Tour de France Hopeful Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto Wins Paris-Nice Fourth Stage
MONT SEREIN, France, March 13, 2008 (AFP) - Australian Cadel Evans warmed up for his bid for the Tour de France title this summer by winning the fourth stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race here on Thursday ahead of towering Dutch rider Robert Gesink.
Gesink, 21, of Rabobank, takes the overall leader’s yellow jersey after the grueling 176km stage which finished on the slopes of the famous Mont Ventoux climb.
The duo clocked 4hr 32min 56sec to finish some 30sec ahead of Italian pair Rinaldo Nocentini and Davide Rebellin.
“It’s not bad to win so early in the season, above all at Ventoux,” said Evans, runner-up in last year’s Tour de France.
“But July (Tour de France) is still a long way away. I’m the same as in previous years. The change has been the team. It’s stronger, more focused on the overall standings,” said the Silence team rider.
“I wanted to win at Ventoux, it’s the second time I’ve been here. It’s good to win on a big mountain but that’s not different from the Tour.”
Evans added: “Gesink is very young and very impressive.”
Overnight leader Sylvain Chavanel of France lost steam in the final climb, falling three minutes behind.
Four riders Aleksandr Kuschynski, Jens Voigt, Bernhard Eisel and Niki Terpstra lead a long breakaway from the 11km mark to take a three-minute lead into the final climb.
German Voigt make a solo break at the foot of the 14.9km climb with a gradient of 7.3 percent but was caught with 4km to go.
Evans, 31, stuck to Gesink’s wheel, overtaking him at the line situated at 1,400m altitude, some 5km from the Ventoux summit.
“Long climbs like that suit me,” said Gesink. “I knew that (Yaroslav) Popovych wasn’t at his best when I heard him ask Evans to slow down.
“I’m really happy to have the yellow jersey even if Evans didn’t leave me the stage victory despite me making all the effort in the final kilometres.”
“That’s cycling! I’m going to try and hold this jersey until the end and I’ve no doubt that we’re going to succeed,” said Gesink who leads Rebellin by 32sec and Nocentini by 35sec in the overall standings.
The Dutch rider made a name for himself last year by finishing ninth in the Fleche Wallonne and his team signed him until the end of the 2012 season.
Evans teammate Popovych is sitting fourth overall at 42 seconds back.
Stage 4 Results
1. Cadel Evans (AUS/SIL) 4hr 32min 56sec
2. Robert Gesink (NED/RAB) same time
3. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/A2R) at 0:33sec
4. Davide Rebellin (ITA/GST) s.t.
5. Frank Schleck (LUX/CSC) 0:34.
6. Yaroslav Popovych (UKR/SIL) 0:38.
7. Juan Manuel Garate (ESP/QST) 1:03.
8. Simon Spilak (SLO/LAM) s.t.
9. Pierre Rolland (FRA/C.A) 1:30.
10. Carlos Barredo (ESP/QST) 1:33.
11. David Moncoutie (FRA/COF) 1:35.
12. Christophe Moreau (FRA/AGR) 1:40.
13. Chris-Anker Sorensen (DEN/CSC) 1:43.
14. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 1:45.
15. Jens Voigt (GER/CSC) 1:47.
16. Clement Lhotellerie (FRA/SKS) 1:47.
17. Alexander Efimkin (RUS/QST) 2:11.
18. Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (ESP/AGR) 2:18.
19. Remy Pauriol (FRA/C.A) 2:18.
20. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 2:18.
21. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) 2:18.
22. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 2:18.
23. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 2:25.
24. Matthew Lloyd (AUS/SIL) 2:52.
25. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/C.A) 2:52.
26. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 2:52.
27. Yuri Trofimov (RUS/BTL) 3:35.
28. Maxime Monfort (BEL/COF) 3:42.
29. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/COF) 3:42.
30. Hubert Dupont (FRA/A2R) 3:50.
Selected:
35. Bobby Julich (USA/CSC) 4:09.
53. Bernhard Eisel (AUT/THR) 7:53.
58. Sandy Casar (FRA/FDJ) 8:31.
59. Christian Vandevelde (USA/TSL) 8:48.
65. Aliaksandr Kuschynski (BLR/LIQ) 10:12.
115. Gert Steegmans (BEL/QST) 21:07.
125. Thor Hushovd (NOR/C.A) 21:07.
135. David Millar (GBR/TSL) 21:07.
142. Bradley McGee (AUS/CSC) 21:07.
Overall Standings
1. Robert Gesink (NED/RAB) 17hr 10min 12sec
2. Davide Rebellin (ITA/GST) at 0:32sec
3. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/A2R) 0:35.
4. Yaroslav Popovych (UKR/SIL) 0:42.
5. Juan Manuel Garate (ESP/QST) 1:06.
6. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 2:06.
7. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 2:11.
8. Alexander Efimkin (RUS/QST) 2:30.
9. Clement Lhotellerie (FRA/SKS) 3:25.
10. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/COF) 3:27.
11. Simon Spilak (SLO/LAM) 3:32.
12. Carlos Barredo (ESP/QST) 4:07.
13. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) 4:48.
14. Pierre Rolland (FRA/C.A) 6:02.
15. Maxime Monfort (BEL/COF) 6:11.
16. Cadel Evans (AUS/SIL) 6:40.
17. Christophe Moreau (FRA/AGR) 8:12.
18. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 8:18.
19. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 8:57.
20. Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (ESP/AGR) 9:08.
21. Trent Lowe (AUS/TSL) 9:27.
22. Bram Tankink (NED/RAB) 9:29.
23. Jerome Pineau (FRA/BTL) 9:54.
24. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 11:46.
25. Yann Huguet (FRA/COF) 11:50.
26. Yuri Trofimov (RUS/BTL) 12:51.
27. Michael Albasini (SUI/LIQ) 13:45.
28. Alexandre Botcharov (RUS/C.A) 13:46.
29. Aliaksandr Kuschynski (BLR/LIQ) 14:25.
30. Juan Jose Cobo (ESP/SDU) 15:18.
Selected:
39. Kjell Carlstrom (FIN/LIQ) 23:16.
49. David Millar (GBR/TSL) 28:13.
50. Bobby Julich (USA/CSC) 28:16.
56. Bernhard Eisel (AUT/THR) 28:51.
62. Jens Voigt (GER/CSC) 31:45.
77. Thor Hushovd (NOR/C.A) 36:45.
85. Gert Steegmans (BEL/QST) 39:18.
103. Bradley McGee (AUS/CSC) 45:17.
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