodriguez (Caisse d’Epargne)
Italian treble
It’s a great treble for Italy as Daniele Bennati (Lampre) comes second and Luca Paolini (Liquigas) third.
16:18Pellizzoti wins the 2nd stage
Franco Pellizotti (Luquigas) surged in the last stretch to snatch the second stage!
16:16Voeckler caught by the bunch
With 700 metres to go, the bunch catches Fischer and Voeckler
16:15Voeckler once again!
Voeckler has another go and Fischer looks beaten...
16:14Voeckler attacks with 2 kms to go
Voeckler attacks with 2 kms left but Fischer reacts easily.
16:125 kms to go for Voeckler and Fischer
Five kilometres to go for Voeckler and Fischer and their lead is 35 seconds.
16:04Only Voeckler and Fischer keep fighting
Voeckler and Fischer refuse to surrender unlike Gilbert, who has given up the fight and is dropped by his former companions.
16:01Auge waits for the peloton
Auge has decided to stop his effort and wait for the peloton. Only three men are left in the lead.
16:00Down to 40 seconds
Fifteen kilometres to go and the lead of the four escapees is now slimmed down to 40 seconds.
15:53Less than a minute now
With just 20 kms left before the finish line, the gap has now been cut down to 55 seconds.
15:46The four 25 kms to the finish
The four escapees reach the mark indicating 25 kms to go. Their lead has now been reduced to 1:05.
15:44The break looks doomed
The break looks set to end soon with a meagre 1:15 gap at kilometre 150.
15:41Gap under two minutes
The gap is now under two minutes with 27 kilometres to go (1:40)
15:37Gap diminishes to 2:15
The gap diminishes again and reaches 2:15 at kilometre 145.
15:33Gap now down to 2:50
The gap is down to 2:50 with 35 kilometres left.
15:27Classification of the second intermediate sprint
Classification of the 2nd intermediate sprint of the day in Roussac (km 138.5)
1. Philippe Gilbert (FDJ)
2. Murilo Fischer (Liquigas)
3. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom)
41 kph in the third hour
The average speed in the third hour of the stage was 41 kph. The overall average speed was 44.8 kph.
15:16Auge will take the polka-dot jersey
Stephane Auge will take the best climber’s polka-dot jersey away from fellow-Frenchman Romain Feillu at the end of the stage.
15:15Classification of the Cote de Chateauponsac
Classification of the Cote de Chateauponsac (3rd cat, km 131)
1. Murilo Fischer (Liquigas)
2. Stephane Auge (Cofidis)
3. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues)
Lead goes up again
The lead of the four escapees has gone back up to four minutes in Chateauponsac (kilometre 126.5)
15:06Saunier Duval launch the chase
David Millar’s Saunier Duval team mates have launched the chase and take all the front places in the bunch with 50 kms left in the stage.
14:59Classification of the 3rd category climb in St Sornin
Classification of the 3rd category climb in St Sornin-Leulac (km 119)
1. Stephane Auge (Cofidis)
2. Murilo Fischer (Liquigas)
3. Philippe Gilbert (FDJ)
Lead down to 3;30
Kilometre 114 - The lead of the three escapees is now down to 3:30 over the peloton.
14:52Fischer the new generation of Brazilian cycling
Arguably the lesser known rider in the break, Murilo Fischer is one of the new generation of riders putting Brazil back on the cycling map. Born in Brusque in June 1979, he had an excellent season in 2005, winning the Tour of Piedmont and finishing 5th in the road world championships. The other Brazilian rider to have made an impact in recent seasons is Luciano Pagliarini, who won three stages in the Tour of Langkawi in 2003 and two in 2004.
The pioneer of Brazilian cycling was Mauro Ribeiro, who won a Tour de France stage in 1991.
Gap stable at 4:10
The gap between the four leaders and the main bunch is table at 4:10 (km 106)
14:38Finish in Limoges will be a first
Whatever the outcome of today’s stage,its winner will be the first rider to win a Paris-Nice stage in Limoges, the town hosting a stage finish for the first time.
14:31Gap down to 4:25
The gap between the four escapees and the main pack has now been reduced to 4:25 (kilometre 99).
14:27Lead down to 5:15
Lead down to 5:15 at kilometre 95.
14:12Classification of the Cote du Grand Ris
Classification at the top of the Cote du Grand Ris (km 84.5, 3rd cat):
1. Stephane Auge (Cofidis)
2. Murilo Fischer (Liquigas)
3. Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom)
Bernaudeau: "Nothing was planned"
Jean-Rene Bernaudeau, directeur sportif of Thomas Voeckler’s Bouygues Telecom team, said there had been no plans to attack today: "In fact, when we came to the first sprint, Jerome Pineau was well placed and we decided to go for the bonification. I asked Thomas to watch out for any counter-attack and he found himself in the right group a little bit by chance. This is a serious break with a good rider like Gilbert. It’s not as if there were 200 kms ahead and two guys. It’s only 100 kms and four riders. Anything can happen."
About his team’s ambitions, Bernaudeau told www.letour.fr he had four riders in great shape: "We were expecting to show up more in tomorrow’s stage which is bumpy towards the finish, but Thomas has good legs, Fedrigo feels well, Pineau as well, the same with Florencio. We’re reasonably ambitious."
Lead up to 6:40
The lead of the six escapees reached 6:40 at kilometre 76
13:48Marc Madiot: "Wait and see"
Philippe Gilbert’s Francaise des jeux team chief Marc Madiot told www.letour.fr it was too early in the stage for the current break to be decisive: "It’s a nice little group with Philippe, Voeckler and Auge but it would have been much better with a couple of other guys in. When the junction took place with the group of 17, I asked the guys to watch out for a counter-attack and that’s what they did."
