NICE, France, March 14, 2010 (AFP) – Two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador of Astana won the Paris-Nice race Sunday for his second win in the event, three years after his first.

Frenchman Amael Moinard of Cofidis won the final stage, a 119km ride around Nice.

Contador’s fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde of Caisse d’Epargne was second overall 11sec adrift with outgoing champion and teammate Luis Leon Sanchez third at 25sec.

On the day, Moinard saw off another Frenchman, Thomas Voeckler, with the pair having embarked on a long escape for the line.

Valverde headed the peloton as he came in third for the stage at 3sec ahead of Irishman Nicolas Roche – son of former Tour de France champion Stephen – and Estonian champion Rein Taaramae.

Contador held on for his win despite the best efforts of Valverde and Sanchez to eat into his lead on the tough Eze climb.

Contador’s group managed to stay within around 20sec of Moinard and Voeckler as the riders hit the summit of the climb some 16km out from the finish.

Moinard, 28, gave the French fans their second stage winner of the week after William Bonnet took stage three at Limoges.

Contador, who will sit out next week’s Milan-Sanremo classic but then compete in the March 22 to 28 Tour of Catalunya, said he was delighted to have notched his second season win after the Tour of the Algarve.

The Paris-Nice “is like a mini-Tour in the sense that you constantly have to control it.”

“I think a number of people had doubts over my team but whether the team is strong or not the course is still very difficult to control. I took good decisions (and) this was a good tune-up before the Tour,” said the Spaniard, victorious in the Tour de France in 2007 and 2009.

“I won and that gives you confidence for what comes thereafter,” said Contador, who said the team had worked very hard throughout.

“Everyone is 100 percent behind me, things are going very well,” said Contador, who has yet to decide if he will take part in the Fleche Wallonne on April 21 and the Liege-Bastone-Liege four days later, neither of which he has won.