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Haussler wins stage 2, Contador leads P-N
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Heinrich Haussler slammed home his third victory of the 2009 season on Monday in the second stage at the 67th Paris-Nice.
The Cervélo TestTeam rider cranked up his sprint with 250m to go in the 195.5km stage and had plenty of time to thump his chest as he crossed the line clear by three bike lengths.
Coming through second was Mark Renshaw (Columbia-Highroad) with Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre) slotting into third.
"The sprint wasn't easy. We were racing into a headwind so I tucked my bike in behind Renshaw and the Columbia team,” said the 25-year-old Haussler.
"I've tried to have a good start to the season with my new team. My aim was to win a stage — now I've done it."
A four-man breakaway that carved out a seven-minute lead was reeled in with 23km to go to set up the mass sprint. Overnight leader Alberto Contador (Astana) retained the overall lead despite getting tangled up in a pile-up in the closing kilometers.
Stage 2, Saint-Brisson-sur-Loire to La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin 195.5 km (121.5 miles)
GC Leader: Alberto Contador (Astana)
Stage winner: Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo TestTeam) in 4:45:01
Stage winner's average speed: 41.16 kph (25.6 mph)
Best Young Rider GC: Tony Martin (Columbia-Highroad)
Best Team GC: Astana
Points Leader: Haussler
Peloton: One rider abandoned: Remi Pauriol left the race with a fractured shoulder; 158 riders are expected to start stage 3.
Up next: Stage 3 is 178 km (110.6 miles) from Orval to Vichy. The route includes three category three climbs.
2009 Stage winners:
Stage 1: Alberto Contador
Stage 2: Heinrich Haussler
The fall took down more than a dozen riders, but happened with less than 3km to go, so Contador retained the maillot jaune despite finishing more than a minute behind the leaders. He didn't fall in the mishap and gave a thumb’s up to French TV cameras.
“I was very lucky,” said Contador, whose only damage seemed to be a few broken spokes in his front wheel. “With 60 to 70km to go, the sprinter teams came up and it got very nervous. There was a lot of crosswinds and tension, like always in this race, but my team did a great job protecting me.”
Another rider hitting the deck was pre-race favorite Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank). Unlike Contador, the Luxembourg climber fell but was uninjured in the pileup.
“Fortunately for Frank, he was not severely hurt, but leaves only one destroyed back wheel to the mechanics,” said sports director Kim Andersen. "Tomorrow we will try again, and hopefully successfully, make sure to stay up front, avoiding accidents and save strength for later this week.”.
Attacks at the gun
All 159 riders started in Saint-Brisson-sur-Loire on a cool, partly cloudy Monday morning for the stage to La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin.
Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) was at the line despite crashing on a wet corner in Sunday’s time trial. Astana started the day leading the best team classification, just one second ahead of Garmin-Slipstream.
It didn’t take long for the attacks to come as Piet Rooijakkers (Skil-Shimano) bolted out of the pack in the opening kilometer. The early acceleration drew out Alexsandr Kuschvnski (Liquigas), Aitor Hernández (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Christophe Laurent (Agritubel).
By the 25km mark, the gap was already north of five minutes as Astana controlled the front of the main pack. That’s just what several teams were hoping for.
“It’s a good thing that Contador is in the leader’s jersey because all the responsibility of the race will fall on Astana,” said Luís León Sánchez (Caisse d’Epargne), who started third overall. “That means we can race quietly the next few days, because things start to get very hard from Friday and it will be good to try to save the legs until then.”
The gap grew to more than seven minutes by 60km. Knowing that only Monday’s and Tuesday’s stages are ideally suited for the sprinters, Astana was looking around, waiting for the sprinters’ teams to pick up the chase.
Hernández picked up points at the day’s two third-category climbs to snag the best climber’s jersey.
The chase
With about 80km to go, the gap was still hovering around seven minutes when FDJeux surged to the front. Sébastien Chavanel is their fast man for the sprints.
Just as the pace was picking up, four riders crashed on narrow roads. Among those hitting the deck were José Angel Goméz Marchante (Cervélo), José Luís Arrieta and Vladimir Efimkin (Ag2r) and Kevin DeWeert (Quick Step).
Columbia sent Michael Barry to the front to really turn the screws with about 40km to go. Quick Step and Cervélo sent up some fresh legs and the gap quickly dissolved. The chase was so intense the main pack split into three groups, with green jersey Wiggins getting caught out in a second group.
With about 23km to go, Laurent was the last man standing. Pierre Rolland (Bouygues) tried a half-hearted effort to escape, but no one followed his lead.
Tomorrow’s stage
The 67th Paris-Nice continues Tuesday with the 178km third stage from Orval to Vichy in another stage ideal for the sprinters in the pack.
Three third-category climbs liven up the middle part of the stage to provide ample terrain for attacks if a group hasn’t already peeled away. It’s a fast run into Vichy with a slightly downhill shot toward the line.
Stay tuned for an expanded report and photos.