Madiot said his team’s ambition on this Paris-Nice was primarily a stage win: "We came here first of all to win a stage and we’ll see after the stage in Mende whether we have a chance for the overall standings."
Lead reaches 5:40
The lead of the four breakaways reached 5:40 at kilometre 62.
13:26Auge started the move
The current break was launched by France’s Stephane Auge shortly before the first intermediate sprint of the day. He was quickly joined by Gilbert, Fischer and Voeckler.
13:25First hour average speed
The average speed in the first hour of the race was extremely fast: 52.4 kph
13:23Classification of the first sprint
Classification of the first intermediate sprint in neullay-les-Bois (km 44):
1. Stephane Auge (Cofidis)
2. Murilo Fischer (Liquigas)
3. Philippe Gilbert (FDJ)
Four men in the lead
Four men are in the lead, Stephane Auge (Cofidis), Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), Murilo Fischer (Liquigas), Philippe Gilbert (FDJ). At kilometre 50, their lead was two minutes over the main pack.
13:06The break is over
The 17 are caught at kilometre 41. The first serious break is over.
13:01Lead down to 20 seconds
The gap between the leading group of 17 and the peloton has gone down to 20 seconds at kilometre 36. The pace is incredibly high and the first hour average speed should not be far from 50 kph.
12:55Lead reaches 30 secs
The lead of the 17 reached 30 seconds at km 25 but is now down to 25 seconds (kilometre 29.5). The three teams with no riders in the group (CSC, Astana, T-Mobile) are chasing.
12:4717 riders in front
17 riders broke clear at km 8. They were David Loosli (Lampre), Aitor Perez Arrieta (GCE), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel), Sergio Paulinho (Discovery Channel), Dmitry Fofonov (Crdit Agricole), Bert Roesems (Predictor-Loot), Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ), Stephane Auge (Cofidis), Herve Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis), Jurgen van de Walle (Quick Step), Jolse Luis Arrieta (AG2R), Volker Ordowski (Gerolsteiner), Jerome Pineau (Bouygues Telecom), Matej Mugerli (Liquigas), Alberto Fernandez (Saunier Duval), Nicolas Jalabert (Agritubel), Alberto Ongarato (Milram). Their lead was 25 seconds at kilmetre 19.
12:38Reynes out with nephritic colic
Fifth in Monday’s final sprint, Reynes quit this morning with nephritic colic.
12:35Boonen at the back
Tom Boonen (Quick Step) is sitting at the very back of the peloton. He has been said to be suffering from a cold.
12:33First attempts
The first move of the day involved six riders - Mikel Irizar (Euskaltel), Steve Zampieri (Cofidis), Yurly Krivtsov (AG2R), Volker Ordowski (Gerolsteiner), Bjorn Schroeder (Milram) and Benoit Joachim (Astana) - but it was reined in at km 6.5
12:27Jersey holders at the start
Yellow jersey: David Millar (Saunier Duval)
Green jersey: Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital)
Polka dot jersey: Romain Feillu (Agritubel)
White jersey: Romand Kreuzinger (Liquigas)
Real start given
The real start was given at 12:19. From the flag, the bunch has been riding at full speed and first attempts are taking place.
12:15Start given, Reynes out
The start of the 177-kms 2nd stage from Vatan to Limoges has been given at 12:15 to 159 riders. Spain’s Vicente Reynes (Caisse d’Epargne) did not start.
11:34Climbs in the second stage
Climbs on today’s menu:
Km 84.5 – Cote du Grand Ris (3rd category)
Km 119 – St Sornin-Leulac (3rd cat)
Km 131 – Cote de Chateauponsac (3rd cat)
Intermediate sprints in the second stage
Intermediate sprints on today’s menu:
Km 44 – Neuillay-les-Bois
Km 138.5 – Roussac
In today’s press
Following are excerpts from what the press had to say about yesterday’s first stage from Cloyes-sur-le-Loir and Buzancais.
In the Independent, Alasdair Fotheringham talked to race leader David Millar about the controversial decision by a Spanish judge in the so-called “Puerto” doping scandal:
“Millar - and the remainder of the Paris-Nice riders - were more critical of the decision taken yesterday by a judge in Spain to archive a massive anti-doping operation, Operation Puerto.
The investigation had led to several top riders being kicked out of the Tour de France last year. Riders held a minute’s silence at the start in protest against the archiving of the case, which has left a cloud of unresolved suspicion over the sport.
"It’s a pity the process was so badly done," Millar said. "The judge shouldn’t have permitted leaks from the investigation if the case against these riders wasn’t going to stand up in court. All I can hope is that the riders implicated have learnt their lesson."
L’Equipe’s Philippe Bouvet noted that no Frenchman had won a Paris-Nice stage in five years:
“Five years since a Frenchman last won a stage in Paris-Nice, since Laurent Jalabert in St Etienne! Jean-Patrick Nazon put an end to the draught yesterday in Buzancais. There was fierceness in his sprint, he raised an arm, a gesture he dared not do on the Champs-Elysees in the Tour de France 2003. Also a winner in Wasquehal in 2004, the best French sprinter had since had a tendency to ups and downs. To his defence, he regretted the lack of consideration for sprinters in French teams.”
Welcome on the official live coverage of Paris-Nice 2nd stage
Join us from 12:15, French time, for the live coverage of Paris-Nice 177-kms second stage from Vatan to Limoges.