brioude, France, March 6, 2013 (AFP) – American rider Andrew Talansky of
the Garmin team won the third stage of the Paris-Nice on Wednesday and took
the overall lead after a six-man breakaway held off the peloton following
170.5km between Chatel-Guyon and Brioude.
The 24-year-old Miami native edged out escape partners Davide Malacarne of
Italy and Spaniard Gorka Izagirre on a wet afternoon as he picked up his
biggest career win and also took the overall lead.
Talansky, who finished seventh on the Tour of Spain, also says the recent
confesssion by former Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong that he cheated
his way to the top has liberated the sport.
“There’s a large shadow that’s been lifted with his (Armstrong)
admissions,” said the American.
“It’s an exciting period for the sport with plenty of promise that opens
things up for me and Tejay (Van Garderen),” he added.
“Those people who were sceptical during the Armstrong era only have to look
at Tejay and myself now.”
As for the stage win that featured a thrilling six man sprint to the line,
Talansky said he’d pursued a conservative tactic.
“We didn’t take too many risks during the final descent and I stayed well
on the wheel of Richie Porte.
“From then on it was his teammate (Sky’s David Lopez) who did the work. I
wasn’t looking to ride flat out and I wasn’t thinking about the yellow jersey,
I just wanted to avoid any problems and I only started thinking about the
stage victory during the final kilometre,” he added.
“Paris-Nice is my first main objective of the season and I’ve been thinking
about it since we starting training last November. I was targetting the top
five but the podium is possible now.”
“I’ll also be one of the team leaders on the big Tours with Ryder Hesjedal
(2012 Giro d’Italia winner), that is what is expected of me.
“We’ve seen in the past that it’s a good thing to have two leaders in the
same team. Look at (Bradley) Wiggins and (Chris) Froome last year,” he
concluded in referance to the British one-two at last year’s Tour de France.
Lopez of Spain, Australia’s Richie Porte and French rider Romain Bardet
also came home with the same time as Talansky while seventh-placed Andriy
Grivko of the Ukraine is now second overall at 3secs.
Malacarne moves third overall on the same time with Sylvain Chavanel of
France a further second adrift.
Italy’s Elia Viviani, who began the stage in the leader’s yellow jersey,
was well distanced and lost nearly three minutes on a route unsuited to his
sprinting talents.
Results following the third stage of the
Paris-Nice, a 170.5km run from Chatel-Guyon to Brioude on Wednesday.
Stage
1. Andrew Talansky (USA/Garmin), 4hr 6min 15sec, 2. Davide Malacarne
(ITA/EUC) s.t., 3. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/EUS) s.t., 4. David Lopez (ESP/SKY)
s.t., 5. Richie Porte (AUS/SKY) s.t., 6. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) s.t., 7.
Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) s.t. 8. Jonathan Hivert (FRA/SOJ) at 7sec, 9. Enrico
Gasparotto (ITA/AST) s.t, 10. Maxime Bouet (FRA/ALM) s.t.
Overall
1. Andrew Talansky (USA/Garmin) 14hr 39min 36sec, 2. Andriy Grivko
(UKR/AST) at 3sec, 3. Davide Malacarne (ITA/EUC) s.t., 4. Sylvain Chavanel
(FRA/OPQ) 4, 5. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/EUS) 5, 6. Lieuwe Westra (NED/VAC) 6, 7.
Richie Porte (AUS/SKY) 7, 8. Peter Velits (SVK/OPQ) s.t., 9. David Lopez
(ESP/SKY) 9, 10. Jonathan Hivert (FRA/SOJ) 12